By Mark Rodriguez
Batman has now returned to one of his classic outfits that brings back the Bat-Trunks. Now we focus on an adventure that features the old days of Bruce and Dick, the original Batman and Robin as something from the past returns to affect them in modern day.
The Better Man starts with a flashback of the crowd reacting to the deaths of the Flying Graysons and wondering if the boy will be alright. We switch to modern day as the boy, now grown up as Nightwing is with Batman as they face Crazy Quilt. The villain says he will use his quilt of colors to hypnotize them both. Nightwing asks Batman is Crazy Quilt sews a lot and Batman tells him the quilt refers to hypnotic colors, while the ignore the villain. Crazy Quilt says he will hypnotize them but Nightwing says they can just close their eyes and jump over to him to punch him.
We get another flashback to when Dick was a child, now living with Bruce. He has a nightmare and Bruce is there to comfort him. We flash forward to sometime in the present as Dick hugs Bruce to offer support at him being dumped at the altar, but Bruce is not amused. Bruce says Dick's services as the replacement Batman are no longer needed and asks how long will he stay in Gotham. Dick says he'll stay as long as he's needed and Bruce says he doesn't need him.
Alfred steps in and says what they both need is lunch, and he made Dick's favorite, cucumber sandwiches. Bruce says he's working on the Freeze case and will take his lunch to the cave. We flashback to a young Dick Grayson refusing to eat and saying he hates cucumber sandwiches. He runs off in anger. Bruce tries to tell Dick to stop crying.
Flash foward and Nightwing is now crying in laughter as Batman faces the Condiment King. Batman says this isn't a laughing matter, and Condiment King has robbed seven grocery stories and killed three employees. Batman insists he is not depressed and is doing fine, and Nightwing says they can talk it about. Nightwing gets splattered with ketchup in the face and he says they can talk about it later.
Back to the past, young Grayson is on the ground after he tried to swing from a chandelier, which fell and smashed itself all over the floor. Dick says he's fine and ignores Bruce trying to console him. Dick says Bruce is just a rich kid that wants a new toy. Bruce explains that he lost his parents too and Dick yells that he's not a toy.
Modern day, there's a game playing and Dick calls Bruce over to join him. Bruce says they don't have time for the game but sits with him anyway. Dick jokes about one of the player always fumbling and that they could use Condiment King in case someone wants mustard, or maybe Crazy Quilt if someone rips their uniform. Then he jokes that he forgot that the quilt stands for quilt of colors. He also says Bane would be good at football if he could get past drug testing. Dick enjoys his potato chips.
Back to the past, young Dick Grayson enjoys eating chips and it seems to be the only thing he likes to eat. Alfred insists he needs a proper meal. Bruce says he doesn't like anything else and Dick says he liked football. Bruce and Dick watch football on tv. Bruce says he doesn't watch football because he's usually committed to other things, in this case, raising Grayson.
Modern day, Nightwing asks Batman to dare him to do something, and he says no. Nightwing takes that as the bet being accepted. Nightwing throws one of his sticks and it ricochets all over the Bat Cave and it manages to make 37 bounces. He says he won a penny, and want to take the giant penny that's always in the Bat Cave. Batman laughs at the joke and then has a little break down. Dick says he knows Batman is fine and he'll be there if he doesn't want to be fine. He says maybe they can go out and fined the Ten Eyed Man, with their third crazy villain they get a free Kite Man.
Back to the past, young Grayson is surprised that Bruce is doing a one handed handstand and joins him. Dick bets him a penny he can last longer than he can. Bruce says he does't bet and Dick says his parents used to do that a lot for fun. Alfred says when they're both finished, lunch is ready. Dick asks if they're cucumber sandwiches and says he'll hate them.
Batman and Nightwing swing out upon the nightly skies and Dick says he used to hate cucumber sandwiches. Batman remembers and says his father told him that he loved cucumber sandwiches. He was told not to give up on them and keep trying them again and again because they're worth it.
My Opinions
Well, this was kind of a charming little one shot. While having your would-be wife leave you at the altar is a very different kind of pain compared to losing your parents in a tragic accident, both are very difficult to get over. This issue mostly deals with Dick being there for Bruce, even though he makes it difficult and refuses his help, much like Dick did when he was a kid and getting used to living in Wayne Manor. It's pretty cool and pretty touching. I'm also glad this heartbreak is lasting for a while because being left behind at the altar is not something you can just recover from and have the next issue be business as usual.
We get a few cameo shout outs to minor villains of the old days of Batman comics. Crazy Quilt as well as the shout outs to Kite Man and the Ten Eyed Man were all Batman's cheesier foes that felt like they came out of the Adam West show. Condiment King first appeared in Batman the Animated Series though and later made his way into the comics. With Nightwing joking about the giant penny in the Batcave, that could have been a good chance to mention the Penny Plunderer, but I believe the comics eventually retconned it so Batman got that penny from Two-Face instead. It's kinda funny to see that in the dark and gritty world of mass murdering Jokers and whatnot we still got guys like Crazy Quilt running around.
I did notice that Bruce mentioned he was working on the Freeze case. It's a bit confusing since the comic jumps back and forth, but since Bruce said Dick doesn't need to be Batman anymore, this means this is after the trial and Bruce is working on trying to see who framed Mr. Freeze. I wonder if this will carry over to the next issue so we can finally figure out who set up Mr. Freeze.
Pretty good issue. The only let down is the art is wonky at times, especially with how young Grayson was drawn, and thanks to the cover I was expecting to see Batman and Robin fighting bad guys back in the day. It's weird how they're fighting these retro villains in modern day instead of in flashback sequences with the original Dynamic Duo. I hate that kind of false advertising.
Batman has now returned to one of his classic outfits that brings back the Bat-Trunks. Now we focus on an adventure that features the old days of Bruce and Dick, the original Batman and Robin as something from the past returns to affect them in modern day.
The Better Man starts with a flashback of the crowd reacting to the deaths of the Flying Graysons and wondering if the boy will be alright. We switch to modern day as the boy, now grown up as Nightwing is with Batman as they face Crazy Quilt. The villain says he will use his quilt of colors to hypnotize them both. Nightwing asks Batman is Crazy Quilt sews a lot and Batman tells him the quilt refers to hypnotic colors, while the ignore the villain. Crazy Quilt says he will hypnotize them but Nightwing says they can just close their eyes and jump over to him to punch him.
We get another flashback to when Dick was a child, now living with Bruce. He has a nightmare and Bruce is there to comfort him. We flash forward to sometime in the present as Dick hugs Bruce to offer support at him being dumped at the altar, but Bruce is not amused. Bruce says Dick's services as the replacement Batman are no longer needed and asks how long will he stay in Gotham. Dick says he'll stay as long as he's needed and Bruce says he doesn't need him.
Alfred steps in and says what they both need is lunch, and he made Dick's favorite, cucumber sandwiches. Bruce says he's working on the Freeze case and will take his lunch to the cave. We flashback to a young Dick Grayson refusing to eat and saying he hates cucumber sandwiches. He runs off in anger. Bruce tries to tell Dick to stop crying.
Flash foward and Nightwing is now crying in laughter as Batman faces the Condiment King. Batman says this isn't a laughing matter, and Condiment King has robbed seven grocery stories and killed three employees. Batman insists he is not depressed and is doing fine, and Nightwing says they can talk it about. Nightwing gets splattered with ketchup in the face and he says they can talk about it later.
Back to the past, young Grayson is on the ground after he tried to swing from a chandelier, which fell and smashed itself all over the floor. Dick says he's fine and ignores Bruce trying to console him. Dick says Bruce is just a rich kid that wants a new toy. Bruce explains that he lost his parents too and Dick yells that he's not a toy.
Modern day, there's a game playing and Dick calls Bruce over to join him. Bruce says they don't have time for the game but sits with him anyway. Dick jokes about one of the player always fumbling and that they could use Condiment King in case someone wants mustard, or maybe Crazy Quilt if someone rips their uniform. Then he jokes that he forgot that the quilt stands for quilt of colors. He also says Bane would be good at football if he could get past drug testing. Dick enjoys his potato chips.
Back to the past, young Dick Grayson enjoys eating chips and it seems to be the only thing he likes to eat. Alfred insists he needs a proper meal. Bruce says he doesn't like anything else and Dick says he liked football. Bruce and Dick watch football on tv. Bruce says he doesn't watch football because he's usually committed to other things, in this case, raising Grayson.
Modern day, Nightwing asks Batman to dare him to do something, and he says no. Nightwing takes that as the bet being accepted. Nightwing throws one of his sticks and it ricochets all over the Bat Cave and it manages to make 37 bounces. He says he won a penny, and want to take the giant penny that's always in the Bat Cave. Batman laughs at the joke and then has a little break down. Dick says he knows Batman is fine and he'll be there if he doesn't want to be fine. He says maybe they can go out and fined the Ten Eyed Man, with their third crazy villain they get a free Kite Man.
Back to the past, young Grayson is surprised that Bruce is doing a one handed handstand and joins him. Dick bets him a penny he can last longer than he can. Bruce says he does't bet and Dick says his parents used to do that a lot for fun. Alfred says when they're both finished, lunch is ready. Dick asks if they're cucumber sandwiches and says he'll hate them.
Batman and Nightwing swing out upon the nightly skies and Dick says he used to hate cucumber sandwiches. Batman remembers and says his father told him that he loved cucumber sandwiches. He was told not to give up on them and keep trying them again and again because they're worth it.
My Opinions
Well, this was kind of a charming little one shot. While having your would-be wife leave you at the altar is a very different kind of pain compared to losing your parents in a tragic accident, both are very difficult to get over. This issue mostly deals with Dick being there for Bruce, even though he makes it difficult and refuses his help, much like Dick did when he was a kid and getting used to living in Wayne Manor. It's pretty cool and pretty touching. I'm also glad this heartbreak is lasting for a while because being left behind at the altar is not something you can just recover from and have the next issue be business as usual.
We get a few cameo shout outs to minor villains of the old days of Batman comics. Crazy Quilt as well as the shout outs to Kite Man and the Ten Eyed Man were all Batman's cheesier foes that felt like they came out of the Adam West show. Condiment King first appeared in Batman the Animated Series though and later made his way into the comics. With Nightwing joking about the giant penny in the Batcave, that could have been a good chance to mention the Penny Plunderer, but I believe the comics eventually retconned it so Batman got that penny from Two-Face instead. It's kinda funny to see that in the dark and gritty world of mass murdering Jokers and whatnot we still got guys like Crazy Quilt running around.
I did notice that Bruce mentioned he was working on the Freeze case. It's a bit confusing since the comic jumps back and forth, but since Bruce said Dick doesn't need to be Batman anymore, this means this is after the trial and Bruce is working on trying to see who framed Mr. Freeze. I wonder if this will carry over to the next issue so we can finally figure out who set up Mr. Freeze.
Pretty good issue. The only let down is the art is wonky at times, especially with how young Grayson was drawn, and thanks to the cover I was expecting to see Batman and Robin fighting bad guys back in the day. It's weird how they're fighting these retro villains in modern day instead of in flashback sequences with the original Dynamic Duo. I hate that kind of false advertising.
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