DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #151

Harder Questions

August 2006

Written by Adam Beechen

Pencils by Freddie E. Williams II

Inks by Freddie E. Williams II

Cover by Patrick Gleason & Prentis Rollins

Synopsis

Robin has a gun pointed at the head of David Cain.  He is being assisted by Cassandra Cain, who wants her father killed and wants Robin to do it.  Robin refuses and breaks free of Cassandra’s grip, but she takes the gun from him and shoots Cain.  Elsewhere, a teenager uses his power to teleport to take down some minor thugs and an old man tells the police that the Joker has a plan and all of Gotham is going to die.  Meanwhile, Robin tells Cassandra he is going to take her down and then get her help.  Cassandra tells him he must first fight his way through the league of assassins.  Rather than do that, Robin sets off an explosion.  That leaves just Robin and Cassandra to fight.  During the battle they realize an oil tanker is about to blow.  After the explosion, Cassandra is gone.  Later, Robin runs into Killa ‘Nilla, who tells Robin that someone is looking for him...the son of Captain Boomerang, the one who killed Robin’s dad.

Review

There is a part of me that wants to scream:  Cassandra Cain is one of the best fighters in the world, so there is no way Robin even stood a chance against her, especially since he was tired after fighting through her henchmen.  Then there is the other part that just shrugs his shoulders and realizes that no one was going to win in their fight, so it doesn’t really matter.  This story arc is so wrong for many reasons, that any ending, short of turning Cassandra on the good side again, would not satisfy anyone.  Let’s face it, in order to really turn Cassandra Cain evil and make her a respectable DCU villain, would be for her to go all out, like Lex Luthor or the Joker (or even Anakin Skywalker) type of villainy.  This “I want to kill daddy for what he did to me” is not really evil, just misguided anger.  She needs a therapist.  So, we are left with a weak villain.  She may be the head of the league of assassins, but she does not exude real evil.  To do that, however, takes guts and DC editorial probably wants to waffle on Cassandra in order to perhaps turn her back to a hero.  So, we get this lame, wishy-washy ending. 

Is David Cain dead?  The answer to that depends on who you talk to.  Those who want him dead will keep him dead; those who want him alive, will bring him back.  Although it look as if he died, at the end there was no body, so it is possible he got away.  Again, very wishy-washy. 

I am getting quite annoyed at the insertion of bits and pieces of new plots or subplots that don’t seem to have any bearing on the main plot.  What is the deal with the new “hero” of Gotham City?  And what happened to the girl Tim drake was supposed to tutor or be tutored.  It is one thing to introduce a new plot and then follow, it is quite another to introduce something and then forget about it.  Even the first appearance of Killa ‘Nilla didn’t really amount to all that much.  I am all for telling stories over several issues and I am all for setting up future issues, but don’t leaving me hanging, man.-- MRB

ïPREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.