COMIC REVIEW: ROBIN #155
Author: Ryan Hoss
Friday, October 20, 2006

Over the past few issues of ROBIN, there have been some exciting plot twists and turns. Some new characters have been introduced, and they add some flair to the Robin universe. ROBIN #155 is probably my favorite issue of the current run, for many reasons.

At the start of the issue, Bruce Wayne is holding a press conference, expressing his concern for Tim Drake’s kidnapping. Of course, it’s supposed to be a charade so Bruce can discover the kidnapper’s motives. However, Bruce really is worried about the situation; now that Tim is officially his son, the situation seems graver.

Then, we catch up with Robin (and Dodge, Gotham’s new ‘hero’) where he and other wealthy kids are being held hostage. Robin is effectively hiding in the shadows, analyzing the situation, while Dodge is making a fool of himself, barging in and trying to take everyone on himself. This, of course, causes problems for not only Robin, but the kidnapped kids as well.

As in the past couple of issues, Robin tries to make the best out of a bad situation, and tries to get around Dodge’s nuances. After some fighting, we finally discover exactly how Dodge is able to teleport. His father is a research scientist, who invented a belt that allows the wearer to teleport across short distances. Turns out that Dodge stole the belt, and took it upon himself to become Gotham’s new hero.

Dodge eventually gets Robin and the kids into a bad situation; he causes one of the kids to get shot, and as Robin is defending himself, he accidentally pierces Dodge’s belt, which sends the crime-fighter into a coma.

Overall, this issue had some real nice things going for it. The conversation between Tim and Bruce at the end was well written, and wrapped up some things about the Bruce/Tim—Tim/Dodge similarities. And yet again, there are some foreshadowed events in the issue. Dodge is in a coma with power beams around him, but the belt is off. What if he gets out of it? Could he become a possible enemy for Robin to tackle? As usual, I really enjoyed this issue, but I’d really like to see some things answered/wrapped up in future issues.