And we're back! This isn't exactly what I expected when I took on this project since issue #13 came out last week but I wanted to stick to my Christmas themed specials in December and in January I usually do end of year lists but I still have time for those so stay tuned! We'll try to stay on track from here on out so in 2 weeks you'll have your next "Checking In".
So last time (link HERE) we found out that the mysterious Mother runs a human trafficking ring and has ties to Batman. We also know that she can control anyone with the help of nanobots. Dick Grayson and Tim Drake also aren't on speaking terms since Grayson thought Drake and his parents were being controlled. We also met a new character, kinda named Cassandra Cain who unfortunately can only say "Mother" she's hanging out with Harper Roe. Grayson doesn't want them being harmed so he's keeping them tucked away, a notion Harper is none too pleased with.
Issue #6 opens with Grayson and Jason Todd discussing the events of last issue. Roe and Cain are still holed up in an apartment Grayson has kept in Gotham under an alias. Drake is still not speaking to Grayson and Todd is being told about one of the first cases Batman worked with the first Robin (Grayson) which involved Mother. Batman and Robin went to Prague and Grayson recounts that's when Batman cut him out so he decides he must go there and re-investigate from where Batman cut him out.
In Prague, Grayson decides to send Roe and Cain to the theatre to watch Sleeping Beauty performed and keep an eye out on the lone name left on Cain's list of people Mother infected, all the others have disappeared or died. Meanwhile Grayson will continue to monitor Orphan's signal to try to find their whereabouts since so far he's the only link to Mother but when the signal sends Grayson to the Ballet he quickly realises it's a trap and sure enough Mother is there to greet him.
Meanwhile in Gomorrah Drake and Todd are chasing down leads of their own that Drake discovered by following the data Cain provided. They're chasing down some black market kingpins but when they find him in a church he appears to have been affected by some sort of fear gas which leads us to question Scarecrow's involvement since he was the bat villain Batman and Grayson were chasing all those years ago. Back in Prague Mother tells Grayson he can follow her and learn everything or go help Roe and Cain who are in the middle of a fight for their lives against the entire ballet. Mother further states that if Grayson does not go with her he will never see her again, but Grayson still elects to help his friends and after the battle Cain runs off after having a horrible flashback of a throat slash, not clear if it happened to her or if she did it just yet. Grayson and Roe head back to the Prague batcave to hope to shake loose some clues as to where Mother is heading next.
Todd and Drake next find themselves in Santa Prisca investigating The Order of St. Dumas.Turns out The Angel of Death that the black market kingpin mentioned right before dying has killed 10 black market men, all had business with The Order of St. Dumas so they're hoping by heading to their HQ they will get answers, or at least a run it with the Orphan, instead they run into Bane. After a small tussle between Bane and Todd. Drake proposes an alliance since both want to find and stop this Angel of Death. Upon entering the Order's building they hear a voice speaking to them claiming to be The Angel of Death before finally revealing himself to be Azrael.
Azrael and his holy warriors go toe-to-toe with Drake, Todd and Bane and Azrael seems to have them beat even when Drake runs a patch through to his cave and discovers Azrael's real name and the connection between the Church and Mother. Drake gets his mind scrambled by Azrael and Todd is left to rescue his younger Robin. Meanwhile Roe finds all she needed on a muddied up paper trail so her and Grayson, impressed by Roe, now realising why Batman kept her around. They go to investigate a Stephen Cain who appears to be behind all this (Cassandra's father?) but upon arriving in his house they are greeted by a lady who calls herself The Sculptor, she's been waiting for them to arrive.
The review is much of the same, mostly set-up still although I'm glad they are touching on all the story lines in each book, even just a bit to keep your mind fresh as to what each of our characters are doing. The fight with Azrael was pretty boring as far as action sequences go but the ballet brawl was well worth it. They also appear to have creative teams shuffling through every two issues or so which is good to keep the tempo of the series going positively. The art has never been awful and in the last post I spoke negatively about the Steve Orlando scripted issue but really this book hasn't been bad, it just hasn't progressed as quickly as I would like. But there is that old adage that you can't rush greatness, not that I think this book will get there but with Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV mapping out the book the storyline has to be worthwhile at least.
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