Batman and Robin #11: Summer Vacation

Batman and Robin #11 kicks off a new arc that sends Batman and Robin to Dinosaur Island and is written by Joshua Williamson and joined by Juan Ferreyra on art duties with Steve Wands returning as letterer. Issue #10 wrapped up the Shush arc and gave readers a hint of what will come with this new arc. Right out of the gate readers will notice the vibrant and fun style of Juan Ferreyra, who is an excellent addition to this book. After ten issues, the series has found its footing and this issue shows it. The art has a lot of personality and has a certain playfulness. Williamson has put a lot of work into the relationship between Bruce and Damian and Ferreyra seems to have picked up on that.

It will be interesting to see what Williamson has in store for Bane, considering readers haven’t seen much of him recently. It seems that Bane is set on taking over Dinosaur Island and attacking any intruders, but the strange thing is that he isn’t killing anyone. As Maya DuCard tells Batman and Robin, “No broken backs.” The inclusion of Maya DuCard is welcomed because she pairs well with Robin. It isn’t a deep pull, but Williamson has put a lot of care into this series and DuCard’s appearance is another sign of that. In addition to Bane and DuCard, Bane’s daughter Vengeance is also on the island, and hasn’t appeared in much since her inception. Despite this issue feeling full of fun action and writing, Damian is forced to remember Alfred’s death when he sees Bane. Williamson expertly handles this without the issue taking a dark turn, and Ferreyra’s coloring and panel layout does a lot of the heavy lifting here.