Flashback Friday: May 21st

Get ready for a blast from the past, it's time for Flashback Friday! JT won the contest to give me an intro for this post, so thank you JT! The check is in the mail... Really, it is... Anyway, it's already Saturday, and I haven't even started this post yet... Yes everybody, procrastination, thy name is X! With that said, I'm going to cut the intro WAY short so I can try to get this post up before I fall asleep.

Robin #4(April 1991): Tim Drake, who is still training for the Robin spot, gets some training help from Lady Shiva(and really, who better to learn fighting techniques from?)and King Snake gets his deadly Nazi plague. As a loyal(but insane)citizen of the United Kingdom, Snake wants to unleash the plague in Hong Kong before it gets handed over to the Chinese. By the end of this issue, Tim, Shiva and Tim's friend the ex-DEA agent have tracked Snake down and are preparing to invade his penthouse stronghold. Score: 7 out of 10.

Robin #5(May 1991): Tim, Shiva and the DEA guy break into Snake's penthouse building and try to prevent him from unleashing his plague. Snake winds up killing the DEA agent, but Tim surprisingly manages to defeat King Snake in one-on-one combat. Snake ends up falling out the window, presumably to his death. With Snake out of the picture, Tim destroys the plague and burns all of Snake's dirty money, because as we all know, burning stuff is cool!!! Score: 7 out of 10.

Batman #465(July 1991): The real notable thing about this comic is this issue was the first time Tim(as Robin)and Batman went out on patrol together. Bats was still somewhat overly cautious with Tim due to Jason Todd's death still being fresh on his mind, but all in all, things turn out well for Bats and his new Boy Wonder. Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Batman #466(Aug. 1991): Much like the issue before this one, this issue dealt with an early Batman and Tim Drake Robin story. The two try to capture some mobsters, they run into gangs, and Batman is over-protective of Tim. Score: 7 out of 10.

Batman #467(Aug 1991): King Snake's gang(the Ghost Dragons)from the Robin mini-series turn up in Gotham City and wind up scoring lots of illegal guns. After watching how they were operating, Tim believes that King Snake was somehow still alive, while Bats refuses to believe Tim's words, figuring somebody else was calling the shots for the Ghost Dragons. Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Batman #468(Sept. 1991): So it turns out Tim was right and King Snake did indeed survive his fall in Hong Kong, and is now obsessed with getting revenge on the Boy Wonder. With Snake and his gang obsessed with getting their hands on Tim, Batman decides to hold him back, refusing to allow Tim to help on the Ghost Dragon case, which kept putting Bats in constant jeopardy. Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Batman #469(Sept. 1991): Batman manages to track down King Snake, and the two battle one-on-one. Bats manages to defeat King Snake, but nearly gets his head blown off by one of Snake's men, if not for the timely arrival of Tim. Instead of thanking Tim for making the save, Bats yells at him for disobeying his orders and getting involved in the case... Ah Batman.... Score: 7 out of 10.

Batman #470(Oct. 1991): Batman and Robin go after Maxi Zeus, who was given some sort of godly artifact by the Cheetah to hold on to. Tim is still growing into the Robin role here, which leads to some miscommunication between him and Bats, but in the end the Dynamic Duo manage to defeat the inept Zeus and his gang and reclaim the artifact. Score: 7 out of 10.

Wonder Woman #109(May 1996): Wonder Woman winds up having to face off against the Flash, who is acting uncharacteristically insane. Flash runs through WW's city(Gateway City)destroying things, and acting aloof, which leads to a WW/Flash showdown. WW eventually manages to snare the Flash with her lasso and unmasks him, only to discover that it is a young man who she is unfamiliar with. Before the “Flash” can be taken to prison, he explodes into a bunch of white dust... Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Wonder Woman #110(June 1996): This time, a young and aloof Sinestro attacks Gateway City, so WW has to attempt to take him down. WW knows for a fact that Sinestro is dead, so she isn't quite sure what to make of this “Sinestro”. Much like Flash from last issue, “Sinestro” never says a word and just seems bent on mindless destruction. WW(along with some help from Champion)finally manages to capture “Sinestro”, but much like last issue, “Sinestro” explodes in white power when captured. We learn that some computer program was creating these menaces, not realizing the danger. Oh, and this issue ends with the computer creating Doomsday! Score: 8 out of 10.

Wonder Woman #111(July 1996): Fake Doomsday takes to the streets of Gateway City and stomps a mudhole into WW. We also learn that some mad scientist had put the brainwaves of his dead son into the computers at his lab, and that the kid's brainwaves were creating the fake heroes and villains from the past few issues thinking he was simply playing a video game. Also in this issue we have Cassie Sandsmark dressing up as Wonder Girl for the first time. Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Wonder Woman #112(Aug. 1996): Once again Champion comes to WW's aid, but not even the combined powers of WW and Champion are enough to stop Doomsday. The mad scientist, realizing that his experiment had caused all of the destruction in Gateway City, decides to overload his computer systems, which causes Doomsday to mutate to the point where his bone growths grow out of control. WW takes this opportunity to smash “Doomsday” and destroy it. The cops arrive and arrest the scientist, which ends his threat. Score: 6 out of 10.

That's all of the old reviews I have to post this week. I was pretty Tim Drake heavy this week it seems... I'll try to mix things up a little bit for next week's post. Thanks for reading, and remember, tomorrow night is a new installment of the Best of the Rest. So until next time, Long Live Barkspawn!!!