Flashback Friday: June 11th

Get ready for a blast from the past, it's time for Flashback Friday! This week's Flashback is way better then last week's, since I've actually had the time to lay around reading comics! We're still pretty Robin-centric, but I've also thrown in a few Marvel books, a Wildstorm trade and some DC comics other then Robin, so this week is a bit more varied then last week was. Alright, let's get to it!

Robin #1(Nov. 1993): Hey, it's finally the beginning of Robin's ongoing series! Once I'm done going over this one, I only have 183(plus annuals) to go! Some car thieves calling themselves the Speedboyz are stealing fancy cars in the suburbs of Gotham. Tim decides to try to catch them since he was banished from the Batcave by the crazy Batman(Jean Paul Valley). Tim also winds up running afoul a cop from the suburbs who doesn't like the idea of city-folks(like Tim)getting involved on his turf. Score: 8 out of 10.

Detective Comics #650(Sept. 1992): Tim and Alfred save a Geraldo type of news reporter after he tries to open up the booby-trapped vault of a dead mob boss. Perfectly acceptable solo type story. Score: 7 out of 10.

Wolverine: Weapon X: Insane in the Brain TPB(Collects Wolverine Weapon X issues #6-10): Wolvie wakes up in an insane asylum with no memory of who he is or why he's there. And to make matters worse, the doctor in charge seems 51 cards short of a deck... This is definitely not a conventional Wolvie story, it's at times laugh out loud funny, and VERY over the top. If you're looking for good, gory fun, I'd definitely recommend this. Score: 9 out of 10.

Robin #2(Dec. 1993): Tim manages to take down the Speedboyz, and the Cluemaster escapes from Blackgate prison. Score: 7 out of 10.

Robin #3(Feb. 1994): Tim has difficulty managing his Tim Drake time and his Robin time, which leads to lots of trouble between him and his Russian girlfriend. While investigating Cluemaster's jail break, Tim runs into Spoiler, who was also hunting for Cluemaster(who happens to be her father). Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Flash 80 page giant #2(April 1999): You know, I read this only a few days ago, and I honestly don't remember WHAT went on here! I guess I'll just type the score I wrote down after reading this comic and move on... Score: 6 out of 10.

Robin #4(March 1994): Tim and Spoiler decide to work together to find Cluemaster. Cluemaster and his lackeys steal a van full of money, but are spotted by Tim, who winds up getting trapped with Cluemaster in the back of the van, while Cluemaster's lackey's bury the van in concrete to hide it from the cops. Score: 7 out of 10.

Robin #5(April 1994): Tim and Cluemaster are trapped in the back of the buried van and begin to rapidly run out of air, which leads to a few funny moments like Tim contemplating killing Cluemaster to double his air supply, and then thinking about how disappointed Batman would be to learn of Timmy's impure thoughts. Ultimately Spoiler beats up her father's lackeys and rescues her dad and the Boy Wonder, getting a kiss from Robin in return. Score: 8 out of 10.

Robin Annual #1(1992): This was a part of the Eclipso: Darkness Within storyline. Tim tries to prevent Anarchy from using several Eclipso black diamonds Anarchy had gotten a hold of. In the end, Tim manages to stop Anarchy and save the day. Score: 8 out of 10.

Adventures of Superman Annual #5(1993): This was a part of the Bloodlines storyline. Superboy(back when he was still calling himself Superman)and Sparx wind up facing some of those Bloodline Parasite things. I didn't understand a SINGLE thing about this storyline, but ultra-cocky Superboy did make me laugh. Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Robin #6(May 1994): This was actually the second part of a three part x-over with the Showcase series. Unfortunately I couldn't find the first and last part of this x-over, so I really didn't get a good feel for the story. It had to do with Huntress and Tim teaming up to deal with some mobsters from Huntress's past. Score: 6 out of 10.

Robin #7(June 1994): This comic was another crossover, this time to the Knightquest storyline. Bruce Wayne and Tim's father return to Gotham, and Tim reveals to Bruce that his hand-picked Batman(Jean Paul Valley)was losing his mind and killing Gotham criminals. Bruce and Tim head to the Batcave to confront Jean Paul, which leads to Bruce getting thrown into the Bat-computer before JP takes the Batmobile and leaves. Tim tries to follow Jean Paul in his Redbird car, but can't keep up with the crazed Jean Paul. In the end, Bruce realizes that he'll have to reclaim the Batman mantle from Jean Paul. Score: 8 out of 10.

Gen13: Road Trip(Collects Gen13 Vol. 4 #7-13) This is the second Gen13 trade written by Gail Simone, and unfortunately, the last. This trade fixes a lot of what I was complaining about with the last trade, and focuses on the 5 kids, instead of the villains. We get 5 issues that highlight each of the Gen13 members, as well as a pretty good battle between Gen13, their evil clones, and the Authoriteens... Don't ask! There were some hit or miss moments, but overall, this was a pretty satisfying trade. Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Amazing Spider-Man #420(Feb. 1997): I've already read this comic years ago, but I figured it was due for a re-read. This is a Christmas story where Spidey meets up with Nate Grey(X-Man)for the first time. Naturally the two start off at odds, but by the end of this one they wind up celebrating Christmas Eve together. Score: 8 out of 10.

X-Man #24(Feb. 1997): This is another comic I'm re-reading. Nate is attacked by Morbius on his way home from Spidey's house, and for some unexplained reason begins to turn into a vampire(even though Morbius can't create other vampires...). Spidey finds vampire Nate and the two decide that if Nate found his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Threnody, he'd revert back to normal... for some reason... The two heroes locate Thren in a cemetery, but find Morbius there as well, which leads to Morbius coercing Thren into helping him fight Nate and Spidey. Ultimately Morbius runs away, which leads to Spidey chasing after him, and Nate scolds Thren and leaves her... Ahhh, NOW I remember why I hated this series! Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

And there we go, another Flashback completed. Just so you all know, I won't be looking at Robin #8 or 9 because I just recently read those comics in the Knightfall vol. 3 TPB. Hope you enjoyed this week, and see you tomorrow for the horrible Best of the Rest.