Batman and Robin #1 uses separation to bring a family closer together. Batman’s actions prove that he’s trying to do things differently with Damian this time, and the approach is certainly worth reading. Read Full Review

The new adventures of Bruce and Damian Wayne wastes no time locking readers in for what will only be an incredible story. Making family first, Wlliamson plays off the father/son bond with an exceptional script. Di Meo compliments the script & constructs a distinct feel of energetic visuals making it a 1-2 combo that cant be missed. Dont miss this book on Bew Comic Book Day! Read Full Review

Joshua Williamson and Simone Di Meo hit a grand slam with Batman & Robin #1. Utilizing the current status quo for the franchise they create a strong foundation for how Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne will operate as the Dynamic Duo and as father-son out of the cape and cowl. If you are a Batman fan make sure to pick up this comic book. Read Full Review

There isn't anything groundbreaking hereit's a little too laid-back of an issue for thatbut it's a great new start to the next chapter of Williamson's Damian Wayne saga. Read Full Review

The tagline on the cover says An Exciting New Chapter Begins and Batman and Robin #1 is just that. Williamson and Di Meos new series strips away a lot of the baggage that Zdarksys Batman is currently carrying and focuses on what the title suggests: Batman and Robin and in turn, a father and his son. Read Full Review

Batman and Robin #1 is great fun and sets up this new series superbly. I'm already counting down the days until the next issue. Read Full Review

Batman and Robin rushes out of the starting blocks looking like they've been running for years. Terrific artwork, strong lettering, and an emotional core likely to resonate with readers makes this issue #1 a must read. Read Full Review

Batman and Robin #1 by Joshua Williamson and Simone Di Meo comes out swinging in the first issue. You get amazing art from Simone Di Meo who makes the action look amazing and dynamic, the characters look good especially the main heroes in and out of costume. The comic sets the stage for classic superhero crimefighting with some twists and turns in motion. If you're looking for a solid Batman book not involved with the current Gotham War event, then Batman and Robin is the comic book to get. Read Full Review

Di Meo delivers some beautifully stylish and visually engaging art throughout the issue. The visual style is brilliant and is perfectly balanced with both the characters and the action. Read Full Review

Batman and Robin #1 is an entertaining start that has a voice of its own and stands out from other comics in the Bat-family. It delivers a start that does a solid job of reminding us about the rather odd family dynamic and teasing enough of Bruce and Damian's personal life to let us know where they stand emotionally. This is one that's well worth checking out and swinging in to. Read Full Review

A family dynamic both in and out of costume helps this story feel different and fun. Read Full Review

Joshua Williamson kicks off this new era of Batman and Robin with an action-filled story. But he also begins a narrative into Bruce and Damian's relationship that I have been waiting to read again for a long time. Read Full Review

This new series is off to a good start, and the dynamic between the two main characters is a lot of fun so far. Read Full Review

This is a promising start to a new title and barring the next cataclysmic Batman upheaval event, this one will stick around for a while. Read Full Review

Batman And Robin #1 is a solid start to a series that solves a mysterious conspiracy while Bruce and Damian struggle to connect as father and son. The art is outstanding, and the quiet relationship moments are captivating, but the conspiracy is only teased enough to generate mild curiosity. Read Full Review

Overall, this is an extremely likable issue, with quite a bit to be engaged in long term. I'm on for the ride, despite its faults. Read Full Review

I had a great time with this issue, though the quality of sequential storytelling and aesthetics sometimes made it a difficult read. Despite that, I'm interested enough that I'd pick up the second issue if I was buying monthly (If I enjoy a comic that I'm reviewing, I trade wait). The characters are well-written and treated with respect. The plot has me interested as well, but the second issue is the key. That's where I know if I'm going to like a series going forward. So, we'll see how I feel next month but for the moment, I recommend giving this a shot! Read Full Review

While some of the actual storytelling and art both leave something to be desired, Batman and Robin #1 shows a lot of promise. Read Full Review

We also get an odd grouping of some of Batman's more monstrous enemies in Croc, Man-Bat, and others, as well as a general foreboding of yet another (likely less joyful) crossover. I'd like a little more normalcy for Bruce and Damian before jumping into the next big arc but there's enough here to pique my interest. Not everything is sunshine and roses, however, as the comic foreshadows a high school arc for Damian which would be the quickest way to make me run away from this comic as fast as possible. Read Full Review

This book is a breath of fresh air compared to Gotham War and the played out rift amongst the bat family that's been a never ending cycle for too long in recent runs. Though his recent "events" have been awful, Joshua Williamson has done such great work with Damian and he truly understands the character so I'm hoping he continues to write enough Damian stories that other writers will pick up on what makes him so great.

My only problem with the issue was the art. The artist clearly has talent and I love anime influenced style but there's something about it that's hard to follow at times and took away from the issue. It seems to zoom in too far during the action and you can't good sense of what's going on.

PUBLISHER’S PITCH

Father and son. Bruce and Damian. Batman and Robin. From Batman vs. Robin to Knight Terrors, a lot has happened to the Dynamic Duo, but now they are back together and ready to fight crime in Gotham--just in time for Batman's most monstrous rogues to team up to turn the city into an urban jungle! A new villain watches from the shadows, intent on revenge, with a plot to turn one of Batman's greatest assets against him! Can Damian help his father solve the case before it's too late? A brand-new fun and exciting father-and-son adventure begins, from DC Comics architect Joshua Williamson and superstar artist Simone Di Meo!

RECAP

Damian moves into his father’s new brownstone and the two go through the growing pains of living together with someone for the first time. While Bruce would prefer his son to experience elements of a normal teenage, including going to high school. Damian is uninterested and would prefer to continue honing his crime fighting skills and highlights his new detective skills by discovering a lead from the previous night’s encounter. The duo goes to investigate but walk into a trap set by the mysterious new villain who turns Batman’s namesake winged creatures against him.

REVIEW

This book has been getting hyped by other DC creators for several months now and I finally got to see why. In addition to a great story from Joshua Williamson, Simone Di Meo made BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 into a visually stunning book with the approach to art and colors. It’s jumps from the page like a colorful, realistic manga come to life. Characters are expressive without looking cartoonish, lines are well drawn and clean, various forms of light are used to add depth to scenes, panels are presented at different angles to emphasize scale, motion is effectively captured during action scenes. It’s all SO well done.

One of my favorite pages is a full page where we see Damian’s sketchpad revealing what appears to be a fictionalized story/comic about his own upbringing. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about the page, yet it’s a fun tongue-in-cheek homage to the comic book medium. Another favorite is a panel where some of Damian’s toughest moments fill a shadow of costumed Robin as it falls behind out-of-costume Damian. The approach to both of these are so simple, yet the level of execution is sublime. If I had one complaint it would be that different angles are used so often, the final battle sequence felt a tad crowded and I almost missed one of the most important panels as it was surrounded by others. But that’s really just nitpicking.

Getting back to Williamson’s story, I was curious to see how the events of this series lined up with the “Dawn of DC” timeline, specifically with the Gotham War arc and Bruce and Damian’s role in those titles. It was a pleasant surprised to see Williamson align their realities with the plotlines of Battle Lines and Batman #137. Bruce and Damian are on the outs with the rest of the Bat Family due to, as Bruce puts it, “everything going on with Selina.” It’s such a small though on-point way for Bruce to describe the situation given his current mindset— not even taking the slightest amount of accountability. In that vein, it came across like we were witnessing someone with a split personality speaking any time Bruce started monologuing. He was talking about everyday things as if nothing else was happening to him. I don’t know if Williamson intended it to come across in this manner but that’s how I interpreted it and it was so unsettlingly enjoyable.

The writing for Damian was a standout for me. His appearances so far in Gotham War have shown him as a one-note character holding his father up as an infallible figure. Here, Williamson dives deeper into Damian as an individual and pulls back the curtain on how he’s processing the events around him. The aforementioned sketchpad page indicates he views Bruce and Selina as absent parents and you can’t really blame him for thinking that.

The one part of this issue that didn’t work for me is the new villain’s plan. How intimidating can they be if the first step of their plans was to turn bats against Batman? Sure, a giant flock of bats attacking you can’t be fun, but came across as lame and I hope they worse things up their sleeves if we’re really to believe they’re a viable foe.

FINAL VERDICT

While there was a decent amount of action to bookend this issue, the heaviest life was in Williamson exploring the the parent/child dynamics in Bruce and Damian’s relationship. There were glaring hints that their roles are on the verge of shifting much like any situation between a parent who is aging and a child coming into their own. It was also nice to see none of the usual Batman rogues suspects in this issue, with some minor names appearing as a distraction to the mysterious new nemesis. My biggest concern going forward is how this new villain is built up, but that won’t spoil how much I enjoyed this debut issue.

Rating: 8.5/10 more

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• myconius
• daspidaboy

Batmanaholic - Sep 13, 2023

Williamson is the best at writing Damian since tomasi. Morrison/tomasi/Williamson are the only ones who write him well.

myconius - Apr 9, 2025

@Batmanaholic - "Morrison/Tomasi/Williamson" -- My sentiments exactly! Couldn't agree more!!

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Was intrigued with this series from its first announcement. But let's be honest! DC hasn't been doing all that great with their ongoing stories for quite a while now. Especially not with their poor treatment of Damian (And Batman for that matter) ever since "DC REBIRTH".

On a whim, I decided to buy collected volume 1 of this series. It was different, but very fun. Something about the tone of Joshua Williamson's BATMAN & ROBIN series very much felt like the same spirit found within Peter Tomasi's BATMAN & ROBIN. Yes, both writers have their own distinct styles for the characters, but both definitely share the same heart.

The writing for Bruce and Damian is pretty wholesome and fun, but also very engaging. LOTS of great action. Simone Di Meo is the perfect artist for this new direction of BATMAN & ROBIN.
The series has since seen a change in creative staff with Joshua Williamson's final issue being #13. But I'll get to reviewing those in due course.

Check this series out if you haven't already. more

Good first issue. I enjoy the art (I know its not to everyone liking). Better Batman book than the mainline.

Light years ahead of what Chip is doing, basic but enjoyable

Sweet start to a series!

a fun and entertaining story

It's a nice start. I like the voice Williamson has for Damian.

Gorgeous art, nice setup, can't complain.

I'm not sure that this was a strong start to this series and the cliffhanger was very lackluster, but I do like the interaction between Damien and Bruce. The simple existence of this book defies the entire Gotham War series, however. In this issue alone we have White Rabbit taking hostages and Killer Croc performing criminal activities, when we were just told multiple times, that there was no longer any criminal activities outside of the rich being robbed. So, which is it? Make up your damn minds. Also, is Damien old enough to drive?

My Comic Review Channel - https://youtu.be/5j1dSytrohk

Surprisingly an OK story!

https://youtu.be/j5zyeplecx0?si=fhq-lph5YNfJFCBm

Review at (:36) in link.

I want to like this book. Damian is a fave, but the art is pretty but does not tell the story very well. Beautiful but not functional

The story was ok , a better comic book artist could of told the story better and Ma be the story would of been better

Meh. Too many changes to the main character of Bruce Wayne, unbelievable that he can operate without the Batcave or Wayne Manor. I don't care for this art style. Overall not that great for a first issue.