Okay, I’ll admit it: after reading issue #3 of
RED ROBIN, even I was starting to fear that the series was heading toward the gutter.
Miraculously, issue #4 has put this title back on my “must read” list…for the time being.
Just to recap, RED ROBIN’s introductory arc, “The Grail,” began with an excellent premise and a lot of promise. The first issue set up Tim’s transformation into the Red Robin persona and followed his globetrotting adventures across the world, seeking to prove that Bruce Wayne is still alive. Sadly, Tim is the only hero that still believes in Bruce’s existence. However, the next couple of issues revealed that Ra’s al Ghul wants to aid Tim in this journey—whether he wants help from the League of Assassins or not.
As interesting as that core concept is, there were lots of problems littered about the title that became more apparent with each progressive issue. After the first installment, the storyline slowed to a snail’s pace; issues #2 and 3 seemed to be stalling to me and in my opinion, had lots of filler. Instead of focusing on Red Robin as much as it should have, the title chose to develop some uninteresting League of Assassins characters and throw in awful, cheeseball villains from left field (Wild Huntsman, anyone?). The biggest problem of all came in the form of needless time jumps; the story would transition from “now” to “before” to “interlude” and “twenty-four hours before that” all in the span of one issue. As the reader, we already KNOW that Tim becomes Red Robin. We already KNOW that Bruce is still alive, somewhere (or “somewhen,” if you will). In my opinion, these jumps simply aren’t needed and the story would move along much smoother without them.
So, does issue #4 make up for all that? Well…no. But it’s most certainly a huge step in the right direction. Yes, the time jumps are still there and the silly villains still haven’t gone away. And there is more development still for one of the League of Assassins characters (but it works this time). What this issue did right was that it got the pacing back on track. Gone are the whiny inner monologues and characters from the wider, non-Batman DCU. It focused solely on the core concept and steamrolled ahead, ending in a pretty decent cliffhanger.
And, for the first time, Tim discovers something that proves that Bruce is still alive (and yes, I predicted it all along). Definitely not what I was hoping for, but at least they're moving ahead with this story.
Now, if subsequent issues of RED ROBIN don't involve the crazy time jumps, lame villains, and sticks to the story at hand, it will most certainly become a much better and enjoyable series. Here's hoping for the best from here on out.
