Batman and Robin and Howard (Batman and Robin… and Howard, #1)

BATMAN AND ROBIN AND HOWARD is an entertaining new take on the Batman franchise. The story is told from the perspective of Damian, Bruce Wayne's son and Robin. While patrolling with his father, Damian makes a mistake and hurts someone. His father takes him off patrol duty for a while and sends him to the public school to learn more about people instead of his fancy private school. Damian is not at all happy about attending.

At school, Howard is someone who gets along with everyone and does well in school. When he sees a new student, he is eager to help and show Damian around. However, they may be too much alike, and they seem to clash. As things escalate, they find that they cannot avoid each other and end up on the same project and on the soccer team together. Meanwhile, Batman is investigating some strange occurrences with middle school soccer teams around the city - an investigation that gets him trapped.

With Batman missing and emotions rising, Damian and Howard will need to put aside their differences and work together.

What I loved: This was an overall fun new story from the perspective of Batman's son with middle grade appropriate scenarios and themes. Readers will relate to the feelings of jealousy, trouble getting along with classmates, competition, and misunderstandings. The book captures these all well with both Howard and Damian's perspectives making the conflicts come to life. The other story with Batman was really entertaining as well. The case he is working on (sabotage of middle school soccer teams) is pretty innocuous and age-appropriate even for young middle grade readers. Even while he is trapped, there is plenty of humor (the room has comfortable seating, broken vending machines with free food and drinks, and a connected restroom).

Ultimately, this is a fun read about friendship with other intriguing themes around socioeconomic inequalities, misunderstandings, family, appreciation, and teamwork. The sketch-like artwork adds some whimsy to the story, and the bold font will be easier for young readers to read. While there is a lot of text on some pages, it is still easy to follow and understand who is speaking and which thoughts/feelings apply to which boys.

What left me wanting more: As a small point, I would have appreciated some additional resolution on the lessons learned from his time in public school with greater acknowledgement of how Damian has been growing and learning. While the impression that he is changing is there (from how he reacts and plays the last soccer game), other aspects of his selfish/taking things for granted attitude are not really addressed. It was also rather wordy in places, but this could be helpful to younger readers who appreciate more explanation and overt text.

Final verdict: An entertaining and cute graphic novel, BATMAN AND ROBIN AND HOWARD is a fun read about friendship that is sure to appeal to the intended middle grade audience.