It’s not just an origin for Dick as Robin, but for Batman as the Batman we know today. Origin stories often get a bad rap because they’re covering material we’ve seen before, but this is one of the few that feels both familiar and genuinely new. He’s a lot more compelling than most writers give him credit for, and few are able to keep that when writing him as a villain. But at the same time, Lemire manages to keep him sympathetic-this is someone who has been horribly mistreated, and is determined to deal it back out tenfold on the world. Via DC Comics.Ĭroc has rarely been more terrifying than he is here, overcoming Batman with brute force and setting up a sadistic deathtrap to avenge his multigenerational grudge against Robin. But there’s a bigger plot here, with Killer Croc becoming obsessed with Robin and stalking Dick to his school to try to avenge an old grudge from Haly’s Circus-one that plays very well off Croc’s circus origins. Some of the scenes, such as him pushing a potential friend away because he’s worried about giving away his secret, pack some real emotion into them. Lemire digs into the early years of Dick’s time as Robin in a way few writers have, showing Bruce’s growing pains as a parent, Alfred’s tension with his adopted son as they try to provide a home for the boy, and Dick’s own descent into darkness as he struggles with his trauma and the violence he has to deal out, as well as his trouble maintaining a normal life. Ray: How many masterpieces can one man put out in a single year? Jeff Lemire seems determined to test that, and the conclusion of this origin miniseries firmly establishes this as one more.

Robin and Batman #3 variant cover, via DC Comics Robin & Batman #3 – Jeff Lemire, Writer Dustin Nguyen, Artist Ray – 10/10

Jeff lemire robin and batman