This issue’s strange. Not strange creepy, strange it doesn’t fit the first two. It’s like Morrison realized he wasn’t going to have Quitely forever and so he better get some things done. More happens in the third issue than happens in the first two (times two). Damian doesn’t just form an emotional attachment to a victim, he also realizes Dick’s going to look out for him. So there’s a partnership developing there.

More, Morrison manages to “wrap up” his whole Professor Pyg thing in one issue. There’s the “real” origin, the origin the Pyg tells Robin about when he’s doing the James Bond villain thing and the Pyg’s defeat in the end.

It’s also got Dick borrowing from Damian (in the roughness he goes after a suspect) and Damian borrowing from Dick (none of Damian’s attacks are vicious this issue).

Morrison’s using the superhero comic medium to full potential here.

Reading this arc–I know, I know, the circus stuff makes it perfectly suited for Dick Grayson–I can’t help but think of Batman Returns and the evil circus in it.

Again, this issue is Morrison decompressed. Seeing Quitely do an extended action sequence–the issue is basically just the action scene, with some bookends with Dick and Alfred discussing the state of things (after the first night out)–is odd. I only know him from his Superman work with Morrison and that book, while it did have a lot of action, was also heavy on the iconography. Batman and Robin is not. It’s a mix of a lot of things and there’s something magical about seeing someone with Quitely’s deliberate, realistic to the point of it being unattractive, lines do a superhero book.

Morrison’s staying pretty mainstream here. No metaphors, no real homage (past the cover). Just good writing.

How can Morrison infuse so much humor, so much idealism, in such a nasty story? The book’s full of that buoyant Dick Grayson positivity, which is what makes his scenes with Damian so funny, but it’s juxtaposed with the serious negativity of the Pyg story.

See, the issue opens with the Toad and his threats and the Toad’s funny and nearly cute. When the Pyg shows up at the end with his zombie-masked people, it’s a definite departure from what one might expect. It’s rough, whereas the scenes between the Bat-Family are cute–I mean, Damian treating Alfred like a servant? It’s hilarious.

Batman and Robin is also decompressed Grant Morrison. There’s not a lot of talking, there’s a whole bunch of big panels and full-page spreads. It’s a commercial comic book to be sure, but a subversive one. Besides the Quitely art in general, I mean.