ORIGINALLY POSTED ON COMICZONEAZ.com (website no longer active)
Red Robin #1
Written by Christopher Yost
Pencils by Ramon Bachs
Cover by Francis Manapul
$3.99
DC Comics
It’s a regular Bat-o-Rama around here, lately.
So when your mentor dies, the closest thing you have to a brother gives your identity to your mentor’s estranged son, and you’ve got nowhere left to turn, what do you do?
Apparently, you go to Madrid and take over the mantle of the guy who tried to kill you…?
Tim Drake– excuse me, Tim WAYNE is the new Red Robin. And he’s in Spain, trying to find Bruce Wayne, the Batman. And Tim is 100% sure that Bruce is still alive. He just has to be. Because… Tim wouldn’t know what to do, otherwise. Tips lead him to Prague, and while Tim is hanging out in his hotel room, somebody has him in their sights. And it’s somebody BIG.
This was a pretty solid first issue. One of the nice things about never having been a huge Batman fan in the past is that I have very little knowledge of who many of these characters actually are. I don’t know their personalities, or very much of their history… I just know their names, and how they’re all related to Batm–Bruce Wayne.
So, for me, it’s fun jumping into this world that has semi-familiar faces. DC is making it pretty easy to keep track of everything. I understand that Tim’s upset about Damian becoming the new Robin, and I even get an idea as to why.
For the first time in the last several years, I know what the hell is happening in a DC book, when I pick it up! There’s no need to go back and read stories from when I was in diapers, or to understand the entire history of a character. I just have to know who Batman is, understand that there have been three Robins, pick up that Bruce had an illegitimate child, and be aware that Bruce Wayne is dead. From there, I can just jump right in. And, so far, all three titles in the new Bat-family have been quite enjoyable.
If you’re going to pick up one Batman book this week, make it Batman #687. But if your budget allows for it, grab Red Robin #1, too.