DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #128

Fired

September 2004

Written by Bill Willingham

Pencils by Damion Scott

Inks by Damion Scott

Cover by Damion Scott

Synopsis

Batman and Robin (aka Stephanie Brown) are fighting the Scarab, who is able to knock Batman out of the window and then grab hold of Robin.  The Scarab picks up Robin but tells her:  “You’re all wrong.”  She let’s Robin go and leaves.  Elsewhere Batgirl (aka Cassandra Cain) is sitting with Tim Drake (former Robin) on the rooftop of his apartment building, protecting him in case the assassin comes looking for him.  Later, Robin tells Batman that when the Scarab was holding her, she was able to homing device.  They use the batplane to follow the Scarab.  Batman gets dressed in battle gear and descends on Scarab from above.  Scarab, however, has her own battle suit.  In the batplane, Robin listens as Batman provides commentary on the battle and the injuries he has sustained.  It does not sound good.  Robin wants to help out.  Batman orders her not to leave the plane.  Robin does so anyway, but manages to get captured by the Scarab, who promises to let her live once she gets away in the batplane.  Later, Alfred tells Bruce that the plane was found three states away while Robin had been left on the roof after the Scarab had taken the plane.  After three weeks to heal, Batman is back on the job.  Robin is also anxious to get back to work.  However, Batman will be working alone as Stephanie has been fired!

Review

Wow.  That was quick.  I was not expecting Steph to be fired from being Robin.  I honestly expected that she would remain Robin throughout the War Games mega-crossover.  It seemed as if the recent change was specifically done as a lead-in for that series.  Now, she’s gone and I’ve got to wonder, what the hell was the point of it all?  I suppose one could argue that we know Steph would not remain as Robin, that at some point Tim would be back into the role.  And that is fine and I certainly did not expect Steph’s role to last.  But I did expect, as I said, for it to last through War Games.  It will be interesting to see what shakes out during the next several months.  At this point I’ve got to think that this is the series that will turn Tim back into Robin, but will he get the chance to talk to Steph about her decision and about what happened. 

In the midst of the Steph debacle, the Scarab assassin was a fascinating character and one I hope appears someplace else in the DCU.  Not only was the Scarab a decent fighter, but her interesting code of ethics is different that those seen elsewhere.  A lot can be done with her, especially as the foil for one of the heroes.  A good foe would be Green Arrow or perhaps the Flash.  Let’s hope that in the shadow of War Games that the Scarab is not forgotten.-- MRB