Batman And Robin: Year One – Dynamic Duos #4: BANG Went The Gun

Batman and Robin have reunited and have gotten a strong lead on the identity of the Crime Master, but when an encounter with Catwoman leaves Bruce seriously injured with no Alfred to tend to him, Dick fears that he might lose another parent.

The newest issue of Dynamic Duos heightens the tension in a way that rudeness fits with the storytelling throughout the issue. Most of the time is spent on Batman and Crime Master (real name Adam Lamb) going over the latter’s backstory. The origin itself slightly subverts other villain origins with Lamb trying and FAILING to kill the employer who wronged him and ending up in a coma before turning to crime. It highlights how lowly of a threat he actually is, but his willingness to use children in his schemes is enough to put him on the Dark Knight’s radar. The real danger comes at the end when Batman is shot by Mehitabel (the girl that Selina has slowly built a bond with throughout the book) in a scene that is equal parts shocking and violent.

Mark Waid builds to this issue’s climax in a way that makes sense for how the story has been so far, but that sudden tone shift in the final third really helps sell it. It’s so quick that it immediately catches you off guard when it happens. Before that was a somewhat playful flirtation between Batman and Catwoman (foreshadowed by the issue’s cover), that quickly ends in a fearful Robin desperately trying to make it home to an empty Wayne Manor as Alfred’s subplot intersects with this event. As for the Crime Master, he doesn’t make an appearance outside of the flashbacks to his origin, but the scenes are still effective.

Speaking of effective, Chris Samnee’s pencils and Matt Lopes colors are a dynamic all their own and Lopes especially is in top form here. Lamb’s backstory is bathed in various grays, with splashes of red that highlight his full shift to villainy. That red returns in the form of the blood leaking from Batman as a result of the gun shot. Samnee’s bold lines create a dichotomy that helps the violence stand out all the more. Clayton Cowles lettering also gets a special shout out here as a couple key moments immediately draw the eye and sell the emotions.