Robin #12

This is issue #12 of Robin (2021–), written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Roger Cruz. The English original was released by DC Comics on March 22, 2022, and runs 32 pages. After the Lazarus Tournament on Lazarus Island concludes, Damian Wayne returns to Gotham in a new frame of mind. He has not come to reconcile with his father, Batman—Bruce happens to be out of the city—but to stand at the grave of Alfred Pennyworth, holding a vial of Lazarus resin brought back from the island and seriously weighing whether to bring back the "substitute father" who once gave him unconditional love. In the end he sets the idea aside, only to encounter his mother, Talia al Ghul. Their past is full of calculation and hurt, and Damian assumes she has come to fight; instead, Talia asks him to return to her side—as a son, not a weapon. Meanwhile, the al Ghul family secrets exposed by the tournament continue to simmer, setting the stage for the crossover event that follows, Shadow War. This is the twelfth issue of the series, a transitional chapter between the tournament arc and Shadow War, centered on Damian's growth, his choices about family, and his battle with himself, with action and family drama given equal weight.