I will probably buy the trade paperback at some point, but it's a mediocre story with the Tim parts. The changing art styles and lack of female characters are also drawbacks.

This had some really good moments, but these types of mini crossover events with different writers across each book always feel disjointed to me and this was no exception.

I haven't read a four star Batman comic in a while and that makes me sad. This wasn't great and only reminds me how much I hate Damian and Batman as a dad. It just damages the character. This could have been shorter, but the stuff with Tim Drake was good and first chapter was really strong. Overall, it's decent but not a great entry in the Batman canon.

I think Dini was a nice calming influence here. No crazy timelines, and quite understandable overall. Nightwing's voice is perfect.

3.5 i love tim drake

Why exactly does Ra's Al Ghul come back? Do Batman writers not have enough villains to play with? This crossover of Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, and Robin feels clunky at parts, not because the writing's bad, but because each chapter (by necessity) changes which character gets top billing. Robin's story, about being tempted to use the Lazarus Pit for his (many, many) dead loved ones, harkens back to [b: Spider-Man: One More Day|1791288|Spider-Man One More Day|J. Michael Straczynski|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348517721s/1791288.jpg|1790254], though it's obvious that he won't be corrupted, because neither Nightwing nor Batman show the slightest desire to use the pits for their own fallen friends.
[a: Grant Morrison|12732|Grant Morrison|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1311378308p2/12732.jpg] gets in just a few crazy ideas, and [a: Paul Dini|61935|Paul Dini|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1294337447p2/61935.jpg] gets in a few clever bits, but both of them deliver their worst writing on Batman yet.

My second foray into Batman as a father.

The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul addresses Ra's' attempts to re-animate to continue his work with the League of Shadows. The first prelude chapter was amazing as it described the process by which Ra's is brought back to life: in my opinion, the strongest chapter in the entire graphic novel. We're also given more insight into Damian as Batman's son. His cockiness is still there, but it is now masked in the form of adolescence. Damian continues to want to get to know Bruce/Batman, but there is still something more to the character, more of a sinister intention that is hovering under the surface.

The novel also introduces new characters (new to me, that is) I-Ching and Sensei. I-Ching is a character with a lot of untapped potential. I like how he just shows up at opportune moments. I also enjoyed seeing Talia al Ghul more involved in the story. She's another character with significant potential.

This particular book, though noted as "by Grant Morrison", is actually written by four different authors. Though generally cohesive, the constant switching in authors was much more jarring to me than chapter-by-chapter changes in illustrators and colorists.

The spin on the theme of family is good stuff. We've always had the family theme with Batman stories given what happened to Bruce's parents, but that angle had to do with how does one rebuild the concept of family. This particular book assumes that it's been built and now asks how it should be kept together. What does it mean to be a family? Is it blood relation? Common goals? Friendship? There are no answers given, but the path taken toward the answers...there's the depth.

This was odd.

As far as a plot goes, it's fine, I guess. Although, admittedly, I never read the big, big issues where Batsy took on R'as al Ghul. In fact, I've read more of Bruce's interactions with Talia than I have his interactions with R'as. The plot wasn't really my issue: the characterization was.

This is one of those "true" events where you have to read the other series to follow the story. It would not make sense if you were just reading Nightwing, or just reading Robin or just reading Detective Comics. You had to read all of it.

R'as needs Damian because he's a blood male relative with a youthful body and R'as wants to take him over because the body he has currently is decaying. Simple enough. The thing is, Damian didn't really feel like Damian. I get that anyone would be scared in this situation but I found it hard to believe Damian would express that fear - let alone to people he didn't know all that well. In this arc, he openly tells Alfred that he's scared and that just didn't seem like something Damian would feel comfortable telling to Alfred at this time. But, let's break this down into bits:

Detective Comics:
These issues were the only ones that felt somewhat close to in character. For Bruce anyway. Although, it was a bit odd seeing him smile at Talia but you know, writers go back in forth on that. Tim was fine and Damian was... fine?

Robin:
This felt like when I read fanfic and I can easily tell that the writer loves their main character and just puts them into situations where they're ridiculously misunderstood and treated like a punching bag. One, Damian was much too soft here and two, Alfred unreasonably yells at Tim for a reasonable assumption. You know, so readers would feel bad for Tim. Anyway, there's something here for Tim's emotional state as he continues to grieve Steph, Kon and his dad. You know, if you like Tim, you'll appreciate this.

Nightwing:
If I never read anything else written by Fabian Nicieza, I will die happily. I don't like this guy's writing. Not only is he awful at portraying women, his "one liners" aren't funny at all. He threw in a "priceless" joke and I had to take a step back and try to remember what year this was. On top of that, it wasn't even funny. There's an art to Dick Grayson's bad jokes and Nicieza did not accomplish that in these 2 issues. Anyway, I found it hard to believe that, even if Dick didn't like Damian, he wouldn't think it important to save the kid simply because he's a kid. Dick Grayson would find Damian worth saving/protecting for that reason, even if he didn't think of him as his brother at this point. And I really do think Dick would think of Damian as his brother but.. whatever.

So, it's a complicated recommendation. Damian Wayne felt out of character. Suddenly, he doesn't know how to fight and he's just damsel-ed. It was a strange thing to read because when he first met Tim Drake, he kicked Tim's ass. So... maybe read this if you like Talia? But, I can't say how in character she was either when the first time she introduced Damian to Bruce, she didn't seem all that fond of him, Damian said his mother never spent any time with him, and in this book, she's shown doing everything she can to protect her son. Seemed... like an odd turn.

This is a must have for Bat-Family fans. Includes Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, as well as Bruce Wayne's son, Damien.