Batman and Robin: Year One #6: Stages and Phases

Batman and Robin: Year One #6 marks the halfway point for the acclaimed series from Mark Waid and Chris Samnee. Waid and Samnee’s collaborations are phenomenal visual storytelling pieces that feel like a classic story the moment they hit shelves. For this series, the general aesthetic and tone harken back to classic eras of Batman stories, so Batman and Robin: Year One does an incredible job transporting the reader back to this period without having a hard date or timeline. Momentum plays a massive role in this series along with pacing. Waid’s writing Samnee brilliantly weaves high-energy action and momentum with slower and more intense character moments. Along with Waid and Samnee, colorist Mat Lopes and letterer, Clayton Cowles seem razor-focused and keyed in on Waid and Samnee’s vision. Another creative team may knock it out of the park with one of these elements but Waid, Samnee, and company seem to have hit a sweet spot with the two. The series is six issues in and has continuously been excellent and somehow tops the last issue but as a whole series, it is all working towards a concise and linear story.

The last few years have been light on Batman and Robin books, but concurrently there are now two titles boasting the Batman and Robin brand, though one takes place now featuring Damian and this one. Waid and Samnee do an excellent job making sure this series feels unique to Bruce and Dick’s relationship. This issue in particular has two of the most exciting moments of the series but the highlight of the issue is an argument between Bruce and Dick. The other moments involve an incredible improvised escape by Robin and Batman facing a lab-made monstrosity, but the argument between the two that ends the issue is simply incredible. Waid’s writing is top notch but it is Samnee and Lopes’ art that conveys so much emotion through body language and facial movements.