When DC announced its New 52 initiative, certain promises were made: successful DC comics titles would be subject to far less meddling than those facing cancellation. Batman and Green Lantern, each of them backed by a modestly successful film franchise, were cited as two characters whose titles and histories would only be minimally tampered with.
For better or worse, DC kept its promise. Each of these titles is starting over with a new #1 on the cover, but that's about as deep as the changes go. Each writer is already a veteran of his assigned title, and each carries over story elements from the previous iteration of these titles. Unfortunately for new readers, and especially for those whose only familiarity with the characters comes from the movies, the result is quite disorienting.
Green Lantern, written by Geoff Johns and superbly illustrated by Doug Mahnke, finds Hal Jordan without his ring, adjusting to life as a mere mortal, facing eviction and a middling credit score. For those who know Hal, it's actually not a bad approach to the character, bringing him (and his ego) back down to Earth both literally and figuratively. Unfortunately, Johns doesn't seem eager to dwell on Hal Jordan's new status quo for long. By the end of the issue, wheels are already set in motion to get him his ring back.
Green Lantern Corps does not feature Hal Jordan at all, but it does find two other human Green Lanterns having just as much trouble adjusting to life on Earth, even with their rings. Uncomfortable in their civilian identities, John Stewart and Guy Gardner head off to space in search of something Green Lantern-y to do. An unseen villain quickly raises the stakes, committing genocide strictly to get the Corps' attention. The exact nature of the genocide might make you laugh, even as you realize what's happening; maybe you'll feel bad about it later. Either way, writer Peter Tomasi and artist Fernando Pasarin leave enough questions unanswered to entice a reader back for another month. Foremost among them: Where the f*** is Kilowog?
Batman & Robin, also by Tomasi, who wrote several issues of the title's previous incarnation before handing it over to Judd Winick, and artist Patrick Gleason, finds Bruce Wayne back as Batman. (He was dead, replaced by Dick Grayson, who was the original Robin before becoming the hero Nightwing. Eventually, Bruce came back to life, and decided to fund an international team of Batmen -- Batman, Inc. -- thus allowing Dick to stay Batman, but new readers would have no idea how Dick became Batman or whatever happened to Bruce Wayne, who everyone knows is Batman, and so Dick resumed his role as Nightwing...And then there's the matter of Bruce Wayne having a son, who's the current Robin and also the grandson of Ra's al Ghul, the villain played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins, and, well, you can see why DC needed to relaunch its titles and streamline its continuity, yeah?)
Anyway, the Gordian knot that is DC Comics' continuity is cleanly severed here, mostly swept under the rug or dismissed with a sentence or two: Bruce Wayne is Batman. His son Damian is Robin. This book, as the title suggests, is as much about their relationship, both between hero and sidekick and father and son, as it is about costumed crime fighting, and that alone elevates the book above standard superhero fare.
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