Red Robin #8

[sistermagpie]

Red Robin is basically about Tim's transition from boy sidekick to adult hero, starting with Tim being angry at Dick's kicking him out of the nest and fighting to keep hold of his "boy wonder" role as Robin, but in trying to hold on to it learning (imo) that he's outgrown it.

There's already been a running theme of Tim announcing that he's about to die, only to not die, almost as if he's step by step coming to accept that there is life after Robin.

I scanned these two pages because they seem to encapsulate what Chris Yost is going for in this series in terms of what Tim's about and what growing up (not sure if that's the right word) is about.





At one point Tim tells someone "I know who I am," and that seems to basically be the theme of this series. Everybody's joked about how everyone Tim loves gets either killed or threatened with death, so I like the way Yost focuses on him coming to understand that he carries those people with him in a way. For Bats, fighting ninjas is therapy.

Suggested tags: char: robin/red robin/tim drake, char: tam fox,creator: chris yost, creator: marcus to,publisher: dc comics,title: red robin

Comments

[icon_uk]

First page....That's it Tim, relax in the fight by thinking of all the men you've had in your life (The Shiva bit is clearly his beard), and by "had" I mean... oh wait, this is S_D, where subtext is a way of life...

[sistermagpie]

Tim! Focus! This is no time to let your mind drift to how "effortlessly Dick moves" and Conner's "special techniques!"

[dimwit90.livejournal.com]

Wow I completely forgot about this series back in issue... 3ish? I think I'm gonna go pick it up see if I can catch up

[bluejaybirdie]

I'll bet Conner taught you some "special techniques", Tim!

I love art in this. Tim's actually built smaller and To manages to actually make the Red Robin costume less fugly.

[jelly_ace]

Oh, my. Timmy's growing up. *Sniff*

Now go off and have your cherry celebratorily popped.

[sistermagpie]

Luckily he's on his way home to Gotham after this. Where Dick of the effortless moves and Agent "Special Techniques" will likely welcome him home with open arms!

[mad]

I seem to recall reading (maybe on the DCU blog?) someone making reference to Tim having some "sexy flashbacks", so I bet you anything it'll be shown as having taken place in the past.

[mystery]

I *love, love, love* the 'Remember everything your teachers gave you. Don't be any of them. Be all of them.'

Conner's "special techniques" panel made me smile big-time. I like this title! Like the themes you're talking about and how they're coming through.

Go Tim!

[requiem2adream]

Hang on hang on hang on...

You mean I'm NOT the only person that likes this series?

[sistermagpie]

NO! Not at all! It just feels that way sometimes!

[xammax]

I'm liking it; wish it focused on the hunt for Bruce more, but more Tim is never bad.

[darkknightjrk]

I thought the frequent flashbacks recently to the Council of Spiders was annoying and confusing, and the art in the past has been...less than stellar, but I've more or less enjoyed it. :)

[jelly_ace]

What's not to like? The art's nice, the hero's cute, the story's slow, followable, and not disjointed, it has no pretensions, and it's a trip around the world adventure story.

[iondan]

I like Red Robin but Tim is one of my favorite characters so unless he was doing something completely out of character (ok really really out of character) I'd probally like it regardles of wheter it was good or not.

[eamelion]

Dude, Yost's awesome. He just has a tendency to kill people that upset a lot of fans lol.

No, Red Robin has been pretty steady as a title so far. I've nearly always enjoyed it, when at worst I simply wished it would move a little quicker (which is something I've thought of both New X-Men and X-Force under Yost as well).

[pepperspray101]

So is this safe to read again? Is he a jerk anywhere else here? Cuz hey, growing up is beautiful, but no need to be a jerk about it. :)

[sun_man]

Dick would of finished them off by now

[majingojira]

Wait...Wait...waitwaitwait...

Is...is Tim following in the combined styles footsteps fo Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple?

I hate my brain sometimes.

[404glitch]

It's never just you.

[schala_kid]

I wasn't thinking anything dirty until the "Conner's own special 'techniques'" part.

Not reading Red Robin but this looks interesting.

[iskander]

Waffle-fetish is just rampant in comics today...

[jaybee3]

I still really want to see the scene when everybody who's tried to talk him out of searching for Bruce (Dick, Cassie, Stephanie) turns out to be wrong. Yeah, Tim is approaching his darkness (and that, combined with his mad detective skills, is why he would actually be a better fit - eventually - to be Batman than Dick). Yeah, Tim has gone all emo - but he's also RIGHT. And he's the only one who believed. That should mean something.

The real question for me is what happens when Bruce returns. Tim is obviously not going to be back as Robin in the old sense, but the whole Kingdom Come Red Robin outfit is horrible on him (and he's only wearing it because Jason wore it first), not to mention a clear Doc Mid-nite costume derivative. Does Tim get a new uniform, a new code name by next year.

[sistermagpie]

But as Tim himself has recently told himself, he hasn't actually told anybody why Bruce is supposed to be alive--except for Conner, who believed him. It does mean something, but it's not like other people have treated him badly over his belief. They thought he was unstable--but he's that too!

But of course when he gets back to Gotham and actually shares the evidence everyone will admit he was right and thank him for it.

Actually, given the fact that in B&R it seems like Dick's going to be resurrecting that corpse they've got, I wonder if what will happen will be that by the time Tim gets his moment to tell Dick what evidence he has that Bruce is alive, Dick will tell him he's already started to believe him because of whatever happens there.

[lieut_kettch]

I find it hard to believe that Conner had anything useful to teach Tim on martial arts techniques. Now Connor, on the other hand...

[endless_aegis]

It actually does kind of seem like he's imitating a Kryptonian in that panel. Could be why he put technique in quotes.

That's what I'm going with because the idea of a fighting style based on observing Kryptonians (like those based on observing cranes or tigers or etc.) sounds spiffy to me.

[magnetic_regina]

Is that guy fighting Tim in the first page anyone in particular or just random ninja guy?

[sistermagpie]

They're a group of ninjas with a spider theme.

I think it's the woman who if she touches him he'll be killed by poison. He thinks that it makes him grateful for his new outfit. And particularly grateful that he's not wearing Dick's Robin outfit.

[rhythmbandit]

Hm, I haven't been interested in Robin/Tim for a while, but I like how you summed up the mood of this series. I hope Tim comes out of this story for the better!