Comic Book / The Boy Wonder

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The Boy Wonder is a 2024 DC Black Label series written and drawn by Juni Ba.

When Batman is forced to leave Gotham City for some urgent business, Damian Wayne, heir apparent to the al Ghul empire and the Dark Knight's family, sets out on his own to investigate a series of abductions by what appears to be a mysterious demonic figure. As he journeys through this case, Damian will have to contend with what it means to bear the mantle of Robin, as well as the legacy behind it as left by his adoptive brothers.

The first issue released in May of 2024.

The Boy Wonder has examples of:

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Damian Wayne was always a little haughty arrogant brat, but this series highlights his strong desire to earn his father's approval more than his original incarnation. The original Damian actually laughs in Batman's face when he tried to teach him about the sanctity of life, even those of criminals, and it takes him a while to eventually admit insecurity over whether Bruce even accepts him as his son. Here, Damian immediately realizes that he did something wrong after decapitating the thug, becoming sad and confused when Batman reacts with disappointment instead of pride or even anger, and the story explores how much the incident haunts him.
• Adaptational Curves: While it's more because of the art style, Batman has a bulky physique not dissimilar to his iconic huge body from The Dark Knight Returns.
• Adaptational Ugliness: Instead of a brooding Pretty Boy like his usual self, Jason Todd is Covered in Scars, which includes his face. It's bad enough In-Universe that he's very hesitant to take off his helmet with someone else around.
• Age Lift: Downplayed, but Bruce is noticeably older than most incarnations, sporting some greying temples.
• Ambiguously Brown: Damian is colored with a slightly darker skin than normally depicted.
• The Atoner: Ever since his murder of the thug, Damian has been trying to make up for it to both Batman and the thug's daughter, who seems to have forgiven him by the end of the Framing Device.
• Big Bad: Ra's al Ghul is revealed to be behind the demon abducting people, who he was trying to sacrifice to a Lazarus Pit so he can continue with elongating his life.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Dick intercepts Damian's attempts to investigate the demon abductions at the behest of Alfred, and does everything in his power to protect Damian from his brashness throughout their fight with Clayface.
  • Despite being envious of Damian becoming the new Robin and feeling abandoned by Batman, Jason is legitimately horrified to learn that he accidentally shot him while hallucinating, and saves his life after dragging him back to his apartment.
• Break the Haughty: The first issue alludes to how Damian's sense of arrogance and confidence was torn down by Batman's reaction to his murder of the thug, and how a lot of his issues stems from how it's "unfair of the world to make him feel so small."
• Broad Strokes: The series takes place in some undefined version of the period between Batman R.I.P. and The New 52. Damian is Robin, Tim Drake is Red Robin, but Dick Grayson is still Nightwing instead of taking over as Batman and Barbara Gordon is Batgirl instead of Oracle. Some details are also different, such as Damian wearing his Robin suit from Batman and Robin (2009) instead of his makeshift outfit from Batman And Son, and his murder of the thug is implied to be a fairly recent event instead of quite a ways before the events of R.I.P. Dick and Barbara are also implied to be married and have at least one child.
• Came Back Wrong: Jason Todd as expected. When Damian asks about Talia resurrecting him, Jason describes the process as akin to his torture at the hands of the Joker all over again.
• Commonality Connection: Damian and Jason, despite sniping at each other, bond over how both feel that they are the Black Sheep of the Bat-family, having done things that neither are proud of and hoping to regain Bruce's favor.
• Covered in Scars: This version of Jason is covered from head to toe in scratches and scars, extending all the way to his face under the hood.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Batman's hatred of firearms persists, as Damian, who doesn't abide by Thou Shalt Not Kill, orders Red Hood to avoid using guns for the sake of their father.
• The Faceless:
  • Batman is drawn as nothing more than his iconic imposing silhouette. His face as Bruce Wayne is also obscured by shadows. He's shown fully in the light in the final issue when he joins in fighting Ra's.
  • Ra's and Talia al Ghul are both drawn only in demonic silhouette. They come out of the shadows in the penultimate issue.
• Fallen Hero: Jason is portrayed as such; an apprentice of the king (Batman) who was killed by a monster (the Joker), Came Back Wrong, and is now living in squalor in a ghetto. That said, he's still actually very heroic, avenging his landlord for providing him a free place to stay and displaying some genuine Big Brother Instinct towards Damian.
• Framing Device: Much of the story is told as something of a fairy tale by the hostage of a bank robber hiding out in a warehouse. The hostage is eventually revealed to be the daughter of Damian's victim, who is joining a new group based on the virtues of being Robin.
• Good Feels Good: Inspired by Nightwing's own display of concern for him, Damian decides to help up the old lady he had rescued from a mugging, resulting in her thanking and praising him as a "nice young man." Damian is silently delighted by this.
• Hijacked by Ganon: The main antagonist initially appears to be a white winged demon abducting people. It turns out to be minion of Ra's al Ghul, kidnapping people to sacrifice to the Lazarus Pit.
• Mama Bear: Talia wastes no time turning on Ra's upon learning that he plans on Body Surfing into Damian's youthful body.
• Mutual Envy: Jason feels abandoned by Bruce, which is not helped by him adopting yet another Robin under his wing and seemingly replacing him (again) for coming back wrong. Damian meanwhile counters that Batman has often mentioned how much he feels he failed Jason, and as a result Damian is jealous that his father is more understanding of a wayward punk like Jason instead of his flesh and blood.
• My Greatest Failure: Jason believes himself to be this for Bruce, but Damian mentions it's not because of anything that's Jason's fault, rather Bruce feels the failure is on him for not knowing how to help Jason after his resurrection.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Throughout Issue #3, Tim adopts Bruce's playboy billionaire facade to get acquainted with various members of Gotham's elite. Damian, who's expressed a low opinion of Tim already, thinks Tim is wasting time sucking up to their enemies when in reality Tim had been using this to gather intel and plant various surveillance devices throughout the place.
• Papa Wolf: When Batman enters the story, he's uppercutting Ra's for attacking Damian.
  Batman: I warned you. Don't touch my son.
• So Proud of You: Bruce's reaction when Damian suggests giving Gotham its own group of Robins to uplift its societal issues. He smiles and puts his hand on his son's shoulder with full approval.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: A mopey Damian disappears while Dick and Barbara are facing away. They react in amusement as it seems Damian's Like Father, Like Son.
• Unseen No More: Ra's, Talia, and Batman are all obscured in shadows throughout the story, but all are eventually fully revealed as the story progresses, generally to symbolize Damian's distance from them until having to directly face them.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy:
  • Damian thought that killing a thug would please Batman and prove to him that Damian has what it takes to join his fray. Imagine Damian's sadness and confusion when Batman simply stares at him in disappointment before turning his back on him. As a result much of the story is Damian hoping to prove his worth while Batman is away.
  • Jason feels abandoned by Bruce, but also clearly wants to get back in his good graces. What motivates him to help Damian is a memory of Batman encouraging him to look out for the other Robins.
  • Talia has been spending her whole life training and following her father's doctrine in an attempt to win his favor. It's only after birthing Damian that she soon realizes how she would never be able to earn his approval as a woman.
• What Measure Is a Mook?: It turns out that Damian did research on the thug he murdered out of guilt, discovering his name, his age, his favorite food, his desire to rise out of poverty, and that he had a daughter.