My Guess Is Gilda

Batman #707
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

The whole mess with the mask of the beholder ends here…it wasn’t my favorite story but it wasn’t bad either. I liked that it set up Peacock as a possible Dick Grayson love interest and the ending of this issue was just awesome. Daniel’s art has improved tremendously since Battle for the Cowl and it shows here too. So who is the mysterious woman at the end of this issue with the two-face coin? I am not sure but I have a feeling it’s Gilda Dent!

Red Robin 19 and 20

Red Robin #19
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Tim fights the Unternet in its own virtual world in this issue (By the way I love his alternate costume) and one of the things he uses is a program representing Cassandra Cain! Nice job of course Tim would think of the greatest of Batgirls to defeat a threat. God I miss Cass being a regular member of the bat family!

Red Robin #20
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

Red Robin fights off Catman and call in the Teen Titans to go after the Calculator – who has robots now. Okay what the hell – I am so sick of the Calculator! Let’s get some other villains he is in Batgirl, Birds of Prey, and now here! Enough with this guy!

Girl Sidekicks

Batman #706
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

There seems to be a theme of girl sidekicks running through this book as both Riddler’s Daughter and Catgirl show up. I am looking forward to seeing more of Enigma as her backstory has never been really explained but Riddler does act like she may be his actual daughter in this. Though you would think the Riddler would know better then to mess with Batman’s suit? As always Daniel continues to utilize Gotham City to its fullest and I am loving his run so far.

Crazy Cliffhanger

Red Robin #18
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Whoa whoa whoa! What just happened! That was a pretty shocking ending for this issue. Is Red Star in league with the society for the good of Russia? Why were they allowed to get into the unternet so easily? What is the deal with Promise? And Cass gets mentioned yes! Nicieza has made this one of the best bat books and this issue is no better. I can’t say I have ever liked a Tim Drake book more than I do now.

Going Global

Red Robin #16
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Nicieza is such a fantastic writer – he really understands the character of Tim Drake and his history. I loved how Brentwood Academy is mentioned in this issue – Tim’s school from the Dixon era of his book. So many writers come on to book and dismiss anything that came before but not Nicieza. I can’t wait till next issue where we are promised Cassandra Cain! And I wonder where Tim’s new home will be – he says Gotham will still be his base but  he is going global? hmm. How cool would it be if Red Robin became the protector of Vanity – Aztek’s city.

Protecting Secrets

Red Robin #15
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Tim shows his genius in this fantastic issue where he pulls off a huge stunt to convince Vicki Vale he is not Red Robin and throw her off the Bat-family’s trail. It was great to see Miss Martian helping out and Tim continue to reach out to his connections. This really is the book for the Batfamily as everyone seems to be appearing here (Except for Cass of course, Vicki didn’t seem to know her identity because Cass is too awesome for that!) I like how Tam Fox is being trusted to keep the BatFamily secrets as well. This book rocks!

Damian’s Feelings Are Hurt

Red Robin #14
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Damian discovers that Tim has contigency plans in case he goes rogue and gets really pissed off about it in this issue. I loved how Nicieza wrote Damian here. He is genuinely hurt that he has tried so hard to be a good guy and Tim still does not trust him. I was also happy to see Cass wasn’t on Tim’s “Hit List". I can’t wait to find out if Tim will look for her in Hong Kong. Nicieza’s run on this book is already improving upon what Yost did with the title.  There were so many great moments.

Tim Is Looking For Cassandra!

Red Robin #13
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Oh my God! It was just a little wording on his computer – but there it was – Tim is looking for Cass!!!!! Somebody gives a shit about Bruce’s adoptive daughter and my favorite member of the bat family! Finally! I hope this wasn’t a throw away thing. On Tim’s computer it said Cassandra – Hong Kong? Could this be connected the undercover cop posing as Lynx? Please tell me this isn’t throw away, it can’t be! I trust Nicieza to see this through. Anyways, this issue began Nicieza’s run and I have to say I already like it better then when Nicieza was writing Robin – Tim was at a different place then and I am excited to see what he does with Red Robin now that he is tracking down criminals. It makes sense that would be his niche as Tim was always the detective. Great start!

The Missing Daughter Saga Continues

Red Robin #12
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marcus To

 

Okay if Ra’s took the time to track down people like fucking Julie Madison, then why the fuck would he not go after Cassandra Cain – Bruce’s adopted daughter daughter and the former Batgirl! Is it because DC’s editors are asshats?! I think so. But anyways, this was a great way to end Yost’s run on the title and bring Tim full circle. This began as the story of Tim going in a direction too dark for the character but Yost has brought him back to Gotham and back to his old self. Hell they even made the costume more his. Yost’s run was great. I am certainly glad To is sticking around but I will miss Christopher Yost on this book.

The Missing Daughter

Red Robin #11
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marcus To

 

So Ra’s Al Ghul and his League of Assassins are going after every member of the Bat family…except for Cassandra Cain!!! Seriously pissed off after DC apparently lied to Cass fans in their DC Nation column and what’s his face at Wonder Con said there are no plans for Cass any time soon. Why does the Bat Family not care where she is? What the hell is going on here? Why is there no mention that Bruce’s adopted daughter is missing? I am going to fucking scream! AHHHHH! But anyways this was a pretty awesome issue.

Red Robin 9 and 10

Red Robin #9
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marcus To

 

The end of this issue is the beginning of Batgirl #8. They weren’t the same scene at all though! What the hell is wrong with the editors at DC Comics. If you are going to do a crossover shouldn’t this all be coordinated? Anyways Tim returning to Gotham is really awesome, loved about every panel of this issue. To draws Gotham fantastically.

Red Robin #10
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marcus To

 

Former lovers Tim and Steph continue their team-up in their new personas in this issue and I am still annoyed that Tim has not asked what happened to Cassandra! Whatever the art was good and the mystery with Ra’s, Hush, and Vicki Vale is really interesting. I am still loving Tam Fox as a character. Good stuff.

Give Cassandra Some Credit!

Red Robin #8
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marcus To

When Tim is listing the fighters he has learned from – would it have fucking killed him to acknowledge Cassandra Cain! She is one of the greatest fighters in the DC Universe and he fought by her side many of times and no mention! I am really sick of the Bat family (and writers) ignoring Cassandra. No wonder she just fucking ran away! End of rant. Anyways, this was a decent issues besides and I like the relationship between Tam and Tim. I look forward to seeing Tim return to Gotham.

Tam Fox To The Rescue

Red Robin #7
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marcus To

Somehow I doubt that Ra’s al Ghul is dead – I bet you that wasn’t the real Ra’s. Anyways, this is good stuff and I am really liking Tam Fox – I hope Yost plans to keep her in Red Robin’s supporting cast. She is a neat character. I loved the conversation between Lucious and Alfred – I wonder if Lucious knows more about the Wayne Family then he lets on. Is this going in the direction of the Batman movies where Lucious knows that Bruce is/was Batman? I am not sure but I am interested to see where this is all going.

The Return of Vicki Vale

Red Robin #6
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Marco To

I didn’t expect Hush (who is still posing as Bruce Wayne) to become involved in this series but I did like the scenes between him and Vicki Vale. I have had minimal exposure to the character of Vicki Vale. She was already gone from Bruce’s life when I started reading comics so I know her most from Kim Basinger’s portrayal in 1989’s Batman. I always thought she was interesting though and I hope Yost explore her past relationship with Bruce further. Tim’s fight with the Council of Spiders is interesting and I like how Yost is adding more to the rich mythos that are the league of Assassins. We really are learning how powerful of an organization this is. I see that this takes place after Blackest Night or at least after Blackest Night: Batman. I like that they clarified that. I also highly doubt that Tam Fox is going to get killed.

I Always Somehow Get Back To Cassandra Cain

Red Robin #5
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Ramon Bachs

Red Robin finds himself working with the League of Assassins in this issue to take down the Council of Spiders – who have a surprisingly interesting back story and don’t seem like the generic villain group at all. Tim decides to take down the League of Assassins from the inside as well. I like the character of Tam Fox and I was thinking how cool would it have been if she was the new Batgirl – at least we would have an African-American instead of another blue-eyed blonde teen super hero.  Not to mention it would be like Barbara Gordon, except the daughter of Luscious Fox instead of Jim Gordon. (But yes that is if Cassandra Cain had to leave the role, but she really didn’t have to)

So What’s Next?

Red Robin #4
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Ramon Bachs

Wow Tim did it! He found the cave where Bruce painted the bat at the end of Final Crisis. It was in Iraq after all. I liked how Tim even brings up how sure he was about Bruce being alive as he was when he first figured out Bruce was Batman all those years ago. Nice use of continuity by Yost. I was happy to see Tim proven right. I really hope he isn’t as dead as he looks at the end of this issue – in fact I am sure he isn’t. But I don’t know what is going to happen next in this series and I like that.

Time Jumping

Red Robin #3
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Ramon Bachs

It’s three issues in and we are still seeing flashbacks to how Tim officially became Red Robin. But at least they weren’t as confusing in terms of time jumping as the last couple issues. In fact, I liked this issue a lot and it is definitely the best issue of this book so far. I still don’t see why Tim thinks Bruce is alive but at least after this issue it looks like he is following some kind’ve trail – Bruce was shown in a cave at the end of Final Crisis and Tim goes to an anthropology museum in this issue and discovers something, but we are not told what that is. I love that Ra’s has everything figured out in terms of who is who and what his grandson is up to – I find his relationship with Tim very interesting. I think this issue has got me interested in this series after all.