Sunday, August 15, 2010

Red Robin #15

Red Robin #15: Writer: Fabian Nicieza. Pencils: Marcus To.

Review: This issue opens with Tim Drake(in leg braces)going to visit(not bald, not fat and not old)Captain Boomerang in prison. Why? To tell Boomerang to rot in jail. But that really has nothing to do with the main story, so let's move on. Tim, as Red Robin, breaks into Vicki Vale's apartment and discovers that she had seemingly put together all of the members of the Bat-family, from Bruce being Bats, all the way down to Damian being the new Robin. Tim reports his findings back to Dick at Wayne Towers, and they decide that they need to come up with a plan to throw Vicki off their trail. Damian recommends just killing Vicki(HA!), while Tim begins to concoct a plan in his head that might throw Vicki off the trail. And so Tim begins to put his plan into motion by deciding to hold a press conference to announce that he was going to reveal the names of the two crooked detectives in the GCPD who were working with several street gangs. The crooked detectives had hired the assassin Scarab to silence Tim Drake(which Tim had actually set up himself)and the press conference would be the perfect opportunity for Scarab to make good on the hit. With Scarab watching the press conference from a nearby rooftop, Tim begins to talk about his programs to help the youths of Gotham, and then began to turn his attention to the crooked cops, which caused Scarab to raise her gun and target Tim. Just as Tim was about to reveal the names of the crooked detectives, Scarab goes to take her shot, but her aim is messed up at the last second when Red Robin hits her gun with a batarang, leading to Tim getting shot in the abdomen... Wait, Red Robin attacked Scarab while Tim Drake was shot?! Yes, and I'll get to that in a moment. While Tim is rushed to a hospital, Red Robin defeats Scarab with an EMP pulse that fries her armor. At the hospital, the doctors are preparing to operate on Tim, when Dr. Thompkins rushes into the emergency room and tells the other doctors that according to Bruce Wayne, only she was to operate on Tim, which causes the other doctors to vacate the room. With the doctors gone, “Tim” turns into Miss Martian, while Red Robin steps out of the shadows and thanks her for her assistance. With that, Dr. Thompins shows doctored x-rays to the press, which indicate that Tim had suffered a slight spinal injury, which leads to Tim wearing leg braces and walking with crutches. Seeing Tim get shot as Red Robin was battling Scarab also helps to leave Vicki Vale somewhat confused as to whether or not her information on the Bat-family was as sure as she had thought it was. This issue ends with Tim emerging from the hospital and giving up the names of the crooked detectives, which obviously infuriates them, as well as angering Anarky, who was watching Tim on the television, since he was also trying to piece together exactly who Red Robin was.

What I Thought: There was absolutely nothing wrong with this comic. It was what I'd term a perfectly acceptable comic. Several storylines were moved along/closed out here, as Scarab was put in custody, the crooked detectives were revealed, and Vicki Vale's investigation was stymied. Plus Anarky showing up at the end of this comic shows us that Fabian is ready to move forward with a new storyline. And to be honest, I've been waiting to see Anarky since the end of the Robin series, so I'm happy to see that he'll be showing up here. In a perfect world, Anarky will end up being Tim's Joker, but I guess that remains to be seen. Anyway, this was a good if not great comic that should definitely be picking up with future issues.

Score: 8 out of 10.That's gonna leave a mark!

17 comments:

  1. Did you think the art in this issue was a little less detailed than the previous issues? I remember thinking that while looking at some of the pages.

    Now that he has to wear crutches, can we call him tiny Tim?

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  2. Lmao... I was gonna say something and Kello's Tiny Tim line derailed my train of though, but would anyone mind giving me a quick background on Anarky?

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  3. I actually call Tim, "Tiny Tim" when I'm talking about him with my sister since she's such a big Timmy fan. So seeing you put that definitely had me laughing Kello! As for the art, I'm probably the wrong guy to ask! I'm pretty oblivious to the art for the most part.

    Okay JT, let's see what I can give ya... This current Anarky isn't the original one, but is actually an old Robin enemy who used to go by the Little General(or just The General). He was like 11/12 years old, and was obsessed with military history and stuff, which was the theme for his various crimes. He popped up like 2 or 3 times early on in the Robin series and then vanished. MUCH later on, in like the last storyline in Robin, he turned up again, much older, taller and mature, first as Red Robin(after Jason ditched those threads, but before Tim took them)and then as Anarky. He shot Steph, and tried to drive Gotham into such chaos that martial law would be declared. Tim wound up defeating him, but Anarky's siblings(I think his siblings, although it may have been his parents)ended up dying in the ensuing chaos. Anarky wound up escaping and swearing revenge on Tim, which brings us to now. Hope that helped. If I messed up anywhere along the line, hopefully somebody will straighten me out, but I think that's pretty accurate.

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  4. Thanks dude, I recall reading the issues of Robin when he wore the Red Robin suit because they has Jason in them and I checked them out for that reason. I thought he was familiar but I never knew his whole background story, thanks for the info though.

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  5. This is one comic I did get a chance to read this issue, and this had me on edge!!!

    I enjoyed the hell out of this issue, I really thought Tim was out of there, I loved the twist on that. I love that they still show that Tim turns to friends when needed.

    I can't wait until the next issue.

    Nice review X! :)

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  6. No problemo JT. Let's just hope I was right with the info!

    Yeah, I def liked this one too, Falisha. The only thing I will say is that I was kind of disappointed that the Tim/Boomerang showdown was already wasted... I thought that had more potential then a quick one off page. Hopefully Tim as Red Robin can get a few shots in at Boomerang down the road.

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  7. Yeah, I def liked this one too, Falisha. The only thing I will say is that I was kind of disappointed that the Tim/Boomerang showdown was already wasted... I thought that had more potential then a quick one off page. Hopefully Tim as Red Robin can get a few shots in at Boomerang down the road.

    Yeah, I definitely agree with you about the Tim/Boomerang situation. it's really disappointing when writers have a fight that can be really good end in a few pages or just one page sometimes.

    It's been a few comics I've read with disappointments like that. Hopefully they bring this potential battle back!

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  8. Yeah, Tim NEEDS to get his shot at Boomerang. I mean how the hell do you bring back the guy who killed Tim's father and then blow off their first meeting in just ONE page?! Crazy...

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  9. I'd say I have more faith in Fabian than just bringing him in for a few pages so hopefully he returns. I'd love to see how Fabian writes that because he's probably the second best person to write Jason IMO besides Judd.

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  10. To be honest with you, JT, I don't think Fabian has any real say in the matter. Obvioiusly the new Dread Lord GEOFF Johns wants to use (not)old, (not)bald, and(not)fat Captain Boomerang over in the Flash book, so I guess Fabian probably figured he wouldn't be able to use Boomerang anytime soon, which led to that lame one page Tim/Boomerang meeting. In all honesty though, Boomerang SHOULD be in the Red Robin comic, NOT the Flash book, but little GEOFFY always gets what he wants.

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  11. Good point, but I doubt they'll kill him off anytime soon, so I'd say Fabian still has a chance to use the new old Boomer right? I hope anyway.

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  12. Yeah, that's if GEOFFY releases his grip on the character. I'm sure he's the only writer allowed to use the Flash related villains, that is unless he gives his permission to somebody else.

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  13. Sadly that wouldn't surprise me. If Jason had never came back do you think there's a chance he would've been brought back as a white Lantern? Then again he'd still be a teenager so that'd probably be pretty lame.

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  14. Hmm, great question... I know I would have loved to have seen Jason come back as a White Lantern. Even if he was still a teenager. Hell, they could have stuck him in the Red Robin book as Tim's pseudo-sidekick or something. You know, have a little brother/big brother dynamic going on.

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  15. I love the idea of them having that dynamic. I still want Jason to turn over a new leaf or something, do something in Red Robin. I heard some news today about what Dick will be doing in the near future as well, but I don't ruin that for ya buddy.

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  16. Yeah, so do I... Hopefully after the Red Hood mini ends Jason will find his way into Red Robin. That just seems like such a perfect fit for him. Come on DC, give us our Red Robin/Red Hood team-up!!!

    Well, you do know how I hate spoilers. I'll happily wait and be surprised.

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  17. Right?! And the classic costume, not the new Grant Morrison long phallic helmet, that was so.... unnecessary. And BLACK HAIR JASON....

    Alright buddy, I shan't spoil it for you.

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