DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #144

Days Of Fire And Madness

January 2006

Written by Bill Willingham

Pencils by Scott McDaniel

Inks by Andy Owens

Cover by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens

Synopsis

After the recent attacks from the OMACs, Blüdhaven is in tatters and the people are in a panic.  While the Veteran and his team help the people, Robin goes with Blue Devil and Ragman to chase down Laura Fell (aka Warlock’s Daughter).  Instead, the three encounter two villains, Thunderhand and Tapeworm.  They are able to capture Thunderhand, but Tapeworm is able to get away.  From Thunderhand they learn that nearly 200 meta-human villains and heroes had been kept prisoner by the OMACs.  Most had been killed by the OMACs before they reverted to human form.  Those still alive escaped and then killed the humans.  Because of this act, Thunderhand becomes a part of Ragman’s outfit.  Later, Robin, Blue Devil, and Ragman find the Warlock’s Daughter, who agrees to let them take her into custody.  However, before they can do anything, Tapeworm has arrived seeking Thunderhand.  And he has brought a few friends....

Review

While I liked this issue (the fight scenes were good, it was mildly funny,  and I liked the discussion of justice between Rags and Robin), I am a little annoyed that Willingham is so enamored with his Shadowpact group that he brought them over to this title after the Day Of Vengeance mini-series ended.  While I always like crossover titles of groups that don’t always work together, this extended cameo, if you will, smacks of a writer who no longer has anything to say about Robin, but has plenty to say with Shadowpact and thus they become a bigger part of the story than they should.  After all, it was Blue Devil who defeated Thunderhead in the first place just as it was Ragman who dispensed justice by bringing him into his suit of rags.  In both cases, Robin idly watched what was going on.  And despite Robin’s boast of what he does, it was Rags who led them to Laura Fell and Blue Devil who actually found her.  Heck, Blue Devil was also the one to spot Tapeworm’s return.  Reading all of this I could not help but wonder about Robin, who was essentially a passive character, and how he fit into the series that bears his name. 

Another character who seems to take more space in this comic that I would have expected, is the Veteran, another Willingham character, who gets a couple of pages to heroically save a little girl.  While it was nice to see, I wonder what importance it has to the main story or to Robin.  The Veteran’s role at the beginning and in the middle when he explains the prison to Robin is fine and it certainly advances the story.  The rescue of the little girl does nothing for the story.-- Review by MRB