Letters to Batman and Robin #12

[Lissilambe]

Well, here we are at last, the conclusion to our epic origin of the Girl Wonder, Robin! Tell us what you thought!

Take care
Don

[eric the pilot]

Loved this issue as I have all the others.

I thought the opening was very effective, Stephanie does an effective recap of the important bits of information without making it seem like an infodump recap, and it gets the reader caught up on the important information in just a few lines. Equally effective is the little things - Steph having to reach out to Batman via the Batsignal was a great device to immediately identify the stakes, and the fact that she doesn't back down while he goes into the "I am vengeance, I am the night" routine makes it clear just what the stakes are.

Once again, I have to comment on how much I enjoy the banter between Carrie and her group of friends, they sound authentically like kids of that age, but each maintains a decidedly different persona, it's very difficult to balance that for most writers, but you do a great job, everyone gets to shine a little.

The revelation of Carrie's parent's murderer is a nice twist as well, as many of the ones you've injected into this series has been. It's a nice touch, and in a sense you get to have your cake and eat it too, which is always nice in the rare instances that you can.

I liked the exchange between Oracle, Batman and Spoiler in the car as well - once again it's a highlight of this series to see the distinct personalities play off one another - even when Batman's in full-on "Bat Dick" mode, you kind of see where he's coming from, and he actually does have a point here, even if he's a little harsher in sharing it than he ought to. Though, I did find it interesting that he completely disregards his own advice later on in the same issue with Carrie.

We also get some interesting backstory on the Gotham mob, and a very intriguing mystery - I can't wait to see Lew Moxon's tale followed up on, because if Batman didn't kill him, I'm sure whoever did won't be long for an appearance in the series if he (or she) hasn't appeared already. Lord knows you've provided us with a number of compelling candidates already.

The final battle was amazingly well choreographed, .I liked the jumping back and forth between Carrie and Batman/Spoiler, it really helped to build the tension as Carrie's responses continued to get more and more violent and intense, which only increased the stakes for Batman and Spoiler. It was very effective.

Ra's appearance is a delight as well - this all played perfectly into his plans, he really is such a marvelous bastard here - the swordfight was a nice touch, very befitting of this classic, almost film serial kind of villain rather than the typical flashy psychotics that Batman usually encounters.

Ultimately Carrie proves herself to be the hero we've watched her become, getting the rare chance to step back from the abyss mostly unharmed, and the issue ends on a very happy note - we now have a Robin to our Batman. It definitely had the classic feel of a 1980's cartoon, you can almost hear the laughter before the freeze frame, and then the cut to the end credits. It was well done.

A great issue and I can't wait to see what it is you have in store for us next. Way to go!

[>>Riz!]

Great issue. Loved the interaction between Spoiler and Batman. They really would make a great team. How she knocked out Ubu was just funny. And her comments are pure comedy gold.

So, now Carrie finally has her costume. I hope we'll see her in it soon.

I look forward to more stories.

5 stars.