Reflections in the Wake of Batman Incorporated #8

It's kind of silly,

I just wrote a post, about how amazing Scott Snyder's 'Death of the Family' arc was so amazing just because of the fact that no one died. He changed the game by making death mean different things.

Two weeks have passed and what do you know? Grant Morrison decided to spice up his Batman Incorporated run by killing the newest boy wonder.

Damian Wayne is dead.

I won't say that he died badly, many heroes couldn't ask for a better death. However, it seems to me that the comic left very little doubt in the readers mind that Damian was going to die. The cover was a spin on the popular cover used to usher in 'Batman R.I.P' which changed the status quo of all future Batman comics.

 

See the similarity?

The entire issue of Batman Incorporated #8 set the stage of Robin's death. From the cover (seen above) to the dialogue that occurs between characters. Damian has small talks with the other Robins, making amends and saying what he had to before he crossed into the grand beyond.

There is a symmetry to how Damian dies as Batman is otherwise occupied, it seems to reflect how Jason Todd died at the hands of the Joker.

What I don't really understand is why Grant Morrison decided to take this decision of killing Damian. He ended the first issue of Batman Incorporated with a cliffhanger that suggested that Damian was dead, this time, he's made it much more permanent, but as the Joker would say. "What's the fun of repeating a joke?"

Speaking of the Joker, considering the other events in the Batman Universe, Death of the Family, Damian's death is unnatural and out of place.

The DotF arc resulted in the Batfamily not trusting Batman and being unsure about what he has and hasn't told him. Bruce realized how important his family is to him, which seems to explain why he wanted to save Damian rather than seeing him dead.

Scott Synder had written about how if he killed someone in DotF it would have actually brought the Bat Family together, so the events of Batman Inc #8 seem to essentially ignore this premise and assume that the scars of DotF will keep the rest of the Batman family to cry in their rooms alone.

Another important thing that will come out of this is that Alfred is going to feel some crazy guilt. He let Damian out of the cave and when Batman returns with a dead Robin, no one is going to feel the punch more than Alfred.

I can't seem to understand what is going to happen after this, the series has already seen the death of Knight, the Batman of England. With the death of Robin, the objective of showing the war between Batman Inc and the League of Assassins is clear, with losses on both side. However, there is a line between killing grunts and key characters who's deaths will be felt in the pages of other books.

I can't help but feel sad for Damian who was really becoming an amazing Robin. He was like a mini-Batman and it was nice to see that fatherly instinct come from Batman to protect Robin more than once. It made it nice when Robin disobeyed his father as it was an instance that any kid could relate to. Doing something you weren't supposed to and then saying sorry and living with the accusing stares (then again, not many of us would go and kill people and then get the stares).

In Batman and Robin's recent Annual Damian was connecting to his Wayne legacy and becoming closer to his father. While some people might say that this makes the death all the more painful on Batman, it actually seems a tad premature. There was so much character development happening that killing Robin now seems a bit abrupt and anti-climatic.

Sadly what is done is done.

DC has released some new covers that will represent the Bat-Families anguish over the death of their youngest parter, however, what I've found is that none of them is as impactful as Batman and Robin #18

Batman and Robin issues have been characterized by having Robin and Batman present on the cover, or at least some representation of them. This cover seems to drive home the solitude that Batman would be feeling with the death of Damian, as he now patrols Gotham, alone. The dark textures further this solitude and when you compare it to the official cover of Batman and Robin #18 it simply removes Damian from the cover and changes the colour scheme, making it much more about Batman and the fact that he is now alone.

Deaths in comic books are as permanent as the writers want the deaths to be. Synder had stated that if he had killed someone in DotF they'd stay dead as long as he could manage it, however, the resurrection and demise of characters can often be a managerial decision and might actually not be what the writer wants to do.

Considering the new path this puts the Dark Knight on, I hope DC gets a good amount of insight into how Batman has gone from being the 'Son who lost his Parents' to the 'Father who lost his Son' the character of the hero is certain to change as the rage of this fact is bound to push him into dangerous corners.

I'm excited to see what happens, but sad that one of the most Bad ass Robins is dead.

Oh and don't get on me about spoilers, the NY Times had published an article on it, and every DC Comic has a backup where it is clearly stated that Robin is dead. Like I said, DC wants everyone to know that he's dead. What they do with all this attention, is a different story entirely.