Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or alternatively living your life with your face not buried in comic books, you know that Bruce Wayne is dead, or missing, or trapped in the past, or else…well you get the point.  He’s not Batman these days, his protégé Dick Grayson has assumed the mantle of the bat, and his son Damien Wayne is taking on full time Robin responsibilities.  Now I know other people have been Batman for short stints while Bruce was missing, or rehabbing a broken back, but this is different.  This time it’s going to be somewhat permanent as Dick and Damien are getting their own book.  Issue one of Morrison and Quitely’s Batman and Robin is at retailers now, and after reading it several times over I can say with absolute certainty that while it’s different, very different in fact; it’s exactly what Batman needed. [Incidentally Cool Terry, Allan, and I recorded about 20 mins of commentary on the book for what will eventually become the site's podcast, the production quality isn't quite where we want it yet, so while we figure the podcasting game out the shows won't be available.  If you're interested  in hearing our thoughts though drop me an email and I will send you the Batman and Robin segment.]

I don’t want to get into a review of the first issue of Batman and Robin, there are a lot of people doing that this week and I would rather spend some time looking out into the future and thinking about our time without Bruce Wayne.  We know it’s only a matter of time before Wayne is back in the suit but in the mean time I want to give you 10 reasons why the Dick/Damien Interlude is going to be awesome:

• Number 10…Dick Grayson is sane: Hey nobody appreciates the madness of Bruce Wayne more than I do.  That dude’s neurotic tendencies have made for some of the best stories we’ve seen.  They’ve also lead to some great dialog.  In many ways it’s Bruce’s madness that keeps Batman alive, and without that paranoia driving Dick, I doubt he’ll be as prepared as the criminals of Gotham have come to expect of the Caped Crusader.
• Number 9…Damien Wayne is insane: If you thought Bruce was nuts wait until you get a hold of his kid(allegedly, the paternity test was never confirmed).  I don’t know if it’s that he’s crazy or that he’s 11, but either way the kid has some serious issues, he’s been trained by The League of Assassins, raised by Talia Al Guhl, feels abandoned by his father(once when he wasn’t there growing up, and once when he died), he’s a genius, and he thinks’ he’s ready to be Batman .  Bruce Wayne never had a Robin who was this much of a handful and the fact that Dick is a bit more human than Bruce will give us plenty chances to see the kid act out waaaay more with him than Bruce ever would have allowed.  I have a theory about where Morrison is headed with Damien’s character but I’ll save it for a little deeper into my countdown.
• Number 8…Robin will be less of a support sidekick: If you read the first issue of Batman and Robin you know that with this tandem of Gotham’s guardians, Damien is the mechanical whiz on the team so I think his position will be of increased importance.  That will equate to some great reading for the fans, especially when you factor in Robin’s ambitions to be the bat.  Batman and Robin have always been a team, but Bruce Wayne was always the owner, general manager, head coach, star player, and trainer of that team; it’s going to create some great drama as we see how they function when those roles aren’t quite as clearly defined.
• Number 7…Dick lack’s Bruce’s Discipline: We know Dick isn’t as bonkers as his predecessor, but the big question for me is did the insanity create the discipline?  If you subscribe to the theory that Bruce Wayne’s code of conduct kept order in Gotham and kept him on the right side of that fine vigilante/criminal line he always walked on I agree with you.  I don’t know if Dick is strong enough to simultaneously be the leader of the Bat Family and keep that discipline.  I think that there is a far greater chance that the pressure will get to him and send Mr Gayson over the edge. It’s great that his got his shit together for the end of Battle for the Cowl, but it didn’t exactly come easily to him. Throw a little adversity his way without his mentor for support and I think there’s a pretty good chance you could see Nightwang (get it his name is Dick, I crack myself up) on the ropes mentally.
  
• Number 6…Batman Doesn’t Want to be Batman: I don’t buy the ending of Battle for the Cowl at all.  If you think that now everything is cool upstairs with Dick Grayson you’re more nuts than The Joker.  He wants no part of being Batman and it’s going to show.  There’s a big difference between being Batman, and being Nightwing in a Batman costume, and watching Dick struggle to figure that out is going to be refreshing.  We saw Bruce Wayne struggle with his demons for decades; it will be nice to see somebody else shaking some new monkeys off their back.
  
• Number 5…Tim Drake is Not Cool With What’s Going Down: I’m pretty sure that Tim Drake is going to become a royal pain in Batman and Robin’s ass.  In many ways I think Tim is more like Jason Todd than we want to admit and now that he’s not Robin and Bruce isn’t Batman I think we’ll see those tendencies come to the surface. Seeing how they bubble to the surface, and how they get dealt with by the whole Bat Clan is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
  
• Number 4…Bruce Is Coming Back: Don’t lose site of the fact that Bruce Wayne will in all likelihood be back.  I suspect that as early as this summer the people who protect Gotham City are going to become aware that he’s not quite as dead as they thought.  If Dick didn’t want to be Batman when he thought Bruce Wayne was dead, how’s it going to play out when he realizes that he’s just trapped somewhere.  Not to mention Damian, he wants to be Batman now so how long will he have to wait if it turns out his old man is still kicking?  Bruce’s return might not be all fun and games like you’d think.  It will be complicated, and it will also be compelling reading for comic fans.
  
• Number 3…Is Batman Still Going to Be In The Big 3?: With Blackest Night all set to roll, you can be sure that The JLA will be spending a great deal of time together, and with Bruce not around how will the politics of the group change?  What about the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman dynamic, do you think that Dick will know how to put his super buddies in their places like Bruce did?  Even if he knows what to say, do you think he’ll muster up the courage to do it?  I’m not sure.  In the past, the tough conversations that needed to happen have always happened, will that continue without Bruce Wayne at the table? The boardroom table is going to be a very different place without Bruce Wayne at it.
  
• Number 2…Will Dick Be Able To Save The Day Like Bruce Always Did?:At a very fundamental level whenever a multiverse(or multiverses) needs saving Bruce  is always an integral cog in the machine that does the saving.  It’s one thing to beat up Jason Todd and put on the cowl, but can Dick Grayson pop a cap in Darkseid’s ass? I actually think so, he won’t use the same universe saving moves Bruce used, but I believe that he’ll find some moves of this own.  Either way though I think that it’s going to be great watching what happens.
  
• Number 1…Damien Wayne Is Actually Bruce Wayne: Remember that conspiracy theory I told you about earlier, well here it is.  I think that when the dust settles we’re going to find out that Damien is actually Bruce from the past.  Clearly time travel is going to be an important theme in the DCU, so I think that that’s why Bruce won’t tell anybody about results of the paternity test. Don’t you find it odd that Damien figured out how to make the Batmobile fly?  Remember that you heard it here first.  I haven’t figured out how it all works yet, but that’s where I think it’s headed, and if I’m right hold on because it’s going to be interesting.  Admittedly it’s a bit of a long shot, but what the hell, nobody reads the end of articles anyways, right?

So there you have it, 10 reasons why I can hardly wait to see how the Grant Morrison’s new dynamic duo fair together.  I have high hopes for what’s going to happen, but clearly there are many reasons for my soaring expectations.