Batman and Son by Grant Morrison, Andy Kubert (Illustrator), John Van Fleet (Illustrator), Jesse Delperdang (Illustrator)

I'm just lately diving deeply into the Batman comics, although I read them a long time ago, and I am a big fan of him as an iconic figure. To my surprise, I found out late last year that he had an actual son. Luckily, my library has a few of these books about Batman and his son, and this is one of them. When Damian shows up, he's a fait accompli, and Batman has to deal with the pathology the boy has due to be raised to be an emotionless killer who believes he's destined to rule the world by Talia in the League of Assassins, and as the grandson of R'as al Ghul. The boy is already a killer and his moral compass is seriously skewed. Batman takes the boy under his wing, knowing that he's a loose cannon. Damian has a twisted daddy complex, and feels the need to prove himself to his father. He sees the current Robin, Tim Drake as competition, and deals with him brutally, as he also treats a somewhat harmless masked villain. It all adds up to one serious complication for Batman. But he knows he has a duty to his son. Overall, I did like this, but I didn't like the prose story stuck in the middle of the graphic novel. To be honest, I stopped reading it. The gleeful brutality of the Joker grotesquely described by Grant Morrison's prose writing was stomach-churning. I had a sensitivity when it comes to that kind of subject matter, so I knew it was time to throw in the towel as the Joker begins his murderous rampage through Arkham. I really like the character of Harley Quinn (as she is portrayed in the Suicide Squad). While I know she's no innocent, it seems as though Joker brings out the very worse in her. Their relationship is the very definition of a toxic romantic relationship. I'm glad she later kicks him to the curve. So the prose story brought down my rating a lot. Also, I felt the ending was too abrupt and a bit confusing. I think that one should try to figure out the chronology of the Damian Wayne story and have the next books handy after they read this.