DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #139

Meaner Than A Junkyard Dog

August 2005

Written by Bill Willingham

Pencils by Scott McDaniel

Inks by Andy Owens

Cover by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens

Synopsis

In the Batcave, Batman informs Robin that he knows “Uncle Eddie Drake” was a fabricated relative so Robin could avoid being adopted or placed in foster care.  Robin admits that is true and fears retribution.  Batman, however, is extremely proud of Robin and will help him to continue living with the lie.  In Blüdhaven, the police find a corpse with a note from the Junkyard Dog asking for Batgirl or Robin or else the murders will continue.  In the Batcave, Robin continues his search for his mysterious helper.  Batman tells him it is the Veteran, a folk tale of a soldier who has fought every battle in history.  Back in Blüdhaven, Robin contacts the police department to get the information for his meeting wit the Junkyard Dog.  In the Batcave, Batman asks Alfred if his romancing Dana Drake, Tim’s stepmother.  Alfred politely tells Batman to mind his own business.  Before leaving to meet the Junkyard Dog, Robin leaves a note for the Veteran asking him to follow Robin.  Robin then meets the Junkyard Dog and with the help of the Veteran, they are able to subdue him and all of his dogs.  Later, the Veteran tells Robin that he has come to steal him away from Batman and to recruit him.

Review

So, that was not the reaction I was expecting at all from Batman.  Actually, I didn’t have any expectations on how Batman would react, I guess that was the reason I was looking forward to this issue, to see how it would all play out.  But Batman accepting what Tim had done?  This, I was not expecting.  Nor do I quite understand.  One would think that Batman’s sense of paranoia being played out now across the DCU, you would think he would be suspicious of Robin’s motives for rejecting adoption and creating “Uncle Eddie” and would push Robin away.  Or at the very least be hurt by Robin’s rejection.

It is also disappointing that Willingham has chosen to bypass Robin’s decision to not become Bruce Wayne’s son.  In fact, Willingham has neatly bypassed any sort of explanation or defense from Robin on why he did what he did.  Oh, Batman indicates Robin did it because he didn’t want to be adopted or placed in the foster system, but Robin never explains why he didn’t want that?  Why wouldn’t anyone want to become Bruce Wayne’s son, even if you weren’t already his son? 

While I am leery where this plot line with the Veteran will take us next, I am relieved that at leas the villain of the month has ended.  None of the villains that to Blüdhaven were all that interesting and it was starting to become boring to see Robin so easily defeat them.  It would have been nice to see someone else come calling, like Shrike or even Deathstroke.  And since the contract was on Batgirl and Robin, it also would have been nice to see the two of the together once and awhile. 

Is it any surprise that the author of Fables, a book based on fairy tale characters living in the real World, would create a new character based on an old folk tale?-- Review by MRB

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