I lost my powers but found a t-shirt in my size and got a bad ten-dollar haircut. Then I bought a motorcycle to drive to a random motel. A girl who I could've boned in another life gave away my secret in a news article. I fought ink monsters and robots with red cloth around my knuckles. It was fun so I joined an underground ufc club in Oakland where they dress in homoerotic costumes. I infiltrated a secret secret place to find that a very old angry man who is addicted to magic rocks has a plot to destroy the world with his kids. I then tried some green pop rocks myself that used to make me sick..but this time I got addicted. I brought my friends and we punched all of them. Then I got my powers back randomly, and remembered I had a spare suit tucked in my butthole. I grew back my hair in record time after it didn't grow for months. Next issue I meet a different version of me who is older, cooler, has a dope beard, wears a sick black costume, and had the pleasure of knocking Lois up. I wish I was that Superman, and that's the "Truth". more

As a complete story, this event was troubled with rushed concepts that were poorly executed on the script as well as the multiple pencils on art duties. This event had two clear goals; prematurely establish Duke Thomas as a capable figure among the Robins while setting up Grayson's story in his book with the Court of Owls. As an objective, King manages to set both plots into motion even if it relied heavily on convenience. An element that influenced the exposition of Duke’s story since his reappearance in Bermejo’s We Are Robin after his role in Snyder’s Endgame story where he lost his parents. Duke is a promising character who, based on Snyder’s Batman run, has an old connection to Bruce since the events of Zero Year so it’s a normal transition for him to end up in the Bat family. However, two problems were evident from the start, the first concerned Damian’s place in Snyder’s run and the other was Duke’s contradicting skillsets. For instance, he’s depicted as a capable figure in acrobats even though he’s acrophobic, lacks any martial arts training but is capable of standing up to Grayson & Damian while spotting trained stealth assassins, possess deductive skills that exceed those of Tim Drake. The kid is a raw concept that is being set irrationally without gradual development and at the cost of other characters, a flaw similar to the forced introduction of Harper Row’s Bluebird persona last year. Despite these contradictions, Tom King manages to make the character grow on the reader as the emotional and psychological layers of the character are unraveled at the final pages even though some of them were convenient and irrational like Duke figuring out the secret identity of Damian Wayne. The interaction between Damian & Duke is a deep and an enjoyable one especially the promise of friendship between the two. Grayson's fate on the other hand relies entirely on the upcoming event in his book this March. more

Tomasi brings Gordon back to Gotham after his Justice League adventure in the last couple of issues. The story and the settings fit perfectly with the character's past and the present motives seeing how the GCPD Batman was created for the City's needs. The characters' voices, the interactions with Bullock, and this old cases arc are off to a great start that hopefully will maintain the quality it offered in this opening chapter. more

Issue seven shows two relevant stories about Tim Drake and Matt Mcginnis. The first one addresses the Batman suit repairs after it was damaged in the battles with Brother Eye in the last arc. Barbra joins Tim as they unlocks Bruce's old codes to retrieve the necessary data with Drake's deductive skills. Back in the streets of Neo-Gotham, young Matt Mcginnis ventures for answers on the origin of the severed hand of Green Lantern and the ring now in his possession from an illegal weapons dealer. We get a nicely laid out debut of Rewire in the tailor shop as he scolds Matt to leave before he electrocutes the man. Tim prepares to test the Batsuit on top of a skyscraper as Barbra handles the technical support from the Batcave in another subtle tribute to her Oracle days. They manage to get the suit up and running as Drake drops a troubling Jokerz couple in front of a Neo-Gotham police station. We get a brief summery on Barbra's personal life when Tim moves in with her. Next morning, Nora and Batman discover that Matt disappeared as the kid arrives through a garbage truck to the destroyed city of Metropolis. Stephen Thompson fills in for Bernard Chang and he maintains the brilliant rendition of the futuristic architecture, action sequences, and the facial expressions. Marcelo Maiolo keeps the series tone and hue through his vibrant colors. more

The opener, the media coverage, Damian's return, Jason's bar scene were the strongest parts of the issue but that's doesn't mean the awkward dialogue didn't hinder their impact. It was a recurring problem as the Robins chose to break the fourth wall with "I am Robin!" catchphrases throughout the book which came off as forced. There's a grave mistake on Tom King's (or the editors) hands at the end of the book when Travis (the killer Robin) says that Duke saved Damian even though the latter didn't require anyone's help to stop Jim Gordon nor was he scratched by the amateur Robins in the gym fight. The art shifts a lot between the many artists who have different renditions for guys like Tim Drake who appeared like a child during Jason's introductory scene. The plot has a black and white intake on Gotham City's politics. There's also a very convenient tone in regards to the GCPD's role and how it served the plot's progression like with Duke getting arrested for wearing red sneakers. The last act was confusing as Duke, the amateur Robins leader, who ran away from the GCPD and acknowledges their injustice suggests to the cop killer Robin to hand himself in to the police without any consideration to how this gesture could be exploited by the councilwomen Noctua. A decision that contradicted the leadership role that's being set for him. more

A fill-in issue by writers Matt Kindt and Rob Williams as they explore the depth of J'onn J'onzz role on Earth and among the Justice League ranks. The issue continues the journey of self discovery for the Martian Manhunter that started in his own book by Rob Williams yet in a separate event that doesn't require additional knowledge in the character's current "fractured" status quo. Philip Tan (pencils) and Jason Paz (inks) handle the art duties this time around and their contribution depicted the script beautifully. From the moments of self doubt to the clever fight scenes and those solid final pages. The colors of Jeromy Cox brought life to J'onn and his lovely journey to Tokyo, in particular that flying scene across the Japanese capital which was breathtaking. more