The Pull List: Red Robin



Since my early teen years, I have been a fan of the third Robin (now Red Robin), Tim Drake. I'm not completely certain as to "why". It could be that he was relateable, at that age. He was a teenager that WANTED to be a hero, training hard under Batman and Lady Shiva to be the best crimefighter he could, never shirking his duties, but simultaneously being very much a teenager at school.

It could be that I was envious of his demeanor. The calm, logical way he approached his career as Robin was and is something I would like to emulate in my everyday life.

Or it could be that he's just been in awesome comics since I first read about him in Young Justice and his 180+ issue Robin series, a trend that continues with this new comic, Red Robin.

Initially, I had all sorts of problems with this comic, something the people over at ComicBloc forums can easily attest to. The opening twelve issue arc had me in an actual nerd rage (which can only happen over miniscule crap that doesn't matter) where I nitpicked the tinsiest problem in each successive issue, until I read the last three issues, which both brought Tim back to greatness as a character and finally allowed him to deal with all the trauma he had experienced over the past few years of DC events that one by one stole his family and friends.

Once I noticed that (and the gorgeous art by Marcus To), this series became a must-read, and has remained such after the writer switch to the very talented and very underappreciated Fabian Nicieza.

It's been a while since I read this series, but if you like globe-trotting, martial arts action, teen romance, superheroes, and cool-headed, tactical teenagers that take people down with their minds before ever fighting with their fists (and very beautiful artwork), Red Robin is the series to go to.



Jump on Issue: Red Robin 13.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Read A Ton Of Superman Comics And Wound Up Angry At Man of Steel

Image
  (Reposted with minor alterations from my Resetera post .) I've always had the opinion that Man of Steel is a fine movie.  Occasionally my stance is it's a great Dragon Ball Z film, and a mediocre at best Superman film.  It never really made me angry, because there ARE some good parts to it. But last night I read Superman: Birthright and Superman: Secret Origin, and the more I read of each one, the more I realize that I only think Man of Steel is "fine" when viewed in a vacuum.  When specifically compared to Mark Waid (or even Geoff Johns') comics, Man of Steel goes from "yeah, whatever" to embarrassing.  How could anyone have looked at that film and thought it could be a decent representation of Superman?    The best parts of it are the beginning where they show Kryptonian society, and the fight scenes (like I said, DBZ).   It's boring-ass muted colors and a Superman film that's trying so hard to get across a bunch of lazy metaphors a...
Read more

Bottom of the Pile: Apr. 8, 2015

Image
Astro City As usual, Kurt Busiek's Astro City is creatively solid--following a superhero who's made his home on an alien planet, and has to learn to accept when it's time to hand the job over to the next generation.  It's almost the opposite of what happened with Crackerjack and Quarrel.  That said: I've been a denizen of the interwebs for nearly two decades now, and this still might be a strong contender for grossest sexual advance ever. 
Read more

Battle Rap Wednesdays: Sno vs. Ty Law

Image
This battle is NOT the new JC vs. Chilla Jones.  Ty Law was consistent but not super impressive, and Sno's first is INSANE but his second is just okay and his third is forgettable.  Still better than most of those fucking NOME 3 battles. Favorite Line: "You 0 and 12 (owing 12) like that Swave Sevah and Head Ice bet." (Ty Law)  " 'Cause I don't care about X losing to Goodz, Calicoe getting killed, or that Lux ate Miles (8 mile)--if you find yourself in front of that white boy from Michigan?  It ain't Marshall, Law.  You gon' see so much firing going on, you gon need more than the fire marshall, Law!  My soldiers will run in your shit like the Martial Law!/They gon be like this white boy's flipping when he brought this tech in (Tekken) and bullets started kicking like Marshall Law!"  (Sno) That scheme (and the In Law/Out Law) shit was fucking bananas.  At this point, I really just want to know what they feed the boys from Pontiac to c...
Read more