"Robin" Issue #1 Review

Ever wonder what it takes to be sidekick to someone as amazing as Batman? I’m more of a Marvel girl myself, but I DO have to admit that Batman is pretty kick @$$. What does he look for in a companion? What does it take to be his young vigilante? Gay jokes aside, guys! All in all, Robin is pretty freaking awesome. The Robin that I’M reviewing is Robin #3, aka Tim Drake.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the main men…the star players…the SUPERHEROES, but what about their backup? What of their loyal companions? That’s why I’ve decided to review Robin (Issue 1 of 5 January 1991).

The comic opens with Tim Drake asking Batman why he was chosen as the next Robin. He knows that his computer hacking skills are awesome, but his concern is that he has absolutely no street smarts or moves. He worries that Batman will need him as physical backup, and he won’t be able to do anything. This leads to Tim being sent to Paris to learn martial arts from Rahul Lama. He is supposedly the master and the greatest living practitioner. Something shady is going on, though. The comic switches to a scene in Tokyo where a woman named Shiva has approached a man named Koroshi. She is looking for a man named “The King Snake”. He is now, after defeating Koroshi (it’s VERY obvious…his face is all kinds of effed up!), the master of open-fisted fighting. She wants to find “The King Snake” to defeat him and take his title as greatest fighter. Around the room, the bodies of Koroshi’s bodyguards lay bloodied and still. They’re all dead at her hand. It’s apparent that she’s a great fighter.

Back to Robin…he’s taken out to a night on the town (pretty much against his will). He meets a woman who wants to talk to him about life in the United States (Um…she totally has other motives…that involve getting in Tim’s pants). A gang of guys walk up and take her away against her will. Tim runs back to his room and changes into Robin. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he faces an internal conflict of if the lady LIKES being abused or if she really can’t get away. He decides that it’s good practice anyway, and heads to what looks like an abandoned (or maybe not so abandoned?) factory. He sees a gang of men beating a man. Swooping in on a chain, Robin “evens the odds” and helps the man out. Luckily, he’s not too badly hurt, so the two take on the group. The dreaded “To Be Continued…” comes in in the middle of the fight, so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t spoil this comic for you.

On to the ratings!

Creativity of Writing: 5/5 I like the dialogue in this comic. It’s clear, easy to understand, and very relatable. Robin’s inner struggles are revealed, which I feel makes us more attached to him as a character. Over just one issue, I feel like he’s grown as a character. That makes the writing successful in my eyes.

Creativity of Art: 4/5 The speech balloons in this comic are probably the easiest to follow of all the comics I’ve read. However… the words are hard to read sometimes. It might be the fact that the ink runs a bit (I think the paper is kinda like newsprint…). The colors are great. It’s a bit too dark for my liking, but that just might be from the age of the comic.