“No mammal but the bat can fly. What happened, fifty million years ago, that made it trade out its arms and take wing? I think the bat made a choice. Genes don’t simple change. They have to be switched on. Triggered. It could have gone on living as it was born. But instead it approached a precipice-and dared to leap-and won its future.”

Unfortunately, I have to start off with a warning that the artist changed before the completion of the first graphic novel. If you’re a stickler for having the same artist, or at least trying to find a replacement with the same style, I wouldn’t pick this one up. The art after the first issue makes thirteen year old Damian look like a pudgy eight year old with a receding hairline.

That sort of proves a bit of my next point about the writer. *sigh* I hate bashing on books or comics, but this is just so choppy and not thought out. I admit I haven’t read any of Benjamin Percy’s works before, and I’m not quite sure he knows very much about the Batman universe.

“I had a choice. Follow In the footsteps of the world’s greatest crime lord or the world’s greatest detective…and I chose the Batman!”

There are props to be given for mentioning Batman as the world’s greatest detective; I think some people keep forgetting that, and it’s a simple enough sentence, but anyone who knows Ra’s al Ghul knows he is no crime lord. We’re not talking about a maffia here; we’re talking about the League of Assassins.

Now, Damian is a character, I’ve learned, people either love or hate. Usually there is no in between. For me Damian is one of my top Robins! Sadly, he has poorly characterized here. Is Damian arrogant? Yes. Is he a bit of a bully? Of course. But one thing the Son of Batman, the Grandson of Ra’s al Ghul does NOT do is throw a tantrum like a three year old.

On the good side, kidnapping the teen titians does sound like something Damian would do instead of approaching them individually and asking, and the titians’ reactions to Damian were entertaining. But again, Damian asking for the original Titan Tower to be built is NOT Damian’s character. He’s too much like his father, and grandfather for that matter, and would see that giant “T” as atrocious and prefer to keep a base hidden and well protected.

The art in the beginning is fantastic, but as the art changed so did my opinion. There are a few high points revolving around jokes (Alfred is and will always be the best), but it’s not enough to keep this comic out of the dirt. As much as I hate to say it, but what Damian Knows Best does not have my seal of approval. ( )

I almost entirely liked this Teen Titans reboot, which is weird for me.

There have been some Teen Titans groups that I really liked and others that I didn't, and honestly I thought that having Damian (not my favorite Robin) as well as Beast Boy would make me not like it.

But, how they brought the team together as well as how they set up Mara and the League of Assasins as the antagonists, it was pretty cool, and really well done I thought.

I came into the TPB just planning on reading this one since it's part of the Rebirth and I'm trying to read as many of them as I can to see if I can find some new characters to like (it worked with Marvel Now and Deadpool and Harley Quinn and the New 52). But, by the end I finished the volume definitely hoping that there'd be another one in the series for sure!

I was given this galley through Netgalley on behalf of DC Entertainment. ( )