Red Robin is one of those series I want to like but so far I have found to be a title with little focus on what it is suppose to be and presenting us a Tim Drake that seems completely out of character. Chris Yost just has failed impressed me with his writing on this title. Even though we are suppose to find out details about what happened to Bruce we have yet to find any new info on what happened to him as Yost has gone around that subject. Hopefully things can start turning with Red Robin #7.
Creative Team
Writer: Chris Yost
Pencils: Marcus To
Inks: Dexter Vines
Colors: Guy Major
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue begins sometime in the past in Bangkok, Thailand with Tim narrating a scene in a nightclub were a guy with four extra robotic arms is shooting the place up. Before the guy can shoot some of the people who are leaving through the front door a woman stops’ him telling him that she is not an enemy. She says that she has been watching him for a while and has a proposition for him if he is up for it.
Back in the present Tam Fox is in the feedle position behind a table as the League of Assassins ninja are getting decimated by the Council of Spiders. Tam thinks to herself how she is going to die and how she never expected any of this when she was sent to look for Tim. She sees an opening to run out the front door but is seen by one of the members of the Council of Spiders running out.
In Budapest White Ghost arrives on the roof top that Tim was fighting. He asks Pru were Tim is and why the guy on the ground is still alive. She holds up her gun to the White Ghost’s bodyguard and again asks were Tim is.
We then see somewhere over Southern Europe that Tim is flying a helicopter back to The Cradle because the Council of Spiders are attacking their hideout. White Ghost asks Tim how he knows where the League’s hideout is at but Tim just yells back and says he does not have time for this.
In Gotham City Lucius and Alfred are having some coffee together discussing everything “Bruce” has been doing with Wayne Enterprises resources. Alfred tells Lucius not to worry as the Bruce’s family is taking care of him. Lucius mentions that Vicky Vale has been going around asking questions which Alfred thinks is unfortunate. Lucius mentions that some of the questions Vicky is asking about Tim and that he sent his daughter to find Tim. Alfred says that was not the safest thing to do.
Back in The Cradle the Council of Spiders member with the green hood on is looking for Tam. As he talks about how he is going to make Tam carry his spider children Tam attacks him with a sword and starts running again. The guy grabs her and pushes her against the wall. She takes out a gun but the guy who looks like a spider comes up behind her. Before he can do anything Tim finally arrives on the scene and saves Tam.
We shift scenes back to the past were a woman is sipping some red wine with a bunch of dead bodies around her. The woman from the club in Thailand enters the room with the guy with the robot arms and the guy who attacked Tim a few issues ago. She mentions to the woman sipping wine that she has a proposition to use her talents with poison and that it will not be boring.
Back in the present Tam watches Tim fighting the two guys from the Council and thinks how watching Tim actually makes her feel safe though Tim in his own thoughts thinks Tam is going to die. He tries to fight the two of them of with the best of his abilities but is put in a bearhug by the spider guy. Tim uses a knife in his staff to cut a side of the guys face. Tim is unable to recover and as the guy in the hood is about to attack Tim Tam uses his staff to knock the guy in the hood out.
Tim and Tam make a run for it and as soon as they open a door Ra’s Al Ghul appears in front of them.
Shifting to the past yet again the past the woman from earlier has gather all of the people she was talking to earlier and some others. She tells them that she has a plan and is going to tell them the story of the most dangerous man on Earth: Ra’s Al Ghul.
Back in the present Red Robin tries to tell Ra’s what is going on but Ra’s says he has nothing to fear. But as he says that the woman from the flashbacks comes up behind Ra’s and touches his face which causes him to fall to his death. The woman and her gang stand over a dead Ra’s as Tim and Tam look on in horror. End of issue.
Commentary
The Good: Red Robin #7 was a good, albeit flawed, read. All of the weaknesses from the previous six issues of this series still exist in this issue but what is different about this issue is that this was the first issue where I actually had some fun reading the title. This was far and away Chris Yost best written issue of Red Robin.
What I liked about this issue the most is the pacing of this issue. It was a very fast moving issue with very slow parts, coming from the flashbacks. The fast moving pace helped the suspenseful feel of this issue as Tim had to make it back to the Cradle to save Tam in the near death situation she was in. For a pure superhero comic this made the issue fun to read.
One of the things I have not criticized Yost over during his run on this title is how he writes Tim. He does a solid job writing Tim and understanding how he works. With each issue of this series Tim is showing that he is slowly rising to being the leader of the League of Assassin’s even though he may not see it himself. As we saw in this issue, and in the last issue, he is going around giving orders to everyone in the League which is something that Ra’s has wanted since recruiting Tim to join the LoA.
And I liked that for the first half of the issue Tam was completely worried that she was going to die but when Tim showed up to save her she was not worried about being in a near death. Seeing Tim was what brought hope back to Tam that she would survive the situation she was in. It was a cool thing to see another character look at Tim and feel safe when he is around as it shows how skilled he has become and a more positive look at the character than how everyone in the Batfamily thinks Tim is just crazy.
Also I am interested to learn what the goal of Council of Spiders actually is other than just killing Ra’s since they did that in this issue. We saw that the woman was going around gathering all of these different members, most of which we have seen in previous issues, and I have to wonder what is her endgame.
Marcus To provide some very good artwork. And a lot of credit has to go to his inker and colorist Dexter Vines and Guy Major. The three of them combined to deliver a good looking comic book. Though the issue wasn’t spectacular this issue just looked like I was reading a comic book. The art was just solid throughout the issue with very little to no inconsistencies in the art.
The Bad: I really did not care for Ra’s dying yet again. It was a very lame ending for a character that has just come back and has appeared very little on this title. Yost tried to shock us with the ending but it left very little to desire as it is very unlikely Ra’s is dead.
I continue to dislike all of shifting between past and present that this series is quickly being known for. Going back to the past and then to the present only to visit the past kills the flow of the story. And I don’t know if we needed to see the Council of Spiders being assembled as we already seen most of them already and it just felt unnecessary thing to see.
Also with it being recently announced that Morrison will be helming the return of Bruce Wayne Yost has done very little to add to the characters return. DC has continuously told us that Red Robin is important to giving us clues to Bruce’s return but we have so far got nothing but seeing Tim discover the cave painting Bruce drew. It just makes me wonder how much anyone knows about Morrison’s story since it is clear Yost has no idea as he has not progressed the story what so ever other than telling us that Tim just has a feeling Bruce is alive and seeing the cave painting again.
Overall: Red Robin #7 was a fun issue. Though it had its flaws, most of them being the problems from previous issues, it was still an enjoyable issue. If you are a Tim Drake fan than you may enjoy this issue but if you are not than you can skip this issue.