DCU Comic Book Reviews

RED ROBIN #9

Collision, Part One of Four

April 2010

Written by Chris Yost

Pencils by Marcus To

Inks by Ray McCarthy

Cover by Marcus To

Synopsis

In Gotham City, Tim Drake (aka Red Robin) apprehends Killer Moth.  Later, Tim takes Tam Fox to Wayne Tower and to her father.  Afterwards, Tim runs into Superboy, who offers to help Tim with anything he might need.  Meanwhile, “Bruce Wayne” (Tommy Elliot aka Hush in disguise) shares dinner with Vicki Vale, who questions him on the Wayne family and the whereabouts of Tim Drake.  Elsewhere, Ra’s al Ghul informs Tim that he needs to be ready for what happens next.  The war has started, the first casualty has been chosen.  Tim rushes to the batcave, searching for help.  There, he finds Stephanie Brown, the new Batgirl.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There really is not much here, other than random scenes designed to set the stage for the crossover with Batgirl.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t add up to a cohesive story as it is more of a bunch of random scenes that don’t add up.  The opening with Killer Moth is nothing more the space filler, written to show Tim Drake back in Gotham City and nothing more.  The scene with Superboy actually repeats what was done earlier, both in this book and in this issue of Adventure Comics, and doesn’t add much to what has already written.  Moreover, Yost tosses in a tidbit about the search for Bruce Wayne, even though very little searching for Bruce Wayne has actually taken place in this title.  Neither the search nor Superboy is connected to Ra’s or the upcoming war.  The same could be said for the scene with Vicki, although at the very least this might connect in the future given the way the scene ended.  But, for now, it is hard to understand where Yost is going with all of this.  It is not a jumbled mess, it is structured well and is understandable and easy to follow, but other the different plots and scenes don’t connect to each other, as if Yost is trying to service too many storylines and doesn’t have the space for it.  So we get bits and pieces, rather than a flowing story. 

How long do we have to wait before Ra’s actually, you know, strikes at his intended target?  Not only this issue, but also last issue we have gotten Ra’s standing there telling Tim that he is about to start a war for what Tim did.  Well, get on with it!  I mean, I get it that he is waiting for the right opportunity, but the constant repetition of Ra’s telling Tim that things are getting ugly is getting a little boring.   

It is interesting to note that Tim things Rip Hunter and Booster Gold when he realizes he may need to travel in time to find Bruce.  I thought Booster was supposed to be undercover while traveling through time and no one was to know what he was really doing.  Granted, Bruce (and now Dick) know about his mission, so it is not much of a stretch to assume Tim would know as well, but it still seems odd for Tim to consider Booster. 

The good news is that we don’t have any more shifts in time with flashbacks and “before” and whatever.  It definitely helps the flow of the story, even if it is choppy and doesn’t really gel into a cohesive whole.

 

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