posted
I’ve been reading “Red Robin” since issue #13. As mentioned in previous reviews, I’m relatively new to the Bat-family of books. I never read any of Tim Drake’s solo “Robin” series, and my only real familiarity with him comes from the first few issues of Geoff Johns’ “Teen Titans” run. I have quickly become a big fan. I don’t know how he was previously characterized, but I like how Tim is portrayed in this book as extremely smart and resourceful -- not in a way that is obnoxious or overbearing but as a result of being raised, in essence, by the world’s greatest detective. The earlier issues, which I’ve read in TPB, had him taking down Ra’s Al Ghul, which, if not completely logical given who Ra’s is, was done in a way to show that Tim is afraid of very little. Now that he’s back in Gotham, for the most part, there have been some plot points I’ve missed not knowing all the backstory, e.g., Tim’s relationships with Lynx and Anarky, his anti-gang initiatives, his adoption by Bruce, etc., but I hope to rectify this by picking up some of the “Robin” trades. I love Marcus To’s art. My only quibble is that while Tim looks like a fairly typical teenager, albeit one who wears a lot of black suits, as Red Robin he looks older and bulkier. There was a nice scene between him and Bruce a couple of issues back that really illustrated this -- they were standing next to each in costume and looked like equals until Tim took off his hood and suddenly he looked like a little kid.
In the most recent two issues (18 & 19), Tim has been in Russia dealing with Red Star and a Russian businessman with connections to the Society and the “Unternet” (?) – again, missing the backstory. Anyway, issue 19 was a lighter change of pace with Tim and Lucius Fox’s daughter, Tam, getting sucked into the Unternet with Anarky. Tim had on a modified costume that I could see him switching to, especially since he has said he missed the feeling of bullets whizzing through his hair. There’s a team up with the Teen Titans coming up. To me, Tim seems to have outgrown his former teammates, so we'll see how they interact.
Overall, "Red Robin" is a smartly written book with great artwork. Like Dick Grayson before him, it seems completely believable that Tim Drake "graduated" from his role of Robin. Whether I stick with the other Bat-books or not, I'll be following this one for a while.
As a side note, I’m torn with Damian Wayne as Robin. While it would seem too much of a stretch to have Tim go back to the role, I worry that Damian isn’t going to be written consistently, and he’ll end up like Jason Todd. In the few issues of “Batman and Robin” I’ve read by Grant Morrison, he’s a Robin like no other, and he plays off of Dick really nicely. In this month’s “Batgirl” and the recent Halloween issue of “Superman/Batman,” he’s played a little too much for laughs – though they were genuinely funny, especially “S/B”. Anyway, I hope Damian remains true to Morrison’s vision and we’re not voting on whether or not to kill him anytime soon.
-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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You know what? When it was announced that Tomasi and Gleason's run on this book was being delayed, my gut told me that the story ordered to fill-in in the meantime would be a waste of money. After a promising part one last issue, I thought maybe I was wrong. Well, part two made me feel like my first instinct was correct.
Last issue, writer Paul Cornell set up a pretty interesting modus operandi for his new villain the Absence. She would leave clues in which the solution was to figure out what was missing. Then, on that last page we had the reveal that she has a huge hole in the middle of her head to kind of underline her gimmick. It's a weird visual that might seem appropriate for Batman's bizarre villain roster, but at the same time, it feels a little too over the top.
This issue, we get her backstory, and I wasn't impressed at all. Seems she survived a point blank shot to the head because she has a rare condition in which her brain tissue is distributed on the sides of her skull instead of in the middle. I have no idea whether this is real, but if it is, I suspect she would be severely cognitively challenged at best. But not only does this enable her to survive a coincedental wound unimpaired, but somehow she also survived the massive blood loss shared with no medical attention! Really?
Sorry, but that was a bit too much. I think she would've been just fine as a villain with the motif but without the cockamamie hole-in-the-head gimmick. It just took me completely out of the story. I also suspect it precludes her ever appearing again as a Batman villain (unless Cornell writes her into his future comics). Basically, this shapes up as an utter waste of my money with another issue left in the storyline.
Also not digging the violence implied with a bag full of severed heads and Vicki Vale as the potential next victim. Ugh.
Scott McDaniel shares the pencilling duties with another guy I've never heard of. McDaniel does pretty well here with what must have been a tight deadline, but it's not up to his best standards such as we've seen on Nightwing. The other guy is named Christopher Jones, and his pages are unremarkable.
Good grief! Bring on Tomasi and Gleason already!
Lardy's Rating for Batman and Robin #18: one-half Donut (out of five)!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
This storyline was a big ol' bummer for me too... B&R 18 spent way too many pages on the Absence's origin, and it was a lame one at that... looking forward to Tomasi's run...
I propose eating that half donut and leaving a big 0 a la the hole in the Absence's head...
-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by SharkLad: I’ve been reading “Red Robin” since issue #13. As mentioned in previous reviews, I’m relatively new to the Bat-family of books. I never read any of Tim Drake’s solo “Robin” series, and my only real familiarity with him comes from the first few issues of Geoff Johns’ “Teen Titans” run. I have quickly become a big fan. I don’t know how he was previously characterized, but I like how Tim is portrayed in this book as extremely smart and resourceful -- not in a way that is obnoxious or overbearing but as a result of being raised, in essence, by the world’s greatest detective. The earlier issues, which I’ve read in TPB, had him taking down Ra’s Al Ghul, which, if not completely logical given who Ra’s is, was done in a way to show that Tim is afraid of very little. Now that he’s back in Gotham, for the most part, there have been some plot points I’ve missed not knowing all the backstory, e.g., Tim’s relationships with Lynx and Anarky, his anti-gang initiatives, his adoption by Bruce, etc., but I hope to rectify this by picking up some of the “Robin” trades. I love Marcus To’s art. My only quibble is that while Tim looks like a fairly typical teenager, albeit one who wears a lot of black suits, as Red Robin he looks older and bulkier. There was a nice scene between him and Bruce a couple of issues back that really illustrated this -- they were standing next to each in costume and looked like equals until Tim took off his hood and suddenly he looked like a little kid.
In the most recent two issues (18 & 19), Tim has been in Russia dealing with Red Star and a Russian businessman with connections to the Society and the “Unternet” (?) – again, missing the backstory. Anyway, issue 19 was a lighter change of pace with Tim and Lucius Fox’s daughter, Tam, getting sucked into the Unternet with Anarky. Tim had on a modified costume that I could see him switching to, especially since he has said he missed the feeling of bullets whizzing through his hair. There’s a team up with the Teen Titans coming up. To me, Tim seems to have outgrown his former teammates, so we'll see how they interact.
Overall, "Red Robin" is a smartly written book with great artwork. Like Dick Grayson before him, it seems completely believable that Tim Drake "graduated" from his role of Robin. Whether I stick with the other Bat-books or not, I'll be following this one for a while.
As a side note, I’m torn with Damian Wayne as Robin. While it would seem too much of a stretch to have Tim go back to the role, I worry that Damian isn’t going to be written consistently, and he’ll end up like Jason Todd. In the few issues of “Batman and Robin” I’ve read by Grant Morrison, he’s a Robin like no other, and he plays off of Dick really nicely. In this month’s “Batgirl” and the recent Halloween issue of “Superman/Batman,” he’s played a little too much for laughs – though they were genuinely funny, especially “S/B”. Anyway, I hope Damian remains true to Morrison’s vision and we’re not voting on whether or not to kill him anytime soon.
I'll have to say, your review has me missing Tim Drake more than ever, Sharky. I'm curious now about the series...maybe I will pick it up and hunt down back-issues. I guess that's an 'in-store' decision.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I thought the Absence had potential as an off-the-wall crazy addition to the Batman Rogue's gallery, but I thought the arc failed to deliver. The third issue was way, way too much talking heads and philosophy. I'm all for some cerebral examination of the whole Batman Inc stuff, but Cornell didn't execute well to the medium's strength and turned what could have been a great arc into an interesting failure.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Dave Hackett: I thought the Absence had potential as an off-the-wall crazy addition to the Batman Rogue's gallery, but I thought the arc failed to deliver. The third issue was way, way too much talking heads and philosophy. I'm all for some cerebral examination of the whole Batman Inc stuff, but Cornell didn't execute well to the medium's strength and turned what could have been a great arc into an interesting failure.
Haven't read the third part yet (and am not looking forward to it), but I thought the first part was fine. The second part just totally jumped the shark for me with her origin/explanation. I guess you thought it was okay 'til the third part?
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Chief Lardy: Haven't read the third part yet (and am not looking forward to it), but I thought the first part was fine. The second part just totally jumped the shark for me with her origin/explanation. I guess you thought it was okay 'til the third part?
The second part was serviceable. I've been reading Cornell's excellent Knight & Squire, so I wasn't as surprised to see a completely ridiculous villain (he drops about 10 per issue into K&S). I think he likes doing completely outrageous and over-the-top stuff like that, and as long as he keeps a sense of fun about it, it can be pretty enjoyable. So that didn't bother me as much as the poor conclusion.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: I'll have to say, your review has me missing Tim Drake more than ever, Sharky. I'm curious now about the series...maybe I will pick it up and hunt down back-issues. I guess that's an 'in-store' decision.
After reading the "Robin: Search for a Hero" TPB, I'm an even bigger fan of Tim's, and I plan on picking up more of the old series trades when I get the chance...
Cobie, if you do decide to pick up some back issues of RR, I'd start where I did with #13... Tim setting up shop again in Gotham and picking up the pieces from his old series...
-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I read and enjoyed Snyder and Jock's recent 3-parter in Detective Comics.
Snyder's a good writer and I look forward to reading more from him. (I know some in here rave about his American Vampire series but I'm not interested enough in vampires or villainous anti-heroes to give that book a shot. Hopefully he'll write more for DC proper or Vertigo in the future.)
I'm a bit over Jock's pencils though. He can do nice covers (#873's is great) but I find looking at his scratchy, murky, highly-stylised sequential art a bit of a chore. He reminds me of Bill Sienkewitz somewhat (whom I prefer). I wish they could do alternate arcs or something.
I had read that this book was going to go back to being a detective/mystery book and while their was a lot more sleuthing than action from Dick/Batman's point-of-view, I had (probably foolishly) also thought that that meant there would be some sleuthing for the reader to do too. So I thought the main villain in the mask and the fake name was going to be someone we had seen before and a mystery for us to solve. Thus when he turned out to be some completely unknown (and not very memorable) new character I was a bit disappointed.
There was a lot to like about this story though so Detective Comics is now back on my pull-list.
The Commissioner Gordon back-up - only had two entries before it was pulled. I presume it's going to re-appear in a one-shot down the road somewhere. I'm not sure I was really enjoying it though.
My main problem is the whole deal with Commissioner Gordon's here-to-fore COMPLETELY unheard of by me and apparently murderous son James. Is this a new character and plot-point to everyone else? Or has he/it appeared somewhere else? Like Batman: Year One (which I've never read) or something maybe?
A previously unknown murderous son (brother to Barbara) seems like too big a plot-point to just suddenly ret-con into the story but there's no reference or editor's box (how I miss those!) to where this story might be coming from. Does anyone at Legion World know?
Anyhoo, I'm not sure I was enjoying it enough to pick up the presumed future one-shot. We'll see.
[ January 28, 2011, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: Blacula ]
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Yeah, he's had a son. He was born in Year One, and he was in the Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and was a central supporting character in the graphic novel Night Cries. Hell, I forgot all about him until I saw the back-up.
-------------------- I want to be hated by lies - Bring Back Lian Harper
quote:Originally posted by Sarcasm Kid: Yeah, he's had a son. He was born in Year One, and he was in the Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and was a central supporting character in the graphic novel Night Cries. Hell, I forgot all about him until I saw the back-up.
Thanks SK. The Long Halloween is the only one of those I've read so it's no wonder I don't remember him.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: I'll have to say, your review has me missing Tim Drake more than ever, Sharky. I'm curious now about the series...maybe I will pick it up and hunt down back-issues. I guess that's an 'in-store' decision.
After reading the "Robin: Search for a Hero" TPB, I'm an even bigger fan of Tim's, and I plan on picking up more of the old series trades when I get the chance...
Cobie, if you do decide to pick up some back issues of RR, I'd start where I did with #13... Tim setting up shop again in Gotham and picking up the pieces from his old series...
Sounds like a plan! Thanks Sharky for the rec and for also giving me a good issue to start on!
BTW, I also caught up on Batman & Robin and have to agree that the Paul Cornell fill-in issues aren't doing it for me. I'm just finding it a bit flat.
Same goes for Tony Daniel's second issue of Batman in the Bats Inc. era. Something just seems to be missing there.
I did think the Batman and Detective Comics annuals weren't bad. They feature both Bruce & Dick in France and introduce a good character, Nightrunner, as Bats Inc's agent in France. The Question (Renee) also guest-stars but honestly, I'm not sure why she was there; she didn't really add anything (yet again--in fact, she hasn't been used well at all since 52). A new character Veil was introduced is very derivative of other characters so she's kind of 'meh'. All in all, it was a mixed bag but better than B&R and Daniel's Batman, which I read in the same sitting.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Been watching the Adam West BATMAN series again, and today, I think I may have seen the inspiration for the 90's cartoon character of Harley Quinn. In "THE PENGUIN'S NEST" / "THE BIRD'S LAST JEST", among his gang is a girl in a bright red outfit with a high-pitched voice who seems a lot more homnicidal than most girl sidekicks on the show. Twice, "Chickadee" (Grace Gaynmor) was quick to pull a gun on someone, the 2nd time, Aunt Harriet. When she did this, she yelled out, "ALRIGHT, Batman-- better GIVE UP, or I'll BLOW the old lady's BRAINS out!" Unusual dialogue for this show, especially from a female!
Registered: Aug 2003
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