Batman & Robin (The New 52) # 12

 By Mark Rodriguez

Damian arranged a contest with Dick, Jason and Tim to prove he is the best Robin of them all. He has so far bested Tim and Jason, but before he can get to Dick, he will have to help Batman take down the latest villain, Terminus.

"Terminus Last Gasp" opens with Terminus introducing himself to Batman and Robin as he attacks them in a giant robot suit. He swings a traffic light pole that he ripped from the ground, and the Dynamic Duo backflip to get out of the way. Terminus says this is the price Gotham pays for having a bat watch over them. He has shown the city that the bat symbol is a curse and that Batman's true legacy isn't the people he saved, but the people he scarred. 

Batman tells Robin that they should divide and conquer. One of the henchmen wants to attack Batman and Terminus punches him away, telling him that Batman is his. Batman tosses some batarangs at a nearby fire hydrant and it explodes all over the bad guys. 

Terminus says he wanted to bring Batman into the light so the shadows won't make him more menacing. Batman shoots a rope around his arm saying he doesn't need the shadows. Terminus uses the rope to swing Batman into the ground, saying this will be the first mark of many. Robin is fighting the henchmen. 

Terminus picks up Batman as he chokes him with his own cape and tell him to say his name. Batman has no idea who this is. Terminus asks if he's just another faceless life that he's ruined. Batman says if he's seen one lunatic, he's seen them all and punches the protective dome Terminus has around his head.

Batman escapes his grip and calls for the Batmobile. His vehicle arms a laser array to blast a brick wall behind Terminus, making it collapse all over him. Batman goes into the Batmobile where it suits him up with an augmented suit. Terminus comes out from under the brick wall and tells Batman to stop hiding. Batman steps out donning an armored version of his outfit and he's ready to fight. 

One of the bad guys knocks Robin into a store full of knives. Robin says he threw the wrong kid into the wrong store. He throws the knives at the bad guys telling them to be thankful he's not aiming for main arteries. The three men that were fused together grab Robin and say he's to blame for their current state and now they will tear him apart. 

Just then Nightwing, Red Hood and Red Robin show up to help with the fight. Robin tells them he had this under control and Nightwing says this is their city too. Robin comments on Red Hood aiming for the bad guys' legs and he tells him he doesn't want Batman angry at him if he starts taking kill shots.

Batman smashes through the dome, exposing Terminus' face. He climbs onto the back of the machine and says if the machine breaks down, he will break down and the city will be safe. Terminus grabs Batman and throws him away saying he will be the only one to get broken.

As Batman continues to battle against Terminus, his family defeats his henchmen. Nightwing awaits Gordon that they are free to take them away as they go to help Batman. Gordon orders the helicopters to launch taser nets over the henchmen (ouch). 

Terminus socks Batman and he drops to the ground. Terminus is ready to hit him as he gets back up, but the timer in his suit is down to 3 seconds. Terminus says there isn't enough time and he falls on his back. Batman says he stopped when his timer stopped. Terminus tells him everyone has a timer, but he is able to see exactly how much life he had left, down to the second.

Batman asks why he did this and Terminus tells him this was his opening salvo. The timer in his suit didn't just count down what was left of his life, but also when a rocket he has set up will be launched. The rocket will release a weapons grade toxin that will fall over the city and kill everyone within days. He didn't expect to defeat Batman, he just wanted to see the city turn against Batman and watch him die as he does. Batman sets his thrusters to maximum and flies off to stop the rocket as his sons watch him.

One thing I noticed is that all four of them have something red to their costume aesthetic. Even Nightwing, who used to wear blue, changed his outfit to red in the New 52.

Batman grabs onto the rocket trying to change its course and make it land into the ocean. Robin watches as his father rips off a panel and pulls out the wiring. Batman leaps off the rocket as his armor explodes off him.

Terminus starts rotting away as he think the explosion is the sound of his victory. Robin tells him the explosion happened underwater and not above the city, so he can take his failure to the darkness. 

Robin offers the gang a ride and Nightwing accepts. Red Robin can find his own way and Red Hood walks off on his own. Nightwing tells Damian he heard he already visited Tim and Jason. He says there's no need to fight and gives him one of his Escrima Stick. He says he doesn't have to try so hard, he's already wearing the R on his chest.

The city watches as Batman glides across the city. Gordon smiles and jokes saying he thought bats were only creatures of the night. 

My Opinions-

I don't know, this issue felt a bit rushed. I like some of the concepts here, but maybe they shouldn't have tried to combine the Terminus story with the 'War of the Robins' story. It would have been something different where there is no big bad guy to fight and the issues focused on Damian challenging the others one by one. Maybe have Batman beat up some random thugs if you feel you need some bad guy in there, but I felt you lose something trying to combine these two stories.

I guess my biggest problem is Terminus. Who is he? What in the hell did Batman do to him that led to him being in a decaying state? I liked the idea of no-name thugs teaming up on account of Batman leaving marks on them, but Terminus is their leader and he has the gravest injury of them all. There would be no explanation if he had a batarang stuck in his head like that one guy, but what could possibly have happened between him and Batman that left him in such a state? That one part where Batman said he didn't know who he was, that would have been perfect to do do the old 'villain spills his backstory' bit. Sure, cliché' but I mean... give us something. Then the man lies dying and there is zero sympathy due to the rocket being fired off. Give them a few panels, these guys (except Damian and Jason) are usually sympathetic to the bad guy's plight, despite him being a bad guy. Terminus was literally treated as 'just another bad guy, ho-hum'. 

And then Nightwing kinda talks his away out of fighting with Damian. I don't think Damian would have taken that and would still have insisted on fighting but hey we're out of pages. My issue is, Damian didn't really do anything all that special. Yeah, he held his own against typical thugs, but he's done that before and being able to beat up on henchmen is kind of a bare minimum expected of a Robin. I don't know, maybe if he saved Nightwing's life during the battle, or maybe somehow went with Batman and helped him disarm the rocket, that would have added more credence to what Nightwing said. I'm just going to chock it up to Nightwing being slick and just talking his way out of a fight. Damian is still a creepy kid you don't want to fight anyway.

Interesting story, interesting concepts, but maybe it should have been expanded to a fourth issue. At least to expand or rather.. show Terminus' backstory and to have a proper fight between Robin and Nightwing.