Knightsend

Robin 7-8

Batman 509-510

Batman: Shadow of the Bat 29-30

Detective Comics 676-677

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 62-63

Catwoman 12

Not nearly as good as I remember.  It starts off with a great premise: Batman needs to get back into fighting shape in order to take the mantle of the Bat back from Azrael.  He enlists Lady Shiva to do so, setting up a very Hong Kong martial arts movie plot where he has to fight his way through the seven disciples of a murdered master.  

I know it's a classic pose, but this Jim Balent work...

...looks a lot like the one Jim Lee would do seven years later.

That part’s super fun, but the Jean Paul side of things is an absolute snoozefest.  Issue after issue of him tracking down arms dealers and ranting at visions of St Dumas.  The five-issue fight between Azrael and Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Catwoman is sadly meh, just a bunch of people whaling on each other over and over.  

The finale is even worse, as Jean Paul is, after all that trouble, felled by a blinding beam of light like Paul on the road to Damascus.  It’s really sad.   

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good for Robin 7, drops down to Fine immediately after, then deteriorates to Didn’t Suck around Part 7.  

Robin 9

Things get back to normal as Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne pick things up where they left off as partners.  It’s a nice return to normalcy with the usual excellent art from Tom Grummett.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Batman 526

A random issue I picked up, not sure why.  The JH Williams III art?  It’s certainly not as good as his later stuff, but it’s not bad.  And the story about Batman barely staving off burnout is decent, if not reminiscent of Knightfall.  (Which Alfred is good enough to call out.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

That’s it for Batman Box 1!  At least two more to go.  

Box summary

Time spent reading: 20 hours 11 minutes

Issues read: 185

Issues cut: 19

Highlights (Good or better): Batgirl: Year One, Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance, Batman: Killing Joke, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 16-20 (Venom), Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 32-34 (Blades), Batman: Sword of Azrael

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 37 days, 6 hours, 27 minutes

Issues read: 7777

Issues cut: 908