SPOILERS AHEAD
There’s a lot of ground to cover so I’ll start with the writers. I’m not a fan of the way Tynion writes the bats and I’ve some problems with Tomasi mostly related to how he writes the Waynes. Even so I was kind of hoping their collaboration would turn out better. This is unfortunately another issue of the bat family picking a target and ganging up on said person. In this case it’s Bruce again and while he deserves it the timing really isn’t ideal.
Is anyone else tried of Bruce screwing up, the family telling him off and nothing ever changing? I know I ask that a lot, but Bruce never seems to learn, and the cycle keeps repeating. I miss the Bruce Wayne that actually knew how to bond with his family and could say he was sorry. Why doesn’t Bruce go after Damian when the latter gets upset? Even with him at odds with Jason the man still knew the basics of how to respond to someone dealing with grief when he broke the news of Roy’s death. No one else there is close enough to Damian (Ric isn't Dick after all) so it does fall on Bruce as his father.
Now he doesn’t even know that he should comfort Damian? He just assumes Damian knows there's no blame when he literally just said otherwise? Yes, Bruce can struggle with expressing himself but he should still know and care enough to help those close to him grieve. There also seems to be very little consideration given to how Bruce is dealing with losing his father figure.
I think this would have done better if it was a series of one shots based on each member written by the characters’ current writer. If nothing else the voices would feel more on point and we could have gotten into everyone’s head better. I don’t know where some of these interactions even come from.
Why wasn’t Cass and Duke part of this? Better question, why wasn’t Julia there since she’s Alfred’s daughter? Having her standing with the Waynes makes far more sense than the Commissioners’ daughter. The press would have a field day with this story just based on who is there and who isn’t. There's a lot of canon and plots that don't line up, as well as characterization that doesn't fit. Most of which I'll detail below but I'm also confused with plot details. Tim for example shouldn't be happy to have been called to Gotham as if he was unaware of what happened. He was present when most of the family heard about Alfred dying.
Barbara points fingers because Dick (or Ric since he lost his memory) and Jason weren’t with them when Alfred died. But that’s not exactly what happened, they both said no to confronting Batman in their family meeting. The actual plan hadn’t even been discussed yet, and apparently (at least according to King) no one knew Bruce had a plan until he punched Tim. Released date-wise the death happen when Jason was no longer in Gotham any way. (RHO had him leave the city to train Generation Outlaws around the time it was printed.) And even if they were there the plan Bruce made was for Damian ONLY to go in. So Ric and Jason would just be waiting like the rest of them anyway.
How does Jason even know what happened with Damian when he has a strained relationship with the family? They only contacted him when they wanted something (Batman #71), blamed him (TT Annual/Event Leviathan), told him someone died (RHO #27), to keep away (mentioned in this issue) or their missions lined up. This is implying someone told Jason it was Damian's fault but making Jason look bad for saying it. I honestly tried to rationalize Jason blaming Damian, I tried tying it into Damian rushing in and making rash choices about Jason. But even that feels like a huge stretch because Jason doesn’t treat kids badly. Not when he’s written in character. He personally knows what it’s like to be blamed for things beyond his control and usually empathizes.
I would have thought Tynion wrote this issue himself if I didn't know Tomasi was listed beforehand. Maybe Tomasi plotted the issue while Tynion wrote the dialogue because Damian does not sound like the same character from Super Sons. The story he tells has Bruce punishing him, something that in it's self is a rarity, and Damian is just written a little too open as he meekly explains himself to Alfred. His speech lacks it's usual flair, whether he sounds sophisticated or pompous varies but he shouldn't sound like any other kid. This is a kid that had to grow up extremely fast and presents himself as an adult.
It likely wasn't intended but Tim comes across a little rude when he interrupts Barbara urging Bruce to go after Damian to get to his own Alfred story. Sure he says he's sorry for butting in but it's just so awkward. It felt like Tim was basically rushing past the need to comfort Damian just because he just wanted to get to talk. The story he tells is a little too wordy but it's how Alfred helped him by getting back his equipment. From there Tim reminds Bruce why he became Robin in the first place and offers to help Bruce through his grief again. The offer is rejected.
I get that Tim is telling Bruce not to ignore the family and their problems in favor of losing himself in his work. But the phrasing makes it seem like Tim is scoffing at the idea of Bruce trying to build things like hospitals. Tim does underline the nasty cycle of Bruce pushing them away and that it needs to be Bruce to fix it this time. But did he really need to add the dig of Bruce needing to act like an adult, it seems to come out of no where after he spent so long being supportive.
It's here that I noticed that the common thread between most of the Robin stories is that the boys don't want to deal with Bruce and Alfred tries to fix things. Damian disobeys him, Tim accidently forgets his tools despite Bruce telling him not to and Jason doesn't want to deal with Bruce all.
I have some problems with the way Barbara is written in this. I will say she does have some good points about Bruce not handling things right. She brings up how poorly Bruce acted during the City of Bane storyline, how that affected the city and what happened to her dad. How he needs to be there for Damian, etc. All of that is spot on but some of the things she says just rub me the wrong way. Her story about Alfred is the only one that manages to capture his everyday thoughtfulness and feels entirely in character.
I haven't been reading Nightwing to see how Ric is being written but I was under the impression he didn't act like Dick Grayson. Despite not remembering his past with any of them Ric somehow knows exactly what to say and his story (retold by Bruce) is the only one where Alfred isn't helping the bat kid. This one surprised me, I didn't think I'd get so bothered by something Dick would "say." The idea of Alfred via Dick telling Bruce that his parents deaths mattered because it gave Gotham Batman feels so wrong. Saying that the Waynes would let everything happen the exact same way if they knew? No.
Not just because Flashpoint said otherwise (Martha really did NOT like Bruce's fate and we learned that Thomas didn't either) but this feels like it's saying Bruce wouldn't become anyone of importance without them dying. That his parents would still put their child through all of that without a thought? That's an awful thing to tell someone who's grieving. Why not just say the Waynes would be proud of the things he fought for? Alfred himself has fought for Bruce giving up the mantle of Batman, which makes the idea of him saying this feel even more off.
I wanted to talk about Jason last because his part in this ties into a larger problem that seems to be at odds with the message of the book. I can't tell if this was done intentionally for this issue as both Tynion and Tomasi have written Jason as the odd man out before. Like the family asking why he was even at Kate's trial (Tynion), being excluded when "the whole family" were together (Tomasi), etc. Jason's story might have Alfred suggest the fault lies with him (which completely misses the point of his estrangement with the family at present) but this very issue tells us otherwise.
Right away we are told that despite Alfreds' last wish being for the family to spend time together Jason was told not to come to the public event and had to sneak past security. I'll remind you that Jason is no longer legally dead and undid that status in his own title when Vicki Vale interviewed him. This makes his exclusion feel even more spiteful. Even if he was still considered dead he could have gone there in disguise anyway. Alfred tells Jason that he left on his own volition but it was never that clear cut and Alfred had far more tack than this. RHATO even showed Alfred asking if Jason would come over but he didn't pressure him like this.
"Self imposed exile." Right. After Jason started becoming more of an anti-hero he literally worried that the family would throw him in jail, again. (Which was later proven correct by Batwoman handing him over to Waller and Batmans' attempt when he didn't break any rules in either case.) Jason always came to help the family when he was called. Yes he struggled with being comfortable around them outside the mission but he wasn't the only one. Bruce gave Jason an ultimatum, either he followed the rules or he'd be punished with jail. He was literally exiled by Bruce before he decided to publicly return as Jason Todd. The last two times he met with Bruce he was threatened, then falsely accused and attacked. Their at odds for a reason, not just because Jason decided not to bond.
The story Jason tells feels rushed to get the message about the family being there for each other, yet the rest of the issue tells us Jason isn't a part of the family. Bruce never says a single thing to him, and other than those that argue with him (Ric/Babs) we never get any one acknowledging him. The picture at the end doesn't have Jason in it hammering home how much he doesn't fit in. To his credit Jason doesn't use his speech to berate Bruce as he knows he's hurting the worse. He does point out that maybe Tim shouldn't be trying to fix Bruces' problems. I think Jason is implying that things aren't fixed between the two of them but Bruce still can fix his relationship with the others.
This makes the message get muddled since everyone is telling Bruce to fix the family yet no one except Alfred tries to ensure that Jason is part of said family. No one else seems to care.
This is supposed to be about Alfred Pennyworth but as a tribute it’s kind of lacking. This issue overshadowed by the dysfunctional bat family interactions. Why was Alfred important? It’s for what he provided, something that Batman himself struggled with, his emotional support. Sure, it’s nice to see Alfred was skilled in other areas in the first few stories the Robins tell but having the butler be able to relate to them was his greatest strength. Some might argue that the whole point of the family bickering is because Alfred isn’t there to help them, but has he really done anything to fix the problems when he was alive?
The family seems to implode quite often without Alfred ever addressing the problems in recent years. At most their issues are brushed to the side without any true solution. This happened in: DOTF, during Batman and Robin when Damian died (a later arc had Alfred lecturing the family not Bruce for his behavior), Jason’s recent estrangement, Dick becoming Ric and Damian’s strained relationship with Bruce. I might even be missing a few examples but whether Alfred is around or not doesn’t change the fact that these are serious problems that aren’t being resolved.
The disputes are usually artificially solved because of a crisis. Which is why I’m concerned about the upcoming Joker War acting as a band-aid for the family especially when some cases, Damian and Jason’s, are far more complex and deserve more consideration. Something that I’d prefer be done in their own titles where their problems with Bruce/the family can get the proper attention it needs and not just be in the background where it wouldn’t be properly addressed. If you didn’t read TT or RHO would you even know what the root of the actual strain in their relationships were? I don’t think you would because none of it is addressed here and in fact makes Jason at least look like he's in the wrong as he's far too confrontational and paints Damian as a victim. (Not saying he's to blame for Alfred but he's not written like this in his own title.)
I'm not getting Joker War and hope it doesn't go the direction I think it will. If this issue is any indicator I don't want to see the bat family written like this again.
Say What?: Why couldn't we see the "beautiful" speech instead of the narrative boxes?
Why did Jason smile and say the old Dick wouldn't be so happy to give him a drink? They had a strained relationship but they weren't hostile with the other. I tried rationalizing this one too, trying to link it to Dick not trying to patch things up with Jason and the family. But Tynion hasn't been the best at linking RHATO/RHO canon so I think this might just be writing Jason as confrontational for no reason. Hence the smile and Ric instantly getting defensive.
While I can see Jason getting upset that Ric referred to Alfred as "the butler" I can't see him addressing whether Ric is still part of the family anymore due to his memory loss. Did even Tynion decide his arc in RHATO where Jason had amnesia wasn't canon anymore?
Is Alfred really implying that guns will fail Jason when he uses guns himself? Jason does use other weapons and resources too, so it's not like he only depends on guns.
Yes, Damian is the youngest thus need more attention but Bruce's level of responsibility with all the boys is greater than it is with Barbara. Their his kids, she's not. Whether their grown up or not he took responsibility for them when he first took them in and considers them his kids. Not saying Barbara isn't considered part of the family but it's not quite the same.
Bringing up the fact Barbara never lived in the manor like the others? Fine, that works if she's only talking about Bruce being out of touch, not the others. Otherwise it kind of implies that she understands the people of Gotham better than the others or had less privileged life. Neither of which I agree with, at least two (or more depending on what canon) of the kids grew up in horrible conditions with bad families. Even when they lived in the manor things weren't always great. Some of them never felt comfortable there anyway.
Bruce is 18 or 20 on the tenth anniversary of his parents deaths? Yeah, we need the editors to catch things like this.
Did You Notice?: Tim tells a story about how he just became Robin yet he wears the Tynion Red Robin costume in the art. Nightwing wears the Rocafort design instead of the old school 1st Nightwing costume, Given how confusing canon is right not I'm not sure what costume Nightwing is supposed to have but the Robin design isn't right.
There are more costume flubs like in picture at the end.
Questions Asked?: Seriously, where is Jason getting this information? Bruce failed to inform him of what happened to Dick when he told him about Roy's death. Suddenly Jason knows about the memory loss. Did they just send him a memo that Alfred died, Dick lost his memory and they blamed Damian for Alfred dying?
Why did Alfred need to dress up as Batman? The criminals were knocked out and if he was just going to drive a normal car anyway it kind of defeats the purpose.
Why is there a split panel for Tim's face when he says he can come back to the cave? This confused me because I thought it might have been two different characters. There's one for Bruce and Barbara before her story for example.
Why would Jason call Tim a brown-noser? Did they forget that Tim is the one Jason gets along with?
Tim could take out a villain at the beginning of his Robin career but Jason needed help with random unpowered criminals as Red Hood? What?
Are we really meant to believe that Jason, the guy that's taken care of himself for most of his life, needs someone to look after him? Yes, it's an Alfred thing to do but I can't believe that Jason wouldn't do a better job. Was he injured? Was that why his shirt was open? I was also confused with the way the story was told. Was the talk at Jason's place supposed to happen before or after Alfred saved him?
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