This was a fantastic read.
This was a fantastic read.
Really great first issue! I hope they mention Robin Hood as at least a partial inspiration for the name. I hate when they say his name is just inspired by the bird.
A lot of good emotionally moments here. Bruce just not getting how to connect with Dick on a human level was pretty rough. He even went about doing something nice for him all wrong because he did it as Batman and not Bruce. Batman is still pretty young here so emotions are the enemy. I’m sure by the end Robin will bring some joy back into Bruce’s life.
The connection has been there staring us in the face the whole time. Lemire finally put it together. I do hope that it’s still Zucco that killed the Graysons.
Man did I miss Nguyen.
We were really spoiled during the Batman RIP era.
Ever since he moved on to his water color phase of his career, his art has gotten only better.
I kinda wish he wasn't spending so much time on Descender & Ascender and did some more Batman books
Robin's first night is hardly a new story, it's a tale that's been told dozens of times since Dick Grayson was first introduced in the pages of Detective Comics # 38 way back in 1940 but whether your favorite retelling is Batman #38(1945),Batman #213(1969), Batman: Year Three (1989),Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet(1997) or Robin: Year One(2001) there is something in Lemire's telling for everyone. What I love the most though is that Lemire largely skips the more basic points of the origin like Zucco and the circus, relying instead that his readers know those basic details which allows him to move on tell his own story and although Killer Croc was traditionally tied to Jason Todd's pre-crisis origin the way Lemire ties him into Haley's circus works really well and I'm actually surprised its never been done before.
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I thought it was okay. Nguyen's are is usually just alright for me but he really killed it here.
I felt like the issue was too short to justify repeating the opening journal entry. It felt more cutesy than really impactful. I don't think enough happened over the course of the issue to really recontextualize it or give it new meaning, so it just felt a bit redundant and repetitive. Might have been better to have opened and closed the miniseries with the same journal entry rather than this issue.
It's the Dynamic Duo! Batman and Robin!... and Red Robin and Red Hood and Nightwing and Batwoman and Batgirl and Orphan and Spoiler and Bluebird and Lark and Gotham Girl and Talon and Batwing and Huntress and Azreal and Flamebird and Batcow?
Since when could just anybody do what we trained to do? It makes it all dumb instead of special. Like it doesn't matter anymore.
-Dick Grayson (Batman Inc.)
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I felt that way too and when reading those first lines, I expected them to reappear at the end of #3, but now I'm thinking, did really not enough happen? Because from Dick's point of view I think it did.
Bruce read Dick's diary and Dick felt that betrayal so much that he ripped it apart. He said no to Robin even though learning to be a hero is the very reason he is at Wayne manor. The two things that brought him an outlet and even joy are gone. As is his trust in Bruce because the thing he holds most dear - the only thing that was just his - was tarnished by Bruce's invasion of his privacy.
That's a nightmare, especially for a child. Before that happened Dick was still working toward the fantasy, expecting to reach it.
I really liked the use of Croc in this
Reading List (Super behind but reading them nonetheless):
DC: Currently figuring that out
Marvel: Read above
Image: Killadelphia, Nightmare Blog
Other: The Antagonist, Something is Killing the Children, Avatar: TLAB
Manga: My Hero Academia, MHA: Vigilanties, Soul Eater: the Perfect Edition, Berserk, Hunter X Hunter, Witch Hat Atelier, Kaiju No. 8