Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Robin #169
DC Comics
Milligan, Baldeon & Bird
Let me begin this review by stating that my rating in a review is in no way is meant to insult any of the creators that make these comics. I simply try to rate a book with the idea of whether or no I can, in good faith, recommend it for someone to buy. So if, for example, I give 1 geek goggle to a book it doesn’t mean I think the creators suck. It just means I really cant encourage someone to purchase because I, myself, didn’t like it.
Having said all that this issue was just awful. It’s hard to image a crossover having so many problems with the middle installment as this one did.
My first problem we can look no further than the opening credits. It states on page one, “The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul Part Four”. While the cover clearly marks it as Part Five. This lead me to believe throughout the entire issue that this was happening concurrently to the Batman title that came out last week. This was in forefront of my mind the entire issue. Only at the end did it seem to be the misprint it actually is. This is completely inexcusable and borders on lazy.
For my second problem we can look no further than page one (sense a trend yet?). The White Ghost is around. Where has he been? Didn’t he become Ra’s when he was tossed into the Lazarus pit in the Batman Annual? Oh, you didn’t read the Batman Annual? Well that was the issue where Ra’s was actually resurrected by this White Ghost clown. Where this dude has been since, if he didn’t die in the pit, I have no idea.
My next problem occurs mostly on page two, but in fact does begin on page one. So Batman and Ra’s walk out of Ra’s dungeon to go off on their own adventure while Robin, Damian and Talia are held captive against their will in the lair? What? How does that work where the boss leaves with the “enemy” in a joint venture and the people with the “enemy” are left to fight it out with the boss’s henchmen?
I-Ching is also walking around but not under guard. Okay….
Next let’s discuss how Damian ditches his Mom, his mom waits to talk to Robin only to have Robin ditch her. Actually, let’s not talk about it because it simply made no sense to me.
Robin decides to betray Batman by joining Ra’s buddy, the White Ghost. He mostly does this because Robin feels Batman doesn’t understand what it feels like to have your parents dead. Re-read that part. Robin actually thinks Batman can’t relate to him because Batman doesn’t understand the pain of losing his parents. I’m sorry, what was that?
Finally, Batman appears to have retained none of the injuries from the previous issue. That’s right, he was stabbed in the chest with a pole vault and had his hands and arm broken and he is all better now. But, let’s pretend that Batman jumped into the fountain of youth to explain this bit away.
The artwork. Robin looks like an eighth grader on one page and a greaser on the next with long bangs.
The lettering. So now I-Ching is spelling without the hyphen (I Ching)? It’s like She Bang I suppose.
As a whole, I cant recommend this to anyone. It’s as if it doesn’t take into account anything about the other titles in this crossover. Oh sure some of this could be explained away in later issues, but come on? Look at what I pointed out! And don’t give me the crap that this is part of final countown’s infinity crisis from the 52nd world.
Can you skip the middle issue of a major crossover like this? I would. I wish I had.
0 out of 5 geek goggles.
 Robin #169 DC Comics OCT070149D |
