DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #135

Arrows Of The Sun

April 2005

Written by Bill Willingham

Pencils by Damion Scott

Inks by Damion Scott & Sondra Hope

Cover by Damion Scott

Synopsis

Tim Drake (aka Robin) has just been shot by an unidentified archer.  He was protected by his vest.  He then takes off, first trying to dodge the archer and then trying to find a way to get to the archer and find out why he has been shot.  Eventually, Robin finds the archer and is able to get close enough during the fight to plant a homing beacon on her.  When she gets away, Robin follows.  Elsewhere, Alfred visits Tim’s stepmother, Dana in the hospital and reads her poetry.  In Gotham, the lawyer for the will of Tim’s father begins his search for Tim’s long lost Uncle, Eddie.  In Northern Blüdhaven, Penguin continues to solidify his hold on the city even as he deals with a mysterious group selling weapons.  Meanwhile, Robin continues to find the archer when he is suddenly attacked by a strange creature that calls itself the Dark Rider.

Review

I want to like this issue, I really do.  I just can’t get past the murky, dark, and muddled art.  At one point Robin loses his cape during the fight with the archer.  I don’t think I realized it until I read it through a second time and even then I had to slowly back track to figure out when it happened.  The interesting thing about the art is that I really like the layouts, the way it leaps off the page and flows from scene to scene and sometimes overlaps scenes without the use of the traditional boxes.  Unfortunately, the drawings are sloppy and the colors are really dark so that it makes it difficult to follow.  I thought the Scott and Hope did a good job with the previous issue, but that was mostly daytime scenes such that the vibrant colors shone through to really delineate what is visible on the page.  This issue, however, takes place during the night and the darkness hurts. 

The art aside, the story itself is no major shakes as it boils down to Robin eluding, capturing, and then following the archer.  The other bits and pieces featuring Alfred, the lawyer, and Penguin are parts of the puzzle that will be filled in future issues.  Much like Robin’s battle, this is a transition issue from one spot to another.  As part of the whole story (and perhaps in the trade paperback) this will work better than it does now.-- Review by MRB

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