This is Thom speaking for the Revolution. I was excited by the return of Chuck Dixon to this title. Unfortunately, he had a “parting of the ways” with DC Comics and is no longer writing this title. These are big shoes for Fabian Nicieza to step into, especially since this is a tie-in to Batman R.I.P. I am curious how he will respond to this challenge.
Creative Team
Writer: Fabian Niecieza
Pencils: Joe Bennett
Inks: Jack Jadson
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls of 10
Synopsis: Robin, sitting on his motorcycle, is watching Bruce Wayne kneeling in the sand. Bruce is saying “It’s over. Batman is gone.” Robin is remembering the odyssey that he went on with Bruce Wayne and Dick(Nightwing) Grayson during the weekly “52” series. They retraced the steps that Bruce originally took when he became Batman.
Robin is standing on a rooftop and reading Bruce’s black casebook(a journal of Batman’s earliest days). He is worried that if Batman has lost his sanity, how will the rest of them keep balanced?
Robin says that the purpose of the odyssey was Bruce’s need to die and be reborn. Only Bruce could make this sound like a plan.
Bruce in a cave. Day 1.
Dick and Tim are watching the entrance to the cave while Bruce continues his journey. Many shots of Dick and Tim watching the cave then Dick announces that it is time for them to prepare.
In the present…Robin thanks Spoiler(Stephanie Brown) for meeting with him. He informs Stephanie that Batman is missing. He thinks about Stephanie faking her death while she was living in Africa. Stephanie hopes that Tim will start being happy about her return. Tim is still upset that he did not know that her death was faked.
Stephanie asks what is going on with Batman. Tim tells her that he is afraid that Batman has gone crazy. Silence follows, then Stephanie starts laughing. She takes her mask off. She tells Tim that of course Batman is crazy. She says that they are all crazy. Batman is “the most insanely sane man in the world”.
Tim tells her about the black casebook. Batman spent 10 days in an isolation tank in an attempt to understand the way the villains think. Tim thinks that a post hypnotic suggestion was planted in Batman’s mind during the experiment. Now it has been activated as part of a game between Batman and Black Glove.
Tim scans the pages. He is going to get another person to analysize them. She does not think that Batman would approve. Tim will remove references to Batman’s secret identity from the scans.
Batman in a cave. Day 13.
Dick and Tim are on yacht with 3 beautiful women. While they are talking, Dick is scouting out a drug dealer. Dick says they could bust the dealer for many things but he is after a bigger fish. He wants an international slave trader. Tim realizes that some times you have to make compromises to get the bigger crook. Dick bumps into the trader so he can plant a tracer on him. Later that night Nightwing and Robin bust up the slave trade ring.
Back in the present…Sgt. Harper is washing her hands in the bathroom at the Gotham City P.D. Robin drops down from the ceiling. He assures her that he did not peek. He has information that needs verified. She asks why her and not Commissioner Gordon. Robin is worried that Gordon might not be objective. He needs someone that he can trust as much as Batman trusts Gordon. He gives her the files he has scanned.
Robin meets up with Spoiler on the roof. She still does not agree with what he is doing. Robin is not sure that he agrees with it either. He tells her that he has thought this over.
Robin and Spoiler break up a gang that has cornered an elderly couple. He thinks how he can always count on the Sprang Bridge Soldiers for some “agression-release therapy”. Spoiler asks Robin what he is going to do. He says he will find Batman. When she asks how, he tells her that she does not want to know.
Bruce in a cave. Day 24.
Dick and Tim are now in Monte Carlo. Dick is gambling with a sheik. This sheik’s family was funding research facilities with ties to Intergang. Dick convinces him to stop funding the research in exchange for an endowment fund at Gotham University. Dick explains that sometimes money can be used to manipulate people and prevent crimes before they happen. The secret is knowing how to use it.
Back in the present…Robin is holding a case full of money. He is making an offer to the Penguin. The money is his if he finds Batman by dawn. Robin hands him a cell phone with one number programmed in. It will only call Robin.
Robin meets back up with Spoiler. She tells him that something is wrong if he is making deals with Penguin. Robin knows that the Penguin has contacts in places he can not go. Spoiler wants to know what Robin will do if he finds Batman and he has gone crazy. Robin says that he will take Batman down.
Comments
The Good: The interplay between Dick and Tim is great. Fabian Nicieza shows that the two of them have become like brothers. Dick’s playful teasing of Tim in front of the women seemed realistic.
The interaction between Robin and Spoiler was handled perfectly. One of the best scenes is when Robin tells Spoiler that he thinks Batman has gone crazy.
Robin’s deal with the Penguin shows how deparate he has become. Robin knows that this is wrong but he is out of options.
The development of Robin’s working relationship with Sgt. Harper could lead into interesting territory. As he grows, she could be a vital ally in Robin’s future.
Fabian Nicieza stepped in and provided a great script. He seems very comfortable handling the cast. The only complaint that a reader might have is the lack of action. This story is mostly plot driven.
Bennett and Jadson did a good job with the art duties this month. Some of the splash pages were exceptional. The final page would make a great poster.
The “easter egg” in this issue is the Sprang Bridge Soldiers. Dick Sprang was one of the main Batman artists for the first 20 years. Later he switched over to World’s Finest until he retired in 1963.
The Bad: This issue is well done but is mostly set-up for the next issue.
Overall: A good issue. Nicieza does a good job of setting the tone for his tenure on the series. The art team was good(excellent at times). I am curious how this series will be handled after Batman R.I.P. and with the loss of Chuck Dixon. This is a good start.
3 thoughts on “Robin #175 Review”
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I enjoyed this issue a lot more than I thought I would – like you said, it was a bit slow because it was setup, but it’s good to see a new writer nailing characterization right away.
I wonder, if this storyline follows through with Tim taking over as Batman for a while, the boy becoming a man, will this make it harder to view him as a “Teen Titans” Robin when this is all done?
With Nightwing already holding a position between the teen and adult heroes, the last thing DC needs is to move Tim up the ladder another rung in current continuity.
Of course, he may try to take over as Batman and fail, and show that he is still a growing boy. That would give him room to develope for some time to come.
I wasn’t planning on buying this out of loyalty to Chuck Dixon, but it ended up in my pull stack anyway.
This issue was not bad but it seems they are playing it very safe for now and just providing a crossover tie-in and not much more. I did like the Penguin sequence / plot twist a lot though.