Dealing with the new Batman Universe is like trying to figure out where you are in a city you’ve never been to. It looks like any other city but the further you step into it the further disorienting it becomes. DC Comics has approached the post Bruce Wayne era Batman by completely turning things on their ear, none more so than with Red Robin #1. This isn’t the Jason Todd Red Robin, which would be easier to ease into, this is Tim Drake as Red Robin and Tim is losing it. Watching him lose it is what makes it so unsettling and thus so entertaining.
From the opening page of Red Robin #1 I understood fully that this was going to be a darker title in the Batman series. Both psychologically and physically this was a book that was going to push Tim Drake into new directions. Remember, this is a kid who has lost everything, now including Bruce his adopted father but there’s more on the horizon. The book switches back and forth between Tim’s current actions in Europe and flashbacks to what drove him to this state. Tim is more violent then before, more aggressive, to the point he even admits he chose the Red Robin costume because it’s tainted and he plans on tainting it further.
From his quick and violent disposal of kidnappers in Spain to a high speed defeat of bank robbers in Paris, Tim’s new nearly lethal hardcore attitude stems from one thing: his belief that Bruce Wayne is alive. Most think Tim has cracked and if he had it would be with good reason. The flashback scene where Tim is told that Damien is the new Robin and that this last thing he could cling to has been taken from him is some of the best comic book writing I’ve come across in a long time. Add to it just how much of a prick Damien is to Tim and you understand the new mindset.
Writer Chris Yost (X-Force, X-Men) does a terrific job of balancing the psychological scars with the action. Just as things lull into a sense of being incredibly cerebral Tim is out beating people up or would be assassins are being killed off by…something….before Tim even arrives. Yost also does a great job of keeping the surprise end twist from you so when you do turn the page you actually gasp. I’m not sure if the darkness will stay through out the history of the book but for now this is as close to Wolverine style badass as DC gets. I suppose hiring a writer who has done mostly Wolverine and X-Men work was a good choice.
The art by Ramon Bachs does what it needs to do without being really spectacular. I guess part of it was that I just didn’t notice the art, which can be a good thing; it all flowed together with the story without removing me from it at all. I’m hoping the art gets a little better but for now this will do. Don’t get me wrong it tells the story very well it just doesn’t pop off the page and excite me the way the story did.
Where will Tim’s search for Bruce take him? Will it have anything to do with the Cave Man Bruce at the end of Final Crisis? How much longer can Tim live on anger before it gets the better of him? There are so many questions to be answered I was left almost angry that the second issue wasn’t available the next day. I would also like to see Tim kick the snot out of Damien; they have to work that in somehow. Whatever does happen in the future, you can count me in as a fan of the Red Robin series.
