Friday, July 16, 2010

Red Robin #14

Red Robin #14: Writer: Fabian Nicieza. Pencils: Marcus To.

Review: This issue opens up with Damian Wayne cracking Tim's password on the Bat-computer and learning something that absolutely infuriates him. What is it? You'll have to wait to find out! While Damian is hacking the computer, Tim is doing the Red Robin thing, and he manages to apprehend Brutale, although Brutale's accomplice, some female assassin with a knife manages to get away, thanks to a certain small, cloaked figure dropping a billboard in front of Tim. Tim heads back to the Batcave and types into the computer that he had apprehended Brutale, just as a certain cloaked figure, Damian, arrives. Damian indicates that he'd like to go out on patrol with Tim, but Tim pretty much blows him off, telling Damian that if Batman wasn't back from some Justice League business he had to deal with by the following night, Tim would take Damian with him. Tim accosts some crooked detectives he had been working with, and tells them that not only was he(Red Robin)angry with the crooked cops, but so was the Wayne Foundation(which just so happens to be headed up by Tim). The next day Tim and Damian head out on patrol, and Tim manages to find the female associate of Brutale hiding out in a hotel room. Before Tim can make a move on the woman, Damian cuts Tim's Bat-line and sends him hurtling towards the pavement. Tim manages to regain his senses and lands gracefully, but is soon attacked by an infuriated Damian, who rants about Tim bringing this fight onto himself. While Tim parries Damian's attacks, he notices the female assassin making a break for it, so he snares the woman with his grappling rope and flings her into Damian, momentarily knocking the wind out of Damian and taking the woman out all together. Tim grabs the groggy Damian by the cape and tosses him on a nearby rooftop, where Tim then proceeds to beat the hell out of the current Robin. Before he can continue the beatdown, Batman arrives on the scene and ends the fight, shaming both Robins by pointing out that they had allowed their fight to cross into Crime Alley, right in front of the movie theatre where Bruce Wayne's parents were killed. Bats takes the Robins back to the Cave, and Damian demands that Tim show everybody the secret program he had created. With the cat out of the bag, Tim reveals to Bats and Alfred that behind the screen where he was keeping tabs on the various villains in his life, he had a separate screen where he was keeping an eye on various heroes, Damian included. Damian complains about how he'd done everything that had been asked of him, and that Tim STILL not trusting him just wasn't fair. Bats agrees and sends Damian and Alfred out of the Cave so he could speak to Tim in private. Dick explains to Tim that deep down all Damian wants is acceptance and that Tim's actions, and especially how easy his password was to crack was a big mistake. In the end, Dick realized that the relationship between Tim and Damian would always be icy at best, and that there was nothing he could do to change that. This issue ends with the two crooked cops from earlier hiring Scarab to assassinate Tim Drake.

What I Thought: This was probably my favorite portrayal of Damian EVER! Instead of being shown as an unstoppable, emotionless killing machine, we FINALLY get a glimpse into Damian's head, and see that all he really craves is the acceptance and approval of his father's colleagues. Why Grant Morrison can't write Damian like that is beyond me, but hey, if you ask me Fabian is 10 times the writer Grant is, so I guess that explains that. That's right, I went there! Besides the great Damian/Tim interactions, Tim continues to check villains off of his list, with this issue ending with Tim tricking the crooked cops into hiring Scarab to kill Tim Drake, exactly as Tim hoped they would. Once again, good job done here that has me eagerly anticipating the next issue.

Score: 9 out of 10.You had to know I'd pick a scan where Damian was getting beaten up!

13 comments:

  1. I definitely agree with Fabian 10x > Grant. Great review dude, I did notice you never dropped the password though haha. Speaking of which I loved the Brady Bunch reference with Dick being the golden child Marsha, Jason as the middle, ignored, Jan and Tim as the youngest, Cindy. And Damian as Cousin Oliver will forever make me laugh. I really loved this issue.

    And once again we agree, Damian was amazing here. If Fabian and Miller just wrote Damian I'd love the little bastard.

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  2. Huh, I bow to your Brady Bunch knowledge! I never even picked up on the fact that Tim and Dick were the youngest and oldest Brady girls, while the middle child(poor Jason)is totally ignored! Very impressive!

    I'll NEVER understand how the guy who created Damian(Grant)does such a piss-poor job of writing him! When Grant writes Damian, he's this horrid, emotionless, unlikable punk. Whenever somebody else writes him, Fabian, Miller and I'd add Paul Dini into that mix as well, 'cause he did a good job with Damian in Streets, they actually give Damian some personality... I just don't get it. I mean Damian's been around for how long now? Four, five years maybe? And in all that time I can't point to ONE single Morrison written Bat-book and say, "Hey, you know, Damian isn't that bad." Then again, after thinking about Return of Bruce Wayne, maybe I'm expecting too much from Mad Mr. Morrison...

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  3. I'll actually point to Batman #666 as a Morrison issue where Damian is likable. He's not emotionally "vulnerable" in the issue, but he is shown to be a more mature adult, even giving Dick Grayson props for his time as Batman.

    I actually just read this yesterday. I was glad that Tim really beat Damian down, because I was worried that Damian was the stronger of the two.

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  4. Hmmm... Good point Kello. Damian wasn't "hatable" in Bats #666, although I can't say I loved the way he acted in that comic. But yeah, I'll have to agree, that's probably the best portrayal of Damian Grant has ever done.

    Ha, I can understand that! The first time they fought, didn't Damian pretty much put Tim in a coma?! That always bothered me, since Tim has been shown to at least be able to hold his own against the likes of Lady Shiva and Batgirl(Cass Cain). Not defeat them or anything, but at least intelligently defend himself!

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  5. Oh yeah X, I have way too much TV knowledge. And yeah, that cousin Oliver thing was a reference to someone on the show, which is why Dick and Tim called each other Marcia and Cindy. Why they chose the girls instead of guy's I'll never know... Lol.

    Right after I posted I thought about Damian in Streets and his stuff with Abuse and I wished I'd added him.

    I actually really hated Batman #666. The idea of Damian as Batman just annoys me, and what annoys me even more is he's no different from what Jason Todd does, so by that logic Jason could and very well should've been the winner of Battle for The Cowl since Damian is killing people and whatnot anyway.

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  6. I've been waiting for Damian and Tim to duke it out. Lol. This comic made me smile when I saw that. Damian is soo freaking annoying but Fabian made me like him just a smidgen.

    Great review. Can't wait for the next issue.

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  7. Thanks JT, now I'm imagining the Brady Bunch theme song except with Bat-characters in all the little boxes. There's Robin, Batgirl, Bat-Mite, even Ace the Bat-Houng...and of course it's the 1950s smiling Batman, right smack in the middle. Argh!

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  8. "The Batty Bunch, that's the way they became the Batty Bunch!"

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  9. Lol here ya go guys, saw this on Tumblr a few days ago.

    http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5dikkJXGL1qbujox.jpg

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  10. HA! I love it! The look on Alfred's face pretty much says it all!

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  11. Lol right? I love how well that fits together too. Probably would've switched Huntress out for Babs and put Selina in Babs' spot though.

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  12. Mmm yeah, Catwoman def should have been in the "mother" spot. She's work much better as Bruce's significant other. Then again, Babs is like the leader of the Bat-family(she is the brains), so I can kind of see why she'd be in that spot. Poor Huntress would be like the step-child nobody wanted! :P

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  13. I see your reasoning, it just looks odd because everything else is the people who all took up the Robin Mantle and Huntress never did. But I definitely see why they have Babs where she is.

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