The biggest challenge in front of the Bat-books with the New 52 relaunch was compressing the bulk of their rich stories into just five years of new continuity. More specifically, how Batman's sidekicks fit into this short timeframe has been the apple of discord amongst fans. Gail Simone took good care of figuring out Batgirl's timeline; in this issue, Kyle Higgins repeats the same feat by giving Dick Grayson a neat new start.

The first Robin started his career not as a child, but almost as an adult, and his motivation does not lie in the heart of tragedy as Batman's, but rather in the spirit of moving forward. An interesting aspect of this new Dick Grayson is his ability to read body language; it is almost his super-power, and another quality that makes him unique. The dynamic between Batman and his first Robin seems to indicate theirs was not a long association, which works just fine within the limited five year period. All in all, "Perpetual Motion" is a very satisfying tale.