Publisher: DC Comics Creative Team: · Grant Morrison · Chris Burnham · Jason Masters Grade: B

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For those who pride themselves on keeping records of trivia, the first appearance of Ra's Al Ghul was heralded by the doom-laden cover of Al Ghul declaring, "When I Decide Robin Must Die -- He Dies!" How appropriate it is, then, that it is at the hands of Talia Al Ghul -- or at least through her own machinations -- that the current Robin meets his apparent end. I say apparent because this is, after all, the comics, and the last time Robin died (by a popular vote of the readers) it didn't stick. For the confused, that Robin was Robin II, Jason Todd. The Robin who died yesterday was Robin V, Damian Wayne -- the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul, conceived through an experiment involving test tubes and other devices, the DNA taken from an unwilling Batman.

Birth of the Damian. The cliffhanger ending of the classic Batman: Son of the Demon from the early 1980s.

But (to borrow the expression of one of those writers of such aforementioned classics) I digress.

Damian Wayne was, it seems, born to die. And as writer Grant Morrison (who introduced the character just a few short years ago -- the Grant giveth, and the Grant taketh away) escalates his comics war between Batman and Talia, Robin defies his father to enter the fray -- fearing that his father has seriously misunderestimated the events and may actually die. This puts him into the thick of the followers of Leviathin -- which includes civilians and young children who have been brainwashed into fighting to the death for their cause, whatever cause that may be. Ultimately, the diminutive Robin (and I did like that he was portrayed as a young "boy wonder" rather than the "aren't you old enough to drive, shave, and drink" Tim Drake -- Robin III) ends up in hand-to-hand combat with Talia's personal monster... another test-tube baby, grown to adulthood and given better training.

Foreshadowing: It took decades, and another generation, but Ras Al Ghul's words prove prophetic.

The real question is who will be Robin now. Will Stefanie Brown step back out of the shadows into her role as Robin IV? Will Tim Drake drop the Red from his Red Robin title so I can quit humming "Yummmmm" every time someone calls him?

And does any of this ultimately mean anything in the DC universe of the New 52 -- a recently (relatively) rebooted universe spawning from the Flash-centric events of Flashpoint? Does a return of Professor Zoom to the universe herald a do-over for all the books, thus resulting in a resurrection of Damian Wayne? Does Superboy-Prime punch his way back into the world and shake up reality again in the attempt?

Ultimately, I want to mourn Robin. But let's face it -- we've seen death in comics cheated all too frequently. We're jaded, we're cynical, and it's the writers' collective fault for making us this way. So I'll read about Batman's grief. I'll follow his new path and see where it takes him. But I keep my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, waiting patiently -- decades if necessary -- for the other pixieboot to drop.