Tim Drake: Robin #3 – Meghan Fitzmartin, Writer; Riley Rossmo, Artist; Lee Loughridge, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Things have moved fast on this title, as Tim Drake settled into a new life at the Gotham Marina with a motley crew of neighbors, began investigating a series of murders with the help of his boyfriend Bernard and a new ally on the GCPD, and soon discovered ties to a typical Gotham freakshow. And now he’s going up against a quartet of doppelgangers of his fellow Robins—all of whom seem to be made of clay and may be tied to Clayface, but also seem to know more about him than a random clay double should. This is oddly similar to what Batman went up against in Batman vs. Robin—in that case, possessed Robins that played on his weaknesses and failings. Here, Tim pretty quickly deduces that these aren’t the real thing and figures out their weaknesses—taking advantage of both their unique physiology and the personalities they’ve absorbed to neutralize them.
However, he only gets three of them, is still a wanted man, and quickly finds the Marina under siege by the local authorities. In need of backup, he works with Bernard—who still doesn’t know that Tim and Robin are one and the same. I feel like this is a good rebuttal to anyone who thinks that Lois should have figured out Superman’s identity much sooner—the guys can fall into the same trap. There are some nice moments between Tim and Bernard here, as it becomes clear just how much of an impact the two boys have on each other. That being said, Riley Rossmo’s art is still such a radical change that his character design on Bernard is hard to get used to. Overall, this is a fun issue with a nicely creepy cliffhanger, but after the lightning-fast beginning to the series it feels like things are slowing down a bit. I’m still not exactly sure what the master plan Tim is dealing with here is.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
