Now that the “Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” storyline and a few fill-in issues are out of the way, we can finally get back to some regular reviews on this title.

Starting with ROBIN #170, Chuck Dixon has returned as the title’s regular writer. Now, this guy knows his Batman. Not only was he involved with the “Knightfall” storyline and launching the KNIGHTWING monthly (and most recently, BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS), but he also wrote the first 100 issues of ROBIN. So, he gets that balance of Tim Drake -- student, and Robin -- superhero right off the bat. Issue #170 introduces a new female vigilante, Violet. She isn’t exactly cooperative with The Boy Wonder, so Robin has a hard time figuring out her motives. The issue comes together very nicely and also gives a hint of things to come—Tim thinks that he saw someone that looked a lot like Stephanie Brown (Spoiler). Artwise, Freddie E. Williams has stayed on to do the covers, and Chris Batista is now the regular artist—his artwork is very comparable to Williams, and it gets the job done.

ROBIN # 171 is a continuation of the story set up in the previous issue, and has just about everything an issue this title should have. Robin is still on Violet’s trail. There’s some classic Batman and Robin team-up action, and Dixon does a very good job of showing the Bruce/Tim relationship in a father/son way that a lot of the other Batman titles don’t really show (or perhaps don’t have time for). Tim’s relationship with Zoanne is explored; there is a very humorous scene in which Tim falls asleep on a rollercoaster while on a date because he’s so tired from his previous night as Robin. And finally, you get to see Tim do a little detective work, going undercover in search of Violet.

ROBIN #172 has Robin finally catching up with Violet at an underground casino run by Maxie Zeus. There’s some good stuff here when Robin is in the ductwork, scoping out the scene. He decides to call Zoanne to make up for their date, but gets her father instead. He’s having a conversation about his relationship when, all of a sudden, some gunshots start firing in the casino below. Tim has to make a quick excuse to get off the phone (“um, I’m just making popcorn!”) so he can take care of things as Robin. Moments like this is where the title shines. So, at the end of the day, Robin shuts down the casino, Violet gets away (again), and Stephanie (or whoever this Spoiler/imposter is) is still watching….

So, these past three issues have been a very good return to the root of the title after all of the events going on. I’m very interested to see where this run goes, with this new Violet character, and Spoiler, and I can’t wait to see how this title is going to tie into the events of “Batman R.I.P.”