Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Nikola Čižmešija
Cover Artist: Simone Di Meo
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Batman and Robin have to face two big threats on the horizon: Man-Bat and Shush. However, they discovered the mutant villain had his own cult, and he’s got big plans. On top of that, Flatline came into town for mysterious purposes involving Damian. But while Robin helps Flatline with dealing with her sister, Batman is approached by Shush to team up of all things to take down Man-Bat. Read Batman and Robin (2024) #8 to see whether the caped crusader will actually work with this new super-villainess to face Man-Bat.
Review:
Okay, I’ll get this right out of the way: this comic, and by extension this entire storyline, has been pretty disappointing. At first, there was plenty of promise and certainly excitement from this reviewer to see a Batman, let alone a Batman and Robin series that was actually fun to read and look at and had absolutely NOTHING to do with the horrid “Gotham War” event going on at the time. And I’m glad that it still doesn’t have that much connection to it at all. The one time I’m happy that a DC comic wasn’t big on continuity. But all that excitement has dimmed since the first three issues. There will be SPOILERS in this review.
So, the comic picks up directly with Flatline and Robin talking with her older sister who’s apparently a criminal and has similar superpowers like she does. We get her backstory in literally one page with the next about what criminal activity she’s up to and while Robin ain’t having it, Flatline tries to play both sides. But the comic quickly transitions to the beginnings of the conversation between Batman and Shush who proposes a temporary team-up to take down Man-Bat. Batman doesn’t trust her for a second, and neither did I, but he goes along with it and it leads to more danger.
Alright, let’s get to it. There are plenty of negatives, but the one positive I’ll give is that the new interior artist, Nikola Cizmesija, is pretty good and does a decent job on the art. Everyone looks good for the most part, though Man-Bat’s look is a bit of mixed bag. I believe his new design just works better with Simone Di Meo’s art. But let’s not waste too much time and get to the negatives.
As I said earlier, the series had a lot of promise with Shush and a new sinister iteration of Man-Bat who had the mutant Terrible Trio, Killer Croc, and Orca as his minions. While I was confused about some things, I was more than willing to give Joshua Williamson a chance to make this work. But after seven issues, this story has dragged on for too long. Firstly, the story with Flatline and her sister feels incredibly rushed since we get her backstory in literally one page. But what’s worse is we don’t even get to see her use the same powers Flatline has, and the story is undercut by how quickly it’s resolved and brushed to the side. It felt like a waste of time, like it should’ve been a backup story.
But let’s get to the biggest problems in this issue and the series as a whole now: the lack of threat from Man-Bat, his cult, and Shush. There’s very little real stakes or tension in this comic. At first, the series gave the impression that Batman and Robin would be dealing with a wave of new mutants made by Man-Bat trying to take over Gotham. But for whatever reason, Man-Bat started a cult of regular humans who have zero interesting elements, and are just mere fodder for Batman and Robin to fight. Not to mention, Williamson hasn’t sold me on the new take on Man-Bat aside from his new look. Worse, it just feels like he gave Man-Bat a cult just for the hell of it instead of sticking with the more interesting and threatening mutant minions he originally had in the first three issues.
And then there’s the mystery of Shush, from who she was to her connection to Hush to why she’s doing all of this. But Joshua Williamson, for whatever reason, has taken every opportunity to undercut any connection between Shush and Hush, which he does again in this comic when Batman asks her once more what’s her connection to Hush and she basically says there isn’t one. Which I call bull on. Plus, Williamson keeps dragging out the reveal of her secret identity to the point that I’m not interested anymore and just want it done so he can move on. The character lost any appeal she initially had and just feels derivative. All while Batman and Robin make little serious progress in figuring out both villains’ plans.
But we’ll see if Williamson actually does anything good with Man-Bat and his cult in the next couple of issues since it looks like Man-Bat will be making his big play soon.
Final Thoughts:
Batman and Robin #8 brings us the second part of “Cult of Man-Bat” as the dynamic duo both deal with their own separate things. Sadly, it doesn’t all pan out. The subplot with Flatline’s sister feels incredibly rushed and underwhelming instead of feeling fun as was intended. On top of that, the promise of Shush as a character and the mystery of her secret identity have kind of worn off their welcome at this point. Meanwhile, Man-Bat’s cult has little in the way of threat towards Batman, so it’s all on Man-Bat himself to sell the danger the caped crusader has to face. However, since big things are about to happen, the next issue could make things more exciting.