Alfred Pennyworth's return in Batman vs. Robin takes another surprising twist
The second issue of writer Mark Waid and artist Mahmud Asra's Batman vs. Robin limited series is full of mystery and secrets - in more ways than one, as the bulk of the action takes place at DC's infamous dual-supernatural headquarters the House of Mystery and the House of Secrets.
But the series didn't reveal all its mysteries and secrets yet, and is fooling around with the emotions of fans of Batman's loyal butler and father figure Alfred Pennyworth, who seemingly returned from the dead in the first issue and is now ...
... well, that would be telling.
Colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Steve Wands, Batman vs. Robin #2 in many ways goes where readers expect it, neck deep into the DC worlds of magic, as Damian Wayne's grandmother, Mother Soul, and the Devil Nezha have teamed up and are recruiting and empowering compliant magic users and stealing artifacts and abilities from heroes and villains that aren't down with whatever their agenda is.
The issue includes cameos by magic users like Jinx, Tannarak, Black Alice, Felix Faust, Zor, Clarion, Ragman, Cain and Abel (the caretakers of the Houses of Secrets and Mystery), and Waid even digs deep into his encyclopedic DC knowledge for the Kindly Ones, AKA the sister witches Cynthia, Mildred, and Mordred, hosts of another one-time DC horror anthology The Witching Hour.
The bulk of the issue serves as something of an expository catch-up for Batman, as he and Alfred are witnesses to vignettes to get the Dark Knight up to speed on what readers already know but he doesn't - that the Devil Nezha has been let out of the supernatural prison on Lazarus island he and Superman trapped him in as seen in the pages of Batman/Superman: World's Finest, and that Damian has been
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