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2.5
First off, can I just point out that the solicit summary doesn't actually match this issue. That doesn't really affect the quality all that much, but it's worth noting.
Regardless, I'll be the first to concede that this issue has far more coherent progression between scenes than the last one. And there is clearly more of an effort being made this time when it comes to characterisation though it's still sketchy.
The fight between Tim and the Clay Robin's is well put together, panel wise, though sadly the abundance of narration boxes does prove to be a detriment as I found it distracting from the fight scene, clutters the pages, and slows it down.
I do get that the narration was intended to show off Tim's analytical side, but honestly, I can't help but notice an undertone of the fight being intended to prove Tim's superiority as Robin, especially as some of the comments Tim made in the narration, felt less about the fight and more about making a few digs at the other Robins. Though my own issues so far with the run, may be colouring my perspective.
It's worth noting that the Clay Robin's themselves, aren't fully explained in this issue and there's some confusion about what they actually are. Tim does debunk the idea that it's Clayface, and they are apparently supposed to have the fighting skills of the originals, with Steph's name and her specific relationship being brought up, however the final scene suggests that these are actually people transformed into Clay Duplicates of the Robin's, muddying up the situation so to speak. I bring this up, because it calls into question how they knew so much, with Tim and clearly Steph's identities being known, which the issue and honestly the run so far, kind of gloss over.
Moving on from the fight scene are the other important bits of the issue. The first is the cops coming to take the Clay Robin's into custody at Tim's call (nevermind them compromising his and Steph's identities), with the Marina residents showing solidarity with Robin. It should be an emotionally resonant scene as well as giving the residents clear characterisation, but to be honest, I find it falling flat due to the way its laid out feeling like it just happened with a lack of actual effort put in.
The final point I need to discuss is Tim as Robin meeting Bernard again. Before I say anything else, I should note that another person pointed out that the artwork by Rossmo is actually fine, the backgrounds, the panelling, even the fight itself all look fine. This is especially worth noting because this may be Rossmo's last issue on Tim Drake Robin with another artist taking over. The actual issue is the character design, especially for Tim and Bernard, with Tim's face and hair really not suiting the style, while Bernard is very femininely coded. I don't know who is responsible for it, whether it be Fitzmartin or Rossmo himself but it really doesn't work with Rossmo's style.
Bernard finally shows some more characterisation beyond being the boyfriend, though to be honest, it still feels more like it's being told to us, rather than shown, blunting its impact substantially, and I get the sense that Bernard is still supposed to be reflecting Tim's troubles, which don't really fit with his issues displayed so far.
As an aside, both Detective Williams and Darcy don't make an appearance for the first time I the run and its shocking how little their absence is felt. more
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2.5
Okay, who exactly is this made for, because I am a massive Tim Drake fanboy & I’m bi and I can tell you it’s certainly not made for me, and if it’s not made for me then who is it made for? It’s be one thing if this was a brand new character, but this is a character with over 30 years of history, with a clearly defined personality and character traits. Would love if this book incorporated those character traits instead of this Tumblr fanfic version.
Alright, positives first, this is probably the best issue Fitzmartin has written so far, but there’s still a lot wrong with it. This story is actually kind of interesting, and it felt like a natural progression instead of random events happening. And the art is much better this time around. And I am curious to see who the bad guy is, we meet this Colonel guy, so right now I’m leaning towards The General as the main bad.
I think I figured out the Riley Rossmo situation. Rossmo’s art isn’t that bad, his backgrounds and the way the characters move across the page are actually quite dynamic and engaging. But, the character designs are what bring it down. If they can tweak the way the characters look, then there would be improvement.
While it is cool to see Tim take down these faux-Robins, it is brought down by the over abundance of narration. I don’t think there was a single panel in this comic that didn’t have any dialogue in it. Comics are a visual medium, let the art do the talking, Show Don’t Tell. Also Tim seemed to show more remorse beating up Damian or Jason than he did Stephanie……deep breath….anyways.
The humor here, just does not land. There is a moment where they do “the high ground” meme and it just feels like “how do you do fellow kids.”
Now talk about Bernard. I kept confusing him for a her, because quite frankly Bernard looks like a lesbian. He looks more and more feminine with every issue, even, are we sure Tim is dating a guy? It just feels like Fitzmartin’s gay fantasy. Also they are implying that Bernard’s family doesn’t approve of him coming out…groan really, you’re doing this cliché? It’s a good thing to tackle, important even to show how families are not always supportive, but it’s just so overdone. Can’t we just have it be Bernard is also experimenting discovering something about himself, but instead it feels like that “I like men now” moment from the Simpson’s movie.
Now let’s talk about how Tim follows Bernard to his boat. Tim is trying to avoid Bernard in order to keep his identity in tact, but as soon as Bernard says the word boyfriend, Tim instantly perks up, forgets everything, and follows Bernard like a little puppy dog………no, No, No, No, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!! Tim has always, ALWAYS prioritized keeping his identity a secret from those he loved, yes he hated having to lie to his loved one, but he understood his responsibilities and took every measure to keep it safe, whether it was from Ariana, Stephanie, or his own Father. WHY ARE THEY MAKING TIM A SIMP FOR THIS MANIC PIXIE FEMBOY?!?!?!?! This just reeks of Straight girl’s Yaoi Tumblr fanfic.
Start writing Tim instead of this Gay Fantasy Lookalike, give Bernard a f@#king personality, and show us why the hell Tim wants to date him already!!!! I’m still growing more convinced that Bernard is the villain, because how else was Bernard able to sneak up on Tim the way he did. That prospect is frankly what I’m looking the most forward to.
TL:DR Plot is okay, too much narration boxes, art is better but still needs work, Characterization AWFUL
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1.5
Overall, this was still a badly written issue, but dropping the pursuit of various older detective stories and allowing some semblance of a plot to form was one of the better things about this particular one. That being said, still not a great time being had here.
Fitzmartin's grasp on characterization remains threadbare at best. She has a few lines that seem to imply she has at least some passing knowledge of the relationships between the Robins, but the details once again are muddled to fit her writing scenarios and not who these characters actually are. And these issues don't come from the fake Robins themselves but from Tim's assessments of them. Now, I'm reading this as a storyline that follows up from Dark Crisis, so to insist that Dick Grayson is still desperately trying to get Bruce's approval rang really hollow to me, as he has definitely been starting his own thing in the current Nightwing series and has shown himself stepping up in the Dark Crisis story. Sure, there is always the shadow of Bruce over any in the Batfam, but to say Dick has some weakness because of this desire seemed off-note. And this isn't even touching on the fact that Tim believes Dick is all show and less fighting-and-thinking ability, thus making him easy to defeat, or the idea that he would be the best Robin to try and lose in the masts of ships. Dick, the circus boy, whom we have seen have fun with others using his acrobatic skills in high places and executing his abilities in astonishing ways that make him deadly in places others would easily trip up in.
There are also issues with Tim's assessments of the other Robins. Look at Jason, pinning him solely as the aggressive Robin as yet another shallow interpretation of his character, and not just that but trying to equate that aggressiveness to protectiveness felt really wrong. I'm honestly getting tired of seeing this one-note in people's handling of Jason Todd, especially looking at who he was as Robin, what it meant to him, and who he has been, especially more currently, as Red Hood (for as little as we have gotten on that). I do think out of anyone, Tim would have a better assessment of Jason himself given how analytical Tim can be when it comes to those around him, and as pointed out in this very issue, how he seems to have plans to take them all down. Yet, the reasons for these weaknesses are really more examples of shoehorning to make Tim's internal monologue make sense rather than providing us with any real in-depth analysis on each of these Batfam members as would be more accurate to them. Again, this is a writing failure to really take into account Tim's detective abilities and show us how Batman-worthy they are (not saying Tim for Batman, but he's supposed to be on par with Bruce, right?).
When it comes to Damian, Fitzmartin seems to vacillate back and forth between getting some of his characteristics right and then trashing them moments later. One minute he's Tim's precious baby brother, and then he's not violent or mean enough to be the real Damian. And Steph, to my understanding, while she was not as extensively trained as Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian, still had some training under Bruce even if she experienced more with other Bat mentors and spent far less time under the Robin mantle. To say she had none either seems to imply this Steph has a different story arc none of us as readers are aware of here (which I can't discount given Fitzmartin has already shown a bad habit of running with things she has never fully explored or explained) or that Fitzmartin doesn't understand Steph's story to the extent one would have expected.
That being said, Rossmo's art style definitely lends itself better to the villains in this story and their grotesqueness, but the pacing of some of the fight scenes didn't flow as well for me. Some went really well, some dropped the ball a bit. Not sure if this was because of the script or paneling choices in the end. You can definitely see where his style fits with the weird and strange, and I think it really worked in favor of what we saw with our bad guys, though there were several panels where I honestly could not tell we were dealing with Bernard and thought we had encountered another new character. If not for Tim's thoughts, I wouldn't have known in those initial panels.
Now, the Bernard stuff. I honestly cannot, for any reason, fathom why Tim, as Robin, would have ever followed Bernard back to "his boyfriend's" boat. When he's actively being pursued by the police. Why would he risk being found on his boat, the one he uses as a civilian, and draw any potential attention toward it? This is one of my main problems with Tim Drake here - I've not known a dumber version of him, and this is not Tim's fault, but Meghan Fitzmartin's and her writing. Not only that, he takes off his entire costume and showers inside said boat while Bernard is still actively present (not together, mind you, but still on-premise). There was no need for him to do this. I get he's been fighting and is dirty and exhausted, but why again would Tim risk being found out? And then there's the fact that Bernard seems to have free access to Tim's boat, and yet Tim just leaves his Robin gear out in plain sight? How is this something he would do? When he frets and worries about even telling Bernard his true identity, yet the guy can get into his boat with no issue? It completely nullifies any real worry Tim has about being found out. Am I supposed to think this is some subconscious thing of Tim's, hoping Bernard just stumbles upon his identity and gets outed? Does Bernard already know because of all these mistakes Tim makes that we are now just playing witness to but Bernard is "too perfect" to say anything or maybe wants to play into the conspiracy of it all, and then we'll get some sort of plot twist or new thing thrown at us only for it to ring hollow yet again due to all this poor writing? Maybe it'll be more of that "true love angle" Fitzmartin seems to want to play where Bernard admits he always knew, but he loved Tim too much to say anything about it. At this point, I honestly don't care. I'm still in disbelief that Tim Drake is this openly stupid despite constantly being told by Tim himself how careful he's trying to be about not revealing who he is, how worried he is about being Robin, and what knowing that could mean for Bernard.
Also, I'm pretty sure Darcy told Tim he had a "murder shed" in the first issue, so I don't get why Bernard talking about the "murder shack" boat came as such a shock to Tim when Darcy already played this joke with him. It feels like Fitzmartin forgot she already wrote that line because I can't see Tim forgetting something like that. He's supposed to be a good detective, right?
As for Bernard's backstory bits we got here, I don't know if this is some sort of play to reconcile the Bernard we got way back in the day (you know, the one who thought Tim's stepmom was hot AF and was kinda skeevy?) with his own coming out issues, but I honestly wish we hadn't gotten it. I understand how important stories like that are, especially given the current political atmosphere, but I feel it takes away from Tim trying to find his own identity here. This maybe is something better addressed later on, when Tim seems a little more settled into himself, but perhaps this was an early push to add some depth to Bernard's otherwise bland characterization. Again, though, it's also a very common LGBTQ+ trope in a lot of stories (and yes, I also understand why), and part of me wishes we had seen something else as if the whole pain cult angst wasn't enough to deal with (and yes, I realize this was all tied together, but still makes me wish we weren't layering on the angst and pain with another love interest because there are so many other things you can do to make them interesting instead of what we're getting here). It honestly fell a little flat for me, but it may not for others in the community.
While this was a more cohesive issue than her previous ones in this series, it still suffers from many of the same issues. Fitzmartin seems to lose track of her own story, the details of it at least, or is attempting to do callbacks that aren't very well executed in some instances. She also continues to show a very shallow understanding of the characters she has been given to work with, and I am once again left more baffled by Tim's lack of detective skills and situational awareness than impressed. His fight with the Robins was a cool concept, but again executed very poorly, and it seemed like the resolution to each fight was another bout of "convenient for the writing," but not in a way that made it believable. As with her former detective story tie-ins in the previous issues, the endings to Robin's problems here are unsatisfying at best, and instead of feeling like Tim is a fantastic detective or even some sort of badass fighter, I'm left feeling like I got a story hobbled together with loose ideas held together by duct tape for an explanation. She still spends far too much time telling us things than showing us, and when she does let the showing happen, it's so in-your-face or trope-ridden it's hard to feel anything genuine for these characters. more
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1.0
Don’t even know what to say at this point. A complete disappointment.
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1.0
Soooo this was better than the last issue but it's still really bad. I don't know where she gets some of this stuff she says about the other robins because it's not anything like them at all and Tim still doesn't act like Tim at all in here. Like is saying he's solving crimes all its takes to make him a detective now because he's also really bad at that. And like other people have said why did Tim just follow after Bernard when people were looking for him? It's like we needed a moment for them but it was at the worst time possible and it made Tim look really really stupid. He even took a shower after freaking out about Bernard almost seeing his mask in the boat! And why does Bernard have access to the boat if Tim does his robin stuff out of there too? That's like asking to be found out! Also why did Bernard give him the note when he was right here on the boat too? Does he know who robin really is? I think it's be funny if he's the villain because that would be the icing on this cake of stupidity. Really. This whole series gets dumber and dumber every issue. I really love Tim but it's hard to read him like this. Pretty sure a fifth grader is smarter than Tim at this point. All the other robins sure as hell are so maybe you were right to be having nightmares about that Tim because this writer writes you dumber than all of them. more
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1.0
Atrocious is the word
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1.0
By this point all you need to know is this. If Meghan Fitzmartin is involved in any way, RUN!
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