Flashback Friday: June 4th.

Get ready for a blast from the past, it's time for Flashback Friday! Well, kind of... With how busy the beginning of this week was, I really haven't had much time to lay around reading back issues, so this week's Flashback is going to be brisk. And by brisk I mean only 5 singles and a trade... But hey, that's better then nothing, right?

Robin III #3(Jan. 1993): We're still working our way through the final Robin mini-series before he received an ongoing. This issue begins with Tim lying to his guidance counselor about where all of his bruises came from, claiming a bully did it. The counselor still felt that the bruises were coming from that cad, Bruce Wayne, but had no proof. Later on, Tim and Huntress go out trying to learn the whereabouts of the Russian girl who was kidnapped by the Russian mob. After a fight against some Russians, Tim and Huntress are told that the girl was dead. While the Russians were licking their wounds, King Snake's Ghost Dragons capture a Russian and learn about the Russian mob's plans. Oh, and Tim wakes up with a swollen eye, which he fears is going to be blamed on Bruce once the counselor finds out. Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Robin III #4(Feb. 1993): Tim cuts school so as to avoid the guidance counselor, and later that night heads out to meet with Huntress again. The two wind up finding KGBeast, and narrowly avoid getting killed by the crazed Russian assassin. KGBeast gets away, and when Tim returns home that night, his father informs him that he was being sent away to Metropolis since Tim was obviously hiding something. Definitely my favorite issue out of any of the prior Robin mini-series. Score: 9 out of 10.

Robin III #5(Feb. 1993): Tim heads out to meet up with Huntress again, and the two finally discover the location of the Russian mob's counterfeiting operation. The two split up, and Huntress winds up being discovered and defeated by the KGBeast(off-panel!!!). Tim finds the Russian girl from the beginning of this series(who he thought was dead), and is discovered by a bunch of angry Russian mobsters. Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Robin III#6(March 1993): King Snake and his Ghost Dragon gang attack the Russian mob's counterfeiting warehouse, which gives Tim the chance to get away with the mobsters with the kidnapped Russian girl. KGBeast and King Snake wind up having a pretty fun fight, and Tim rescues Huntress. Snake and his Dragon's chase KGBeast and the Russians away, and Tim tells Snake that he can have all of the counterfeit money, provided he allows Tim, Huntress and the Russian girl safe passage to leave the warehouse, to which Snake readily accepts. Tim later reveals to Huntress that he had messed up the counterfeiting equipment, making all of the phony money worthless. This mini ends with Tim and his father making up, with his father deciding he wouldn't be sending Tim away to Metropolis. Score: 7 out of 10.

Detective Comics #796(Sept. 2004): Batman and Robin(Stephanie Brown)go after the recently escaped Victor Zsasz. The Dynamic Duo discover a sliced up body in a subway station, and while they are investigating the area, Zsasz spots Steph and decides that she'll be his next victim. Bats sends her away, since Zsasz was too dangerous a foe, and while she was leaving, Zsasz captures her(whoops!). Bats realizes what had happened and tracks down Zsasz before he is able to kill Steph. Zsasz nearly kills Bats, which leads to Steph almost killing Zsasz(!). She fails to do so(mainly due to dumb luck), and Bats takes Zsasz in, but not before voicing his displeasure at Steph's actions. Score: 8 out of 10.

Gen13: Best of a Bad Lot TPB(Gen13 Vol. 4, Gen13 #1-6): This is a re-imagining of the Gen13 team, as told by writer Gail Simone(of Wonder Woman and Bird of Prey fame). A crazy(but HILARIOUS)doctor creates meta-human teenagers, who are forced into compromising situations in order to entertain a bunch of rich sickos who pay to watch the action on-line. The kids are unaware of their plight until the day the crazy doctor sends out a bunch of his foot soldiers to capture the teenagers to bring them back into the program. The story was good enough to get me interested in reading the next trade, so that's a good thing. The crazy doctor stole the show for me(he spent much of this trade wearing footsie pajamas!!!), as the 5 members of Gen13 were kind of bland and interchangeable. Hopefully they'll be given more of an opportunity to shine/establish themselves in the next trade. Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

And that's it for this week... See, I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't have very much to review! Check back tomorrow for the ALWAYS offensive Best of the Rest, and be sure to check out JT's blog on Sunday(or any other day, he won't mind!), as I hear he has something especially AWESOME planned... What is it? Sorry, I can't tell, I've been sworn to double super-duper secrecy, BUT I stake my phony Internet name on the fact that it's going to be Green... I mean great!