walter_the_wombat's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
gothicteletubby's review
2.75
This rating is only for the Robin mini-series and not the overall TB
This was okay. It is very strange going for the super confident and sure of himself version Alan Grant gave us, to immediately shifting to a weirdly wary Tim that Chuck Dixon wrote. The overall story felt kind of unnecessary after reading Caped Crusader Vol 4, but that new Robin costume is amazing.
This was okay. It is very strange going for the super confident and sure of himself version Alan Grant gave us, to immediately shifting to a weirdly wary Tim that Chuck Dixon wrote. The overall story felt kind of unnecessary after reading Caped Crusader Vol 4, but that new Robin costume is amazing.
spiderstapdance's review against another edition
2.0
I subtracted stars for racism and the punching of anticapitalists. For me the stories shone in the moments where Tim Drake reflects on his own youth and what it means to be a hero in both the general sense and personally for him.
justabookholic's review
3.0
There was a lot more colonial overtones within this run than I expected. Dare I say, too much.
luana420's review against another edition
5.0
Collection of not just Tim Drake's first solo-miniseries but also two Batman/Detective arcs featuring respectively his parents' deaths and Batman's acceptance of him as Robin. These latter two feature some absolutely glorious Norm Breyfogle art (possibly my fave Bat artist now?) but Tom Lyle in the Robin miniseries certainly ain't no snitch.
Only the middle arc is Gotham-set with Tim saving Bruce from a Scarecrow trap: it's actually very refreshing and fun to have these stories be globe-trotting adventures with villains like (lol) King Snake:
- he is a blind English lord
- also a drug runner
- looks like 6 foot tall trailer trash mullet man
- built like Liefeld character
- is lethal martial artist with GIANT SNAKE TATTOO on chest
The "Robin" mini also introduced me to Shiva, whose ethnic ambiguity, deadly skill-set and contempt for christianity and the west all seem perfectly set to pander to me specifically. An absolute crime she hasn't been in any Batman movies!
Only the middle arc is Gotham-set with Tim saving Bruce from a Scarecrow trap: it's actually very refreshing and fun to have these stories be globe-trotting adventures with villains like (lol) King Snake:
- he is a blind English lord
- also a drug runner
- looks like 6 foot tall trailer trash mullet man
- built like Liefeld character
- is lethal martial artist with GIANT SNAKE TATTOO on chest
The "Robin" mini also introduced me to Shiva, whose ethnic ambiguity, deadly skill-set and contempt for christianity and the west all seem perfectly set to pander to me specifically. An absolute crime she hasn't been in any Batman movies!
literati42's review
3.0
It was fun to see a back story for my favorite Robin, although this was far from my favorite story of him. certainly some fun parts and some problematic parts. Persona favorite was all the next level Sass lady Shiva was casually tossing at passerbys. More of this please
captwinghead's review
2.0
First half: 1 star (less than if possible)
Second half: 3 stars
Total score: 2 stars
This is hard. DC let Alan Grant write 2 Batman stories where he villainized black people, the poor and poor black people. The first story is one of the most blatantly racist stories I've read in a while and I have been making my way through comics from the 70s and 80s for over a year now. So, I've been in the trenches - this shit is awful.
Let's not even get into the fact that black magic is always viewed as dangerous and dark, in every single mainstream story. Look at American Horror Story: Coven where the white witches are using "good magic" occasionally for bad purposes but Marie Laveau's magic is automatically viewed as "bad" because it's African voodoo magic. Grant's Batman story uses white fear of black "natives" and black "voodoo" to create a villain in Ebeau and it's just awful.
On top of showing Haiti as shanty towns. On top of having Batman and Robin only attacking black criminals in Gotham and in Haiti. It's a story where the only people you see being beat up, hurt and killed are black. They're constantly referred to as "brutes" and treated like savages (as well as being depicted in loin cloths). In a book that doesn't even feature Lucius Fox, these are the only depictions of black people... this is some 1930s bullshit, it doesn't belong in this time period.
Also, not to shit on the dead, but Tim's parents are seen on the plane having an argument about which third world nation to build a factory on (I think that's what they were doing). And Janet Drake argues that they should have "settled" for Jamaica, so Tim's parents didn't have the best view of black nations either.
Robin's hunting down a Robin Hood type figure that's using electronic bank transfers to steal from the rich and give to the poor around the world. You'd think, in a book about a character that has always given some of his fortunes to charity, Grant wouldn't villainize this Robin Hood type character the way he does everyone else. You'd be wrong. Robin has to take him down, violently.
So, I have to wonder why DC let Grant write these stories when he appears to hate black people and the poor.
Anyway, I was so grateful when the writing switched over to Chuck Dixon. In a way, I felt as though he was hitting back at Grant's writing because Tim makes a point of saying repeatedly that Batman and Robin are meant to stick up for the oppressed. He has a story where he works with an Asian woman and a Black man. And I was so grateful the Black man wasn't a criminal - I mean so fucking thankful.
I always love seeing Lady Shiva - she fascinates me as a character. Clyde Rawlins was your typical black guy in an action movie character, but it worked for the story. I liked seeing him work with Tim and teach him how to fight. I enjoyed seeing Shiva teach him how to fight. It read like an 80s movie, honestly. The plot, the outfits, the training sequences, I've seen this in the Karate Kid. It works.
Tim is still rather annoying to me as a character. He's constantly trying to speak over and boss adults around, and that just doesn't work for me. He's growing on me a bit, but I still feel as though he's my least favorite compared to the rest of the batfamily. But that's okay, he has a fanbase. He's just not for me.
Anyway, one gross moment aside where 13 year old Tim appears to proposition Shiva for sex (I threw up in my mouth a bit), Dixon's story is a recommend. Just stay far, far away from Alan Grant's racist voodoo story, and you'll be okay.
Second half: 3 stars
Total score: 2 stars
This is hard. DC let Alan Grant write 2 Batman stories where he villainized black people, the poor and poor black people. The first story is one of the most blatantly racist stories I've read in a while and I have been making my way through comics from the 70s and 80s for over a year now. So, I've been in the trenches - this shit is awful.
Let's not even get into the fact that black magic is always viewed as dangerous and dark, in every single mainstream story. Look at American Horror Story: Coven where the white witches are using "good magic" occasionally for bad purposes but Marie Laveau's magic is automatically viewed as "bad" because it's African voodoo magic. Grant's Batman story uses white fear of black "natives" and black "voodoo" to create a villain in Ebeau and it's just awful.
On top of showing Haiti as shanty towns. On top of having Batman and Robin only attacking black criminals in Gotham and in Haiti. It's a story where the only people you see being beat up, hurt and killed are black. They're constantly referred to as "brutes" and treated like savages (as well as being depicted in loin cloths). In a book that doesn't even feature Lucius Fox, these are the only depictions of black people... this is some 1930s bullshit, it doesn't belong in this time period.
Also, not to shit on the dead, but Tim's parents are seen on the plane having an argument about which third world nation to build a factory on (I think that's what they were doing). And Janet Drake argues that they should have "settled" for Jamaica, so Tim's parents didn't have the best view of black nations either.
Robin's hunting down a Robin Hood type figure that's using electronic bank transfers to steal from the rich and give to the poor around the world. You'd think, in a book about a character that has always given some of his fortunes to charity, Grant wouldn't villainize this Robin Hood type character the way he does everyone else. You'd be wrong. Robin has to take him down, violently.
So, I have to wonder why DC let Grant write these stories when he appears to hate black people and the poor.
Anyway, I was so grateful when the writing switched over to Chuck Dixon. In a way, I felt as though he was hitting back at Grant's writing because Tim makes a point of saying repeatedly that Batman and Robin are meant to stick up for the oppressed. He has a story where he works with an Asian woman and a Black man. And I was so grateful the Black man wasn't a criminal - I mean so fucking thankful.
I always love seeing Lady Shiva - she fascinates me as a character. Clyde Rawlins was your typical black guy in an action movie character, but it worked for the story. I liked seeing him work with Tim and teach him how to fight. I enjoyed seeing Shiva teach him how to fight. It read like an 80s movie, honestly. The plot, the outfits, the training sequences, I've seen this in the Karate Kid. It works.
Tim is still rather annoying to me as a character. He's constantly trying to speak over and boss adults around, and that just doesn't work for me. He's growing on me a bit, but I still feel as though he's my least favorite compared to the rest of the batfamily. But that's okay, he has a fanbase. He's just not for me.
Anyway, one gross moment aside where 13 year old Tim appears to proposition Shiva for sex (I threw up in my mouth a bit), Dixon's story is a recommend. Just stay far, far away from Alan Grant's racist voodoo story, and you'll be okay.
alexalovesbooks's review
4.0
I was admittedly not too fond of Tim Drake, but I think it was partly because I didn't know him. This gave me the chance to learn more about it, and I liked what I saw. Fascinating take on him, and his Robin is something else.
golden_lily's review
3.0
2.5 It was good to meet Tim and learn his history, but this comic has not aged well. The Drakes' fate in Haiti...woof. In fact, not one of the three stories doesn't have super problematic race elements.
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