Written by:
Peter J. Tomasi
Art by:
Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Rob Schwager, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 25,
2015
Looking Out for Number Two
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
The
city of Gotham as defined by the comic books is known to be different than the
city as defined by Rocksteady’s Batman:
Arkham Knight video game. For one thing, it rains less often in the comics.
The game offers a kind of pastiche continuity, pulled from the Batman comics, cartoons and movies, to
create its world. Then there are characters like Tim Drake, the current Robin
of the Arkhamverse, who is normally little more than a placeholder and
babysitter for villains that Batman beats up. Is there more to this
red-breasted sidekick, or is he Gotham’s equivalent of the wizard from Legend
of Zelda who tells you that it’s dangerous to go alone and gives you a wooden
sword? Read my review to find out!
Explain It!:
There are two ways to tell whether the Tim “Robin”
Drake you’re dealing with is from the DC comic books or from the Rocksteady
video games: for one thing, the video game Tim has a buzz cut. For another
thing, the Tim Drake in the comics has developed over years from an insecure
Batman fanboy into a sober and resolute leader, while the video game’s Drake is
essentially a mannequin. He showed up in Batman:
Arkham City and again in Batman:
Arkham Knight to complain about Batman not trusting him enough, and then
somehow screwing the pooch and needing rescue (though playing as his character
was awesome in Arkham City.) He gives
Bruce necessary gadgets, he sits with knocked-out villains requiring pickup by
the authorities, but otherwise he’s wallpaper. Here was Batman master Peter J. Tomasi’s chance to make a compelling
character out of the video game Tim Drake, and since he’s been doing a great
job on the other tie-in books there’s no reason to expect less here.
 |
| Okay, maybe we can expect a little less. |
The story begins explosively, with Drake fighting a
unified onslaught by Clayface, Killer Croc, and Bane, three of the most
memorable boss battles from the video game, and he’s not doing so well. He gets
his shots in, but is ultimately overcome, and that’s when we find out this is a
training simulation being run in the Batcave. Which, by the way, is bullshit.
That has to be the most lame and contrived bait-and-switch in comic books and
perhaps in story telling on a whole. Perhaps a hundred and fifty years ago the
protagonist might have awoke from a dream about losing to his nemesis, but in
the comic books the premise where we see the Joker being pounded into paste and
it turns out to be a Joker-bot or whatever is about as old as capes themselves.
Frankly I was disappointed to see such a stupid opener and it didn’t set a great
tone for what was to follow. While he fights these fake versions of villains,
Tim has an inner monologue about how he’s in a better position than Batman
because it means the attention is off of him, which is incongruous with his
character from the video game and not relevant to the action happening in-panel
because Tim is getting his ass kicked.
 |
| Perhaps less internal monologue, more punching might help. |
The next day we find Tim Drake at snooty prep school
Robinson Academy where he is a science teacher. I don’t remember this being
established in the game, but I suppose it’s an okay cover story. Even weirder,
Tim teaches Chemical Engineering, where I would have expected him to teach
Computer Science (if anything), but hey there’s no reason he can’t be a
multi-disciplined nerd. He’s taking his class to WayneTech Labs, but first he
plays a prank on them and makes the class believe he is drinking from a pitcher
of the last batch of Titan, the body- and mind-deforming steroid that killed
the Joker in Batman: Arkham City. The entire class reels in shock until Mr.
Drake informs them it’s a harmless mixture of grape soda and kale juice, which
sounds so nasty that I’d rather he drank the Titan. The kids get over to
WayneTech and meet Doctor Emma Witt, who shows them around the place while
commenting about Tim being a ward of Bruce Wayne and some other inconsequential
stuff that seems like filler.
 |
| For my next trick I'll make you think a Hostess Devil Dog is dog poop. |
That’s the odd thing about this book: through the
games, we learn a lot about Bruce Wayne, the Joker, Commissioner Gordon—even
Batgirl and Arkham Knight get lots of back story in the most recent game in the
series. But Robin doesn’t get a lot of development, so this would have been the
prime opportunity to fill a lot of that in. Instead, we get a bunch of facts:
Tim Drake is a high school teacher, Tim Drake is Bruce Wayne’s ward, Tim Drake
learned Chemical Engineering from Dr. Emma Witt. That’s all well and good, but
who cares? I would have much rather read a story about how Tim became Robin,
what happened in his life to make him choose the domino mask that claimed the
life of his predecessor. It seems like a missed opportunity, exacerbated by the
fact that three terrorists try to get into the lab to steal the last squirts of
Titan, and then Robin defeats them. This is the bulk of the comic and it can be
described in a sentence. The action is depicted well, but it’s just too much
fluff and not enough substance.
 |
| He also ain't no English teacher. |
We close the book with Drake doing another training
simulation with fake Bane, fake Killer Croc, and fake Clayface, which only
reminds us of the shitty opener. This time, however, Tim fares better and
clobbers them into metal parts, which is when we learn that these practice
dummies were actually robots. This was really the proof that this comic was
slapped together without so much as an afterthought, considering large parts of
the video games involve artificial reality simulations where holographic
constructs take a temporarily solid form. I’m not saying the science is sound,
but it’s established in the video game as being a WayneTech invention, so
there’s no reason he would have robots here. Add to that some unpolished
artwork and uninspired coloring and you’ve got a lukewarm comic book that
hardly anyone wanted in the first place. Which, if you think about it, says
more about Robin’s character than anything else.
 |
| And while you're at it, don't get a haircut. |
Bits and Pieces:
Tim
Drake comes across as wooden and one-dimensional in the video games, and Tomasi
does his job to bring that dullness to the comic book page. I imagine Drake is
a vapid, douchebag Jersey Shore-type
character that fights for justice because fuckin’ A dude, someone’s got to be
the hero. What the fuck, Killer Croc, you lookin’ at my girl?! I’ll flex my
tribal tattoo and knock yer ass into next week, brah! You’re lucky Batman’s
holding me back because I would wreck you, dude, so don’t try it. Tim Drake,
never fake, your face will break hahahaha nah jus’ playing bro pass me a Coors Light.
5/10
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