Tim's first trip to Hong Kong - pt. 1
Nov. 6th, 2010 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whitesycamore posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailySince Tim will be travelling to Hong Kong again in the next issue of Red Robin, I thought it might be nice to post an old story that also took place there. This is from one of Tim's early Robin miniseries, before the title became an ongoing. Although the story ends with Tim preventing an outbreak of bubonic plague in Hong Kong, the first issue is set in France.
The story begins with Bruce telling Tim that he's now ready to begin active duty as Robin. However, Tim worries that he's not yet "street tough" enough to be Batman's partner. For some reason Bruce refuses to tell Tim where HE trained to become so badass, so Tim does a little research and decides that the best thing to do is travel to Paris and meet up with the Rahul Lama - a Tibetan mystic said to be a master of a now near extinct form of martial art, as well as an expert in ancient healing methods.
When Tim gets there he is shocked by the shitty apartment the Lama lives in. "Can I at least clean this?" Oh ffs shut up, Tim. Anyway, he starts his training under the Lama, but is somewhat dispirited by Chi kicking his ass constantly.
Chi takes Tim out for a night on the town. Chi is obviously intended to be a bit of a jerk, but I can't help being irritated by Tim here. Wasn't he himself only just complaining about the dump the Lama lives in? How can he fault Chi for wanting to use his knowledge to his own advantage and earn some cash?
Surprise surprise, Tim doesn't like the club. He gets approached by a girl called Ling, and they decide to go outside for a stroll and a chat.
This may be the first instance of what became a well-known pattern with Tim - a girl comes on strong, he gets all flustered and makes whatever excuse he needs to defuse the situation (Ra's has recently sent a shadowy someone to rob the Boy Virgin of his purity... I can't help wondering if that plot point might surface again in Red Robin #17). Luckily for Tim, Ling's charming boyfriend Billy turns up just in the nick of time.
Billy drags Ling off, and Tim decides that he needs to go after them to make sure she's ok.
When he tracks them down, he finds the rest of their gang beating up a captive man. Being the hero that he is, Tim naturally dives in to save the guy. While he's fighting, he notices that Ling isn't running away... Obviously it's because she's paralysed with fear! Yeah, that's probably it. Definitely not because there's anything sinister going on. Nope.
So the guy he saved is called Clyde Rawlins, and Billy's gang are working for someone named Dorrance. But who is that mysterious woman watching Tim from the shadows? (Ok, ok - it's Lady Shiva).
Join me later this week for part 2, in which you'll see Tim continue his quest to become street tough, learn more about Clyde Rawlin's past, and be groomed by Lady Shiva in an incredibly creepy way which puts Talia's interactions with Jason into swift perspective.
The story begins with Bruce telling Tim that he's now ready to begin active duty as Robin. However, Tim worries that he's not yet "street tough" enough to be Batman's partner. For some reason Bruce refuses to tell Tim where HE trained to become so badass, so Tim does a little research and decides that the best thing to do is travel to Paris and meet up with the Rahul Lama - a Tibetan mystic said to be a master of a now near extinct form of martial art, as well as an expert in ancient healing methods.
When Tim gets there he is shocked by the shitty apartment the Lama lives in. "Can I at least clean this?" Oh ffs shut up, Tim. Anyway, he starts his training under the Lama, but is somewhat dispirited by Chi kicking his ass constantly.
Chi takes Tim out for a night on the town. Chi is obviously intended to be a bit of a jerk, but I can't help being irritated by Tim here. Wasn't he himself only just complaining about the dump the Lama lives in? How can he fault Chi for wanting to use his knowledge to his own advantage and earn some cash?
Surprise surprise, Tim doesn't like the club. He gets approached by a girl called Ling, and they decide to go outside for a stroll and a chat.
This may be the first instance of what became a well-known pattern with Tim - a girl comes on strong, he gets all flustered and makes whatever excuse he needs to defuse the situation (Ra's has recently sent a shadowy someone to rob the Boy Virgin of his purity... I can't help wondering if that plot point might surface again in Red Robin #17). Luckily for Tim, Ling's charming boyfriend Billy turns up just in the nick of time.
Billy drags Ling off, and Tim decides that he needs to go after them to make sure she's ok.
When he tracks them down, he finds the rest of their gang beating up a captive man. Being the hero that he is, Tim naturally dives in to save the guy. While he's fighting, he notices that Ling isn't running away... Obviously it's because she's paralysed with fear! Yeah, that's probably it. Definitely not because there's anything sinister going on. Nope.
So the guy he saved is called Clyde Rawlins, and Billy's gang are working for someone named Dorrance. But who is that mysterious woman watching Tim from the shadows? (Ok, ok - it's Lady Shiva).
Join me later this week for part 2, in which you'll see Tim continue his quest to become street tough, learn more about Clyde Rawlin's past, and be groomed by Lady Shiva in an incredibly creepy way which puts Talia's interactions with Jason into swift perspective.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 08:41 pm (UTC)Go for the punk, not the vigilante! Pshhh.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 09:25 pm (UTC)