Following the events of Batman Incorporated #8, writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Patrick Gleason offer us this silent issue of the Dark Knight quietly dealing with the death of his son Damian. Even without a single word spoken (or even showing up in an old fashioned thought balloon) Batman and Robin #18 is the first of the "Requiem" crossovers to focus on the fallout of Robin's death (and not just stick it in as a B-story).
Although Gleason offers several strong splash pages, some of the smaller individual panels of Batman out and about in Gotham aren't quite as strong. This is certainly a comic that would have been better off to showcase more than one artist to carry so much of the weight of the storytelling.
On one hand, the issue puts Damian's loss at the forefront and showcases the toll it's taking on Batman. On the other hand it's still a bit of a cheat as the hard but necessary conversations after such an event have still yet to take place. However, the set-up certainly makes the only words we do see, Damian's final message to his father, certainly have a greater impact. Worth a look.
[DC, $2.99]
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