I used to be really into comics as a teenager but that's almost a couple of decades behind me now since I was last really into comics and a lot of the stuff I don't quite remember as I really wasn't into it enough back then to really dedicate all of it to memory. The "New 52" soft-reboot seemed like a good time to try and to re-invest interest into the comics and for the most part it has all been going well.
My lack of understanding of Damian's backstory has nothing to do with anything, I just don't like him. In fact, I've never liked the idea of Robin and thought Batman works well enough on his own and doesn't need some teenaged doofus slowing him down. The way Robin, or previous Robins, have been treated in the other Bat-Books has been fine. I liked the use of Nightwing/Dick in Batgirl 3 and the use of the Robin(s) in "Batman" and in DC, but it's not completely working for me yet in B&R mostly because I'm not quite liking this Robin yet but with the "seduction of the dark-side"-like angle this book seemed to suggest it's going to go with it's slightly promising.
I've no intention of trying to catch up on nearly two decades worth of missed story because, as said above, by starting off with all new #1s any back story should pretty much be either erased or better handled.
Take how Barbra Gordon's paralysis has been handled so-far in Batgirl, we've mostly been told how it fits into the "new" timeline and what happened and, slowly, we're being told how Barbra got the use of her legs back and how her recovery is progressing.
But it seems the Batman & Robin book is weighing itself down a lot more with backstory than the other books. I think even in "Batman #1" Bruce Wayne dons an exposition device that explains to him (us) who the various Robin(s) are and other small details.
I'll continue reading B&R, and the other Bat Books, through their first arc but, right now, I'm thinking that "Batman" is the only one I'll continue following as it's really the only that has captured me.
And it's not really the not knowing or remembering Damien's back-story that's making me not really be passionate about this book it's, again, that I just don't like the character or the Robin idea at all or at least how it's been shown so far.
^ They would argue that they're not and not to quibble but it's actually The NEW 52 not "all new". As my point before stated there is stuff carried over from arcs due to sales. It is not like we're taking a hardship reading a couple previous trades. Anyway...
Well, as previously stated, the other books I've picked up (Superman/Girl titles, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash) have all taken some strides to while not do entire origin stories they also started off "fresh enough" for new readers to pick them up without having to deal with decades of backstory. Considering there are
four Batman titles you'd think one of them could've been a cold, hard, reboot that shed the past and pretty much started over. Again, not necessarily with an origin story but something not so weighted down with the Batman mythos.
