BATMAN-ON-FILM.COM's "BATMAN IN COMICS" - Review: "RED ROBIN #13" by Ryan Hoss (June 11, 2010)

BATMAN-ON-FILM.COM's "BATMAN IN COMICS" - Review: "RED ROBIN #13" by Ryan Hoss (June 11, 2010)

Red Robin’s second year of adventures begins this month with part one of “The Hit List.” Along with this new year comes a (semi) new writer, Fabian Nicieza, who wrapped up Tim Drake’s original series. What does the future hold for Red Robin? Will the foundation laid by the first 12 issues factor into this one at all? Read on…
Like I said, this issue starts off a new arc with a new writer, so it has a lot to set up and accomplish. It begins by establishing Red Robin’s return to Gotham, trying to fit in with the new status quo. The opening scenes with Batman and Robin show a Tim Drake that is now complacent with his role and status as Red Robin, now that the Bat-Family has accepted the fact that Bruce Wayne is alive.

This leaves Tim with some interesting choices: where does he go from here? These questions are answered with a “checklist” style inner monologue, very similar to how the recent reboot of ADVENTURE COMICS treated Superboy’s return. It was very interesting to see how and where Tim is going to live a “normal” life around Dick and Damian now that he’s returned to Gotham. Some of the events from the previous issue were addressed, such as the aftermath of Tam Fox’s “engagement” to Tim and how Lucius reacted to it.

The rest of the issue deals with Red Robin revealing that he has some sort of “master plan” for his return to Gotham. Picking up on a thread from the end of the original ROBIN series, Tim’s first task is to break up some of the gang activity in the city. In a bold move, he lures Lynx out of her hideaway and takes her out in front of everyone. Just as Red Robin defeats her, she reveals that she is actually an undercover Hong Kong police officer. In an instant, this once-generic, “Robin only” villain is now a captivating character. I really hope this is explored in future issues.

In my opinion, this issue definitely starts out this new arc and direction on the right foot. It retained just enough of the plot points from the previous year while starting a new story. Since Fabian Nicieza penned the closing arc of the original Robin title, I wasn’t surprised to see some elements from that story bleeding into this one. However, I’m really hoping that this title doesn’t start reading like “Robin, but with Red Robin instead.” Tim Drake has gone through too much to start behaving like his previous identity. Although that doesn’t seem to be the case here, it’s just something to think about. Also, this usually goes without saying, but Marcus To’s artwork is simply wonderful -- I hope he stays in the Bat-world for some time. All in all, I enjoyed the issue and I’m interested to see what happens next.