DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #125

In The Shadow Of Two Fathers

June 2004

Written by Bill Willingham

Pencils by Francisco Rodrigues de la Fuente

Inks by Aaron Sowd

Cover by Jason Pearson

Synopsis

At Wayne Manor, Jack Drake holds a gun to the head of Bruce Wayne.  Jack knows his son Tim is really Robin; he wants his son back.  Bruce takes the gun away from Jack and tries to talk to him, but Jack won’t listen.  Meanwhile, Tim returns to the batcave, Tim is feeling good about being Batman’s sidekick.  Bruce is waiting for him, as is his father.  Jack tells his son he is taking him home.  Elsewhere, Johnny Warlock’s hired assassin is trying to determine Robin’s identity since the boy wonder has been missing in Gotham for the last three months.  In Gotham, Darla Aquista asks her father, mob boss Henry Aquista why everyone is deferential to him and why kids at school are afraid of her.  Henry receives a phone call from Johnny Warlock, who wants the Aquista gang to make some noise to draw out Robin from wherever he his hiding.  Back at the batcave, Tim and his father are discussing things.  As they wait, Batman, Nightwing and Alfred discuss what to do with Jack Drake to prevent the secret from getting out.  Ultimately they know it is Jack’s decision; there is nothing else they can do.  Jack and Tim reach a decision.  Jack decides to keep Batman’s identity a secret.  Because his dad is so against him being Robin, Tim quits.

Review

“So, effective immediately, I quit.  I’m no longer Robin.”

The problem with the comic book industry to a very small degree is that publishing companies are consistently touting the future, providing solicitations for issues three months in advance.  So, it is really no secret that there will be a new Robin coming in the next couple of issues.  Keeping that in mind, the ending to this issue is not much a surprise.  Despite that, the ending was a shock.  It is kind like seeing the car coming barreling towards your car; you know impact is coming, you prepare for it, but when it happens, it is not at all like you suspected.  There was a part of me that was hoping Tim would not quit, that the “new” Robin was really Tim, Version 2.0.  There was even that moment when he drove into the batcave that he talked about be rejuvenated by Stephanie’s talk.  But, alas, it didn’t happen and now Tim is no longer Robin.  this of course begs the question:  if Tim is no longer Robin, does that mean he is no longer the star of this book?  Will the new Robin (presumably Stephanie based on solicitations) take over completely or will Tim remain in the background. 

One thing that took my surprise is the manner in which Jack blames “brainwashing” as the reason for his son becoming a vigilante.  It seems odd to me that Jack confronts Bruce and assumes that his son not at fault, but Bruce is at fault.  I suppose that the entire situation with Robin was meant to relate to teenagers who get involved with drugs or gangs or other dangerous, high risk, stupid things that kids to.  And I suppose this is the way a lot of adults approach a situation like this.  it is easier to blame someone else than it is to confront the fact that your child may have made bad choices n his/hero own.

I also think that the issue fails in one big area:  we never hear the conversation between Jack and Tim that led to Tim’s decision.  In essence, the big emotional payoff that we had been expecting (Jack confronts his son about being Robin) occurs off-screen, off-stage, off-page or whatever else you want to call it.  While this does make the final page come more of a shock, it is disappointing we don’t know what Tim told or did not tell his father.-- MRB

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