Robin: Wanted
Let's check back in on my favorite Robin, Tim Drake, who is now finally in his own solo series, something that I've waited forever for but let's not forget the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for". The thing is, while I love Tim Drake, the first issue of this series didn't "Wow" me, hell, it didn't even "Whelm" me, and going into this second issue I have to hope beyond hope that the writing and art have improved because the last issue was rough. Let's see if this murder mystery that Tim Drake has found himself in with some of the most convoluted plot elements becomes something that's not only decipherable but something that's also good. Let's check it out.
Whoever the villain of our story is someone who loves mystery novels and is someone who knows that Tim Drake is Robin and for some reason, we're only dealing with the former rather than the latter when the idea that our big bad knows who Robin is is something that should really bother our hero not only because of the danger he's in but because of the danger he could be putting the rest of the Bat-Family in. This aspect though is never addressed and instead, we have Tim Drake whining about wanting to tell Bernard everything, even though it feels like they just became a couple and Tim's also upset because he's trying to find a place that he belongs in the world........ It's a weird take on the character, who while normally broods, comes off like he's not really invested in the Bat-Family stuff anymore because of being with Bernard. Beyond our emo Robin though, our story is about our big bad framing Robin for a theft of a diamond and now our hero has to prove his innocence before the police hunt him down.
Like the last issue, the answers to his mystery are based in mystery novels and Robin has to figure out what story he's in to figure out how to take our villain down...... and while I understand that premise and thought Robin.... and even Meghan Fitzmartin did too, this issue takes a weird jump in storytelling where our hero wants to draw the baddie out and it makes no sense how anything by the end of our issue happens and I'm kind of convinced that none of it really mattered as long as Meghan Fitzmartin could have the cliffhanger that we got so it just happens. I love Tim Drake and after reading this issue and the last I know our Robin deserves better.
All in all, I'm not a fan of Riley Rossmo's art. Yeah, I think that it can work in certain situations, but sadly this book isn't one of them and this new series just suffers for having it. Like the art, the writing isn't doing this book any favors though because instead of showing us a compelling Robin and letting us know how he got to this point in his life, we just get a Tim Drake who whines a lot about not being everything he wants to be and the plot that our hero has to overcome is just out there and makes little to no sense when we actually start dealing with it. I'm pretty sure that all we suffered through here was to have a doppelganger Robin or Robins to frame our hero and because of that, the majority of the issue feels kind of useless... Especially when our way to get there just came out of nowhere.
Bits and Pieces:
While I continue to love Tim Drake, I also continue to hate this series. My favorite Robin deserves better art and stories while being featured and nothing about this book is doing this hero any favors. We've got a convoluted mess to read and look at throughout this book and I can only hope that these are growing pains that will eventually work themselves out as the series progresses because if things keep up the way they are this book is doomed to end real quick.
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