With this issue, we start to get a sense, or feeling, for how all the various story-arcs so far are connected. This one takes us all the way back to issue #1, with Professor Pyg, and even further as it connects into the story that led up to Bruce's break from reality. You know the one where Bruce's father seemed to have returned and he took on the persona of Dr Hurt, to drive his son insane . . and prove his superiority. That's what I love so much about Grant Morrison's scripts. You see story-arc, after story-arc, and they all seem a bit connected but you don't really know how. And then, a year or so later, there's one story-arc that seems to pull everything all together. And you start to have those little 'ah-ha' moments as you think back on previous stories . . and you start to recognize the patterns in what you thought was just chaos. Anyways, at the end of last issue it was revealed that Oberon Sexton was actually the Joker. He says he's trying to gain the Batman's trust . . that his 'feelings' changed when he found that the 'other' Batman has gone away. But as this issue progress', I think he's starting to realize the this 'new' Robin is more like the 'old' Batman than is Batman. So . . things will probably turn for the worse pretty quickly. I think it's interesting that when Dick is with the Commissioner, Jim gets word that the Joker has asked to talk to Robin. Dick is concerned that he'll end up dead. Jim responds, 'My god. Does the poor kid have any idea what he's dealing with?' To which Batman replies, 'It's not him. It's the Joker I'm worried about.' Anyways, we start to see that everything is all connected . . Pyg, the Toad, el Penitente and the Joker. It seems that Pyg and el Penitente had released some kind of gas on Gotham that could have a latent affect. It won't be triggered until they decide to. At which time, Batman is going to have a very limited amount of time to try to turn things around.
The issue ends with Dick and Bruce crash landing in Gotham, and they find themselves immediately surrounded by Dollotrons. El Penitente has set loose Pyg. And Damian is beating the crap out of the Joker with a crowbar. And somehow . . this is all working perfectly into the Joker's plans. Everything has been set up like dominoes. I think this is a great book. I love this series. I think what I like so much about it is the differences between Dick and Damian. Really, they shouldn't be able to work together. Neither can really understand where the other is coming from. But . . they don't really have a choice. Good or bad . . they have to make it work. And it's those struggles, I think, are a part of what makes these stories so interesting. Frazer Irving steps in for the art this issue, and I think he did a terrific job. The covers are by Frazer and Frank Quitely.
With this issue, we start to get a sense, or feeling, for how all the various story-arcs so far are connected. This one takes us all the way back to issue #1, with Professor Pyg, and even further as it connects into the story that led up to Bruce's break from reality. You know the one where Bruce's father seemed to have returned and he took on the persona of Dr Hurt, to drive his son insane . . and prove his superiority. That's what I love so much about Grant Morrison's scripts. You see story-arc, after story-arc, and they all seem a bit connected but you don't really know how. And then, a year or so later, there's one story-arc that seems to pull everything all together. And you start to have those little 'ah-ha' moments as you think back on previous stories . . and you start to recognize the patterns in what you thought was just chaos. Anyways, at the end of last issue it was revealed that Oberon Sexton was actually the Joker. He says he's trying to gain the Batman's trust . . that his 'feelings' changed when he found that the 'other' Batman has gone away. But as this issue progress', I think he's starting to realize the this 'new' Robin is more like the 'old' Batman than is Batman. So . . things will probably turn for the worse pretty quickly. I think it's interesting that when Dick is with the Commissioner, Jim gets word that the Joker has asked to talk to Robin. Dick is concerned that he'll end up dead. Jim responds, 'My god. Does the poor kid have any idea what he's dealing with?' To which Batman replies, 'It's not him. It's the Joker I'm worried about.' Anyways, we start to see that everything is all connected . . Pyg, the Toad, el Penitente and the Joker. It seems that Pyg and el Penitente had released some kind of gas on Gotham that could have a latent affect. It won't be triggered until they decide to. At which time, Batman is going to have a very limited amount of time to try to turn things around. 
The issue ends with Dick and Bruce crash landing in Gotham, and they find themselves immediately surrounded by Dollotrons. El Penitente has set loose Pyg. And Damian is beating the crap out of the Joker with a crowbar. And somehow . . this is all working perfectly into the Joker's plans. Everything has been set up like dominoes. I think this is a great book. I love this series. I think what I like so much about it is the differences between Dick and Damian. Really, they shouldn't be able to work together. Neither can really understand where the other is coming from. But . . they don't really have a choice. Good or bad . . they have to make it work. And it's those struggles, I think, are a part of what makes these stories so interesting. Frazer Irving steps in for the art this issue, and I think he did a terrific job. The covers are by Frazer and Frank Quitely. 
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