Opposite Of A Bed Time Story: Reviewing ‘The Boy Wonder’ #1

Retold origins are a dime a dozen in comic books. A retold origin in the style of a fairy tale? Now we’re on a whole other level.

Batman’s latest, youngest, blood-related, most violent, and most lost son gets a new take on his story with The Boy Wonder #1. An imaginative way to approach the Bat-family mythos comes from Juni Ba, Chris O’Halloran, and Aditya Bidikar.

DC’s Black Label books offer creators a lot of leeway in how to approach the publisher’s most iconic characters. Some stories skew closer to things we know or have seen before, with their own little twists and turns. Sort of what if or alternate universe takes if you will. The Boy Wonder is most definitely an alternative universe version of the Bat-family, but it’s one that approaches the universe and medium in such a unique way.

Part of that comes from the fact that Ba is just such a unique storyteller, both on the writing and artistic side. Just one glance at that artwork and it’s easy to know that you’re in for a really different kind of treat. Whimsical, animated, rough, deep, vivid, and powerful are just a few ways to really describe what’s on the page. Toss in the truly eye-catching paneling, finding ways to expand beyond the norm in creative, and it just keeps getting better.

Writing and doing the art for a story gives a creator the ability to really make sure both things are fully in sync. Not that it’s not the case in other books, but it’s different drawing from someone else’s script than it is drawing from the story that is already in your own brain. Everything is played in the style of someone reading or telling a story, from the often far larger than life depictions of the characters to the lettering choices.

Bidikar works the lettering so wonderfully, with caption boxes that are jagged like ripped out papers and font choices that easily feel like someone actually writing on that paper. All the dialogue comes in bubbles that have personality of their own, matching the tone, volume, and energy of the characters they belong to. Flowing around the page so smoothly, framing and enhancing the already immaculate vibes from the artwork.

Through this first piece, Ba takes liberties to place the Bat-family in the right space to bounce the unbalanced Damian off of. Taking us back to a point where this Robin is just taking flight, caught in the violence of his past and trying to please his father. It’s a Damian that hits all the early really kind of jerk and borderline tendencies of the character with something far more relatable and empathetic. Especially as the story moves forward and he tries to do better, inspired by his eldest brother, before things crumble again.

Striking visuals need a color palette to match them, and O’Halloran brings that easily. From striking vibrant yellows and other colors that act as filters on some pages to the far bolder darker shadowy tones on other panels. It finds that sweet middle spot between vibrant and toned down, binding the two sides of the spectrum together.

Even when things take a notch up in brightness or vibrancy, they remain in a way that keeps them semi-toned down. So that even the more outlandish elements still feel within reach and recognizable to our minds in a more grounded sense. Not that anyone reading books featuring immortal assassins and demons and shapeshifting clay villains is worried all that much about too much grounding. Still, it helps in a way even if it’s not accounted for.

Speaking of Clayface, gosh that depiction. I love it when these very different art styles actually make the villains of a character feel larger, more powerful, or scarier than they might usually be. Just by making them actually feel like something far beyond our norm that we are grossed out or put off by them. Such good stuff.

The Boy Wonder #1 is now available from DC Comics.