DCU Comic Book Reviews

ROBIN #175

Batman R.I.P.:  Scattered Pieces

August 2008

Written by Chuck Dixon

Pencils by Joe Bennet

Inks by Jack Jadson

Cover by Freddie E. Williams II

Synopsis

Robin reads through Batman’s black casebook, filled with entries from the Dark Knight’s early days, and fears that his partner is slowly losing his mind.  Robin thinks it might have began when they were in Nanda Parbat and Batman went through the Thögal Ritual.  It also may have began when Batman spent 10 days in an isolation tank.  Robin takes copies of the casebook to Detective Harper and asks her to corroborate the facts contained in the book.  Then he goes to the Penguin and offers a large sum of money if the Penguin can find Batman before dawn.  Later, Robin tells Spoiler that he needs to find Batman and determine if he’s okay, because if he is not, then Robin will have to take him down...

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This is the second Bat title, after the last issue of Detective Comics, to be labeled as a Batman R.I.P. tie-in.  Neither issue really connects to Morrison’s story, although this issue of Robin does a better job than Detective Comics.  In this issue, Robin took off with the black casebook and know he is reading it through to learn more.  Ultimately, however, this does not lead to anything, other than Robin looking back on various events.  So, this is a less a tie-in and more of a history lesson, taking much of Morrison’s story and presenting the various plot points that have led to Batman going nuttier than the Joker.  So, in a way it is a comic book that is encapsulating the events of another comic book.  And if you have read my reviews in this site (God, bless you if that is true) then you’ll know that I dislike exposition-heavy issues.  Luckily, Nicieza must have realized this, so he wraps around the exposition with a flashback to Nightwing imparting lessons to Tim and Tim contacting others to learn more about whatever Batman may be going through.  These brief bits work well; Nicieza has a good sense of Robin and makes it work. 

There is one small problem with this issue, however.  The events Nicieza depicts here do not match up with 52, the book the events supposedly come from.  In 52, Nightwing had left the Dynamic Duo long before they ever reached Nanda Parbat to return to Gotham and fight the Crime Religion along with Batwoman.  Plus, I think 52 also made it pretty clear that Tim left Nanda Parbat or the cave for the entire time Batman was locked within. 

The cover is interesting, not so much due to its familiarity with the cover that presented the story of the death of Jason Todd, but for the placement of Tim’s left hand.  In the original, Batman had Jason cradled in his arms.  In this one, Tim’s arm is over Batman, not under.  That position makes it look as if Batman is too heavy and Robin is having trouble holding onto him, which Williams makes clear by the heftier size of Batman compared to Robin. 

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