As a result of DC’s upcoming “New 52” reboot,
RED ROBIN comes to a close with this month’s issue. And thankfully, “What Goes Around…” serves as a wonderful bookend to Tim Drake’s journey as this incarnation of Batman’s protégé. Despite changing his costume and identity a few times over the years, Fabian Nicieza shows us exactly what makes Tim Drake worthy of being in the Bat-Family.
At the end of the previous issue, we learned that Tim had put a plan into motion to assassinate Digger Harkness aka Captain Boomerang -- the man who killed his father. Essentially, Tim puts his adversary through a gauntlet of situations that will ultimately lead to his death -- provided that Harkness makes all the “correct” choices along the way to get himself into trouble. Throughout the issue, Red Robin follows his prey through this deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
The thing is, Tim Drake rivals even Bruce Wayne as “The World’s Greatest Detective,” so Boomerang naturally follows every piece of bait put before him. Even if the man killed his father, it’s a bit unfair to put Harkness through this -- and Tim knows it. The closer to death he becomes, the more guilty Tim feels.
Tim Drake is a character that constantly allows his emotions to get the best of him. That has been shown in this issue as well as the RED ROBIN series as a whole. Tim manages to stop Harkness from getting killed, but also has to confront him in the process. After letting him go, Batman (Bruce Wayne) confronts Tim about his actions. Although this conversation is only two pages long -- it speaks volumes about what kind of person Tim Drake is…
“This is ME, Bruce. For good and bad, because of what you taught me and what my dad did -- because of the things I think you’ve done poorly and the things you’ve done well. This is ME now.”
THAT friends, is Tim Drake.
Regardless of what happens with the character from here on out, this series showed me that it was a worthwhile endeavor for Tim to take on the Red Robin mantle. Because at the end of the day, it’s not what Tim Drake’s secret identity is -- it’s who he REALLY is that counts. If Scott Lobdell can deliver a solid characterization for Drake in the upcoming TEEN TITANS reboot (which I will be reviewing for BOF), I’ll be satisfied -- even if he looks more like a “Hawkboy” than a Red Robin.
