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A review by captwinghead
Robin Vol. 1: Reborn by Norm Breyfogle, Tom Lyle, Alan Grant, Chuck Dixon
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.