Robin #59 (December, 1998)
"Brutality 101"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Staz Johnson
Inker - Stan Woch
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Letterer - Tim Harkins
Associate Editor - Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.99
Sticking with the Dixon Robin stuffs for today... having had such a wonderful time revisiting it. I'm sadly of two minds about it... love it so much, but at the same time it makes me miss this era. No worries though, we're not going All-Robin, All-the-Time...
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We pick up right where we left off... Robin face to grizzled face with Steeljacket. Tim comments that the last time they tangled, he was lucky enough to have some police officers nearby to give him a hand... today, that is not the case. All he's got is a pair of geeks behind glass, and they ain't in any rush to lend a hand. Tim is able to flee (for the time being) and takes the opportunity to catch his breath.
We shift scenes to a touching discussion between Stephanie Brown and her mother. Steph is very apologetic about her current condition... and her mother is, almost surprisingly cool about the whole thing. Ya see, she blames herself for most of what's gone wrong in her daughter's life... and seems proud of how well she has turned out in spite of it all.
Back at the wreckage, Steeljacket resumes his attack on the Boy Wonder. They tussle until Robin is able to catch the creeper by the toe... and then snap his ankle! Dang. After this his school chums flee the scene.
Back at the Batcave, Robin marks the name "Steeljacket" off the bat-list of bat-villains who are still loose on the streets of Gotham following the quake. He asks Alfred for a bit of privacy so he may make a phone call. I love that there is a corded phone in the Batcave, by the way. He calls Steph, who shares the story about her chat with mom... then asks Tim for a favor. Well, judging from the cover, it's gotta be a doozy, right? Are you ready? She asks Tim... to join her at her birthing classes! Dun dun dunnnn... I shouldn't be too hard on it... this opens up a ton of comedic potential.
The following morning during gym class, Tim and his classmates are hoofin' it on the track. Tim notices his goofy pals Ives and Philmont, ya know... the guys who were hiding from Steeljacket... he notices them trailing far behind the other boys. So he fakes a charlie horse so that he can allow them to catch up to him. Before they can chat, a pair of ne'er do well bullies start razzin' them.
They demand Philmont join them for a walk in the woods. Rather than fight it, Phil slumps his shoulders and submissively obeys. Tim is about to intervene when Ives grabs him by the sleeve... he doesn't think they should induce the bullies' ire toward them. Tim, realizing he doesn't want to blow his cover, agrees to hang back. This is going to be important.
Later on during fifth period, Tim is called to the Dean's office. He sees Ives sitting in the lobby as well. Inside Mr. Blassingame's office, Tim is told that Philmont was just found DEAD in the woods. Uh-oh... Now Tim's mad. He spills the beans and gives the Dean the names of the pair of bullies... Josh Stanzland and Mark Meachum.
Outside in the hall, Ives is freaking out that he'd overheard Tim snitching on the bullies... thinking they'll be next on their hit list. Tim, enraged, caves in a locker and tells Ives that their buddy didn't just get beat up... he got killed.
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Before we go in too deep I really wanna express my appreciation that this issue marks the end of the... horrendous mid-90's glossy paper... I haven't made a big deal out of it for the past two discussions, because... eh, I probably complain about that too much anyway. It does no favors to the art, and... if I'm being honest, is a pain in the butt to take photos of, and I'm glad that it's gone for this issue. With that spoo out of the way, let's get on to it...
Another very enjoyable issue here. As has become normal from this era of Robin... we get two very different story segments. There's an action section, which is decent comic book action... and a far superior character section (very-special-episode-ness and all). We don't quite get the scene depicted on the cover, but we do get some good Tim & Steph interaction here.
The bullying/murder story we get in the second half is pretty well taken. I appreciate the fact that, while Robin could easily wipe the track with these fools... he doesn't. He needs to be Tim Drake while he's at school... can't afford to tip anyone off to his dual identity. Even better here... if he had beaten up the bullies, his friend would still be alive. This opens up so many storytelling options... we get to investigate Tim's guilt while he investigates the murder.
Speaking of guilt... we get a nice chat between Stephanie and her mother. Steph is surprised that her mother is taking her pregnancy so well... Mom tells Stephanie that she blames herself for choices she made... She feels guilty... which makes Stephanie feel guilty... I'm seeing (or imagining) the theme of this issue.
Overall... Chuck Dixon's Robin is still wholeheartedly recommended. So much fun, so much heart... just don't say I didn't warn ya... it makes a lot of what has come since look pretty weak. You're gonna be homesick for some awesome 1990's Bat-books. Like I said, this run is available digitally... (Don't worry... not an affiliate link, nobody knows who I am).
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Robin #58 (October, 1998)
"The Stranger"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Staz Johnson
Inker - Stan Woch
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Letterer - Tim Harkins
Associate Editor - Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.99
Had so much fun with Tim and Steph I decided maybe we should hang out with them a little longer. I mean, Stephanie is going to need some looking after what with her being in a "family way". Is Tim the daddy? Can you get pregnant from a kiss? We'll answer all those questions and more... right now!
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We open on a gobsmacked Boy Wonder... Stephanie Brown is p-p-p-pregnant?!? We get the distinct impression here that for a brief moment, Tim fears the baby might be his. This facilitates Stephanie giving him the quick 'n dirty on the birds and the bees...and births one of my favorite Robin references... "Boy Virgin".
She continues, stating she hasn't told the father-to-be as he fled Gotham in the wake of the quake. She hasn't yet told her mother, either. Tim suggests she does at least confide in her mom, because there's "things" that need to be done. Stephanie flies off the handle, immediately taking this as Tim telling her to get an abortion... not so, however... Tim just wants her to start having regular doctor's visits and for her to consider "hanging up the tights"... at least for the time being.
Later Robin returns to the Batcave and we see that it and the Mansion are being reinforced by handyman extraordinaire Harold... who is quite the strong fella. Batman heads out on patrol, taking Robin's Redbird, leaving the Boy Wonder behind to watch the monitors.
Robin hops on-line and gives a call to Oracle. He asks her if they can talk some "non-professional" stuffs. He confides in her that his friend is pregnant... after some "your friend?" confusion and razzing, Babs decides to lend him an ear. I really miss the Oracle dynamic... really disappointed in what Barbara's become since 2011.
We shift scenes to check in on a trio of Tim's school chums. They are debating whether or not Han Solo and Princess Leia got married following Return of the Jedi... which, I think we have a better idea of nowadays. They also decide that the Star Wars "book" continuity "doesn't count"... which is somewhat prophetic. Anyhoo, they look into the broken window of an almost destroyed bakery... destroyed due to the Cataclysm... and they see a weird critter chompin' on some nondescript baked good.
We rejoin Stephanie as she and her mother talk to a counselor at the Gotham County Social Services office. Mrs. Brown tells the counselor that Stephanie has decided to have the child... from here, things get a bit uncomfortable... the counselor appears to begin pressuring Stephanie into considering having an abortion. We'll leave this here for now... and talk about it some more (in a very "riding the fence" sort of way) down below in the review/reflection portion.
We meet back up with Tim as he is shooting some hoops with his dorky friends. They tell him the story of seeing a "monster". We then enter into flashback... which wasn't terribly clear my first time reading this... the geeks are doing some urban spelunking through the Gotham wreckage. Robin is hanging out keeping an eye on them... to keep them safe he gives them a spook and sends them running. I'm guessing Robin was the "monster" they saw... rather than the creepy critter they saw in the bakery? Okey dokey. Anyhoo, they plan on returning to the wreckage to prove the beastie's existence.
Back with Steph and Mom... they are now visiting... I wanna say it's an adoption agency... but there's a dude there offering her up to a hundred grand for her baby. I didn't know adoption worked like that... you'd almost figure folks would view this as a viable career if this were the case, no? Can't say I speak with any experience on the subject... for all I know, this is the way it goes. Stephanie doesn't take too kindly to all this, and they walk out.
That night, Robin and Stephanie have a rooftop pow wow. They have a fairly uncomfortable chat before Robin bugs out to meet up with his foolish monster hunting friends.
The next several pages feature the boys seeing a monster... and Robin swinging through Gotham City engaging in some very teenagery introspection. When he finally arrives at the wreckage he sees his pals locked inside a sort of vault... it's basically the image from the cover... he then turns around to find himself in the presence of... Steeljacket (who?)! To be continued...
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Well, this is a pretty run of the mill issue. Thankfully a Chuck Dixon "run of the mill" issue is still better than most. We've got a few things to cover and reflect on here...
First, love the conversation between Tim and Stephanie to start things off. "Boy Virgin" elicited one of those half cough-half laugh things that you instantly regret because you spend the next five minutes attempting in vain to clear your throat. Still worth it though. I also really enjoyed Tim confiding in Barbara... I know I say this a lot... but scenes like this really make me feel homesick for the pre-Didio-darkening DC Universe.
Stephanie seeking out her "options" felt a bit stilted to me. I have always heard that Chuck Dixon has some pretty strong political leanings, though, as opposed to some of his fellow creators... doesn't really leak them into his work. Here though, I fell like he let it slip a bit. The counselor at the clinic may as well have been drawn with a forked tail and horns. I can't outright say there aren't counselors who speak like she does... and that perhaps make certain "suggestion(s)" to "girls in trouble", but I would have preferred a bit more ambiguity here. I would have liked it if Stephanie was presented with all of her options in a more balanced kind of way, allowing her to make an educated decision... rather than painting either side as good or bad. I don't think it's comics' place to say one way or another.
I did have some issues with the pacing... especially the flashback jump. It wasn't entirely clear that it was a flashback, at least to me, at the offset. That might just be due to my reading these out of context... for all I know, this scene actually occurred earlier in the series and I just forgot about it. Either way, this was the weaker part of the issue...
In checking out the letters page... which features the proper way to perform CPR... I found that the following month was going to be the tie-in to DC One Million with Robin #1,000,000... meaning that it would be two months before this story resumes. Can't help but feel this was a missed opportunity. Stephanie revealing her pregnancy would have been a much stronger two-month long cliffhanger than what we get here.
Overall... perhaps not as strong an outing as last issue's Date Night, but still a fun issue of Robin. Definitely worth tracking down and checking out. Like we discovered yesterday... this is all available over at DC Digital.
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Robin #57 (September, 1998)
"Date Night"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Staz Johnson
Inker - Stan Woch
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Letterer - Tim Harkins
Associate Editor - Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.99
I figure after the busy long holiday weekend what we all need is a day off... or maybe a night out! Why not just push all the hustle and bustle out of our minds for a bit... and let's all have a date night with our good pals Tim Drake (shhh!) Robin and Spoiler. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
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We open during a... very starry... Gotham night. Robin and Spoiler are about to begin their first official date. Like a "date" date. To start, Robin takes her to the highest point in Gotham City... after the Earthquake... Wayne Tower. I just love how even with this little bit, Dixon includes a reference to the post-Cataclysm/pre-No Man's Land Batbook narrative. It isn't necessary... but it's just so awesome that it's here.
They sit up there awhile trying to figure out a way in which they could conspicuously "have a date" while at the same time not tipping Stephanie Brown off to Robin' secret identity. Yeah... Tim knows Spoiler is Steph... but Steph only knows the "Boy Worrier" as Robin. Spoiler suggests they head to a theater catering to cosplayers for a sci-fi movie night.
As luck would have it, none of the other patrons recognize either vigilante... okay, I'm enjoying this so much I'll let that slide... but really and truly... that's kinda bunk. Here Spoiler lifts her mask up a bit... Tim believes it's so she can have some popcorn... but instead she plants one on Tim's naive li'l lips.
We shift scenes to an interrogation room. Steven "Shotgun" Smith is among the officers waiting outside the room while a gang is conferring with their lawyer. What nobody is prepared for is that lawyer viciously beating each and every gang member to death on the other side of the wall.
Back with the kids... Robin and Spoiler decide to "give pizza a chance" and grab a late night slice. Here Spoiler removes her mask entirely... which struck me as odd... I'd forgotten about her doing that. The pair discuss their prospective relationship... Robin feels pangs of guilt that he cannot be more open with her whereas he knows everything he needs to about her. After finishing their meal, they decide against calling it a night... there's still more fun to be had.
Back at the station, the gang massacre is discovered. We immediately jump to the "lawyer" who is revealed to be the martial artist Dragoncat... who when he "kills 'em they stay dead." There's a great comic book motto. He confers with Cluemaster. Speaking of whom, we also get a brief vignette of Shotgun visiting a young man in the hospital... and learn that the mastermind for the current rash of violence might be the very same Cluemaster.
We rejoin Robin and Spoiler as they swing through the Gotham night. They wind up sitting atop a building where they have a cute exchange. Spoiler ponders if it's weird that she has to call him "Robin" rather than by a "real name". He laughs and reasons that at least Robin is a real name... he goes on to joke about how difficult it would have been if he'd gone by Nightwing, Green Lantern, or Aquaman.
We then shift to Shotgun and company raiding the Cluemaster's warehouse. They are almost immediately engaged by Dragoncat. What follows are a few pages of really nice hand-to-hand combat between Shotgun and Dragoncat... that is, until the grizzled old cop very nearly snaps the assassin in half. Yeeeeesh...
It's getting late, and Robin and Spoiler are winding down their night. They do the whole "it feels like we're the only people in the world" thing that most young couples do... and again, I'm enjoying this so much I'll allow the cliche. They part company, but promise to do it again real soon.
We wrap up our issue one week later. Tim visits Spoiler at her home, as she did not make it to the playground. She says she felt too weak to go... Robin figures she might have the flu or maybe she's on her period... oh but, not so Boy Wonder... for, your Stephanie Brown... is pregnant!
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Such a fun little issue... I really miss these little "night off" stories. I mean we still get them every now and again... but, there's just something missing these days. Namely, history. Issues like this and the (in some circles) legendary Birds of Prey #8 really helped ground these larger than life characters... made them feel not only real, but relatable. It's not lost on me that both of these issues were written by the great Chuck Dixon. Really wish he and DC would bury the hatchet and get back to doing some incredible Bat-Family comics.
This is one of those issues that it is weird to pull from at random... as we have two very different stories going on here. We have the Robin/Spoiler date night... which is amazing... and we get a scene in the interrogation room at the Gotham City Police Department... which, when taken out of context, is not. It's not bad... not at all... but putting this issue in a vacuum like we are here today, really makes it seem weak.
I gotta say, I wasn't prepared for the surprise ending... even though I already knew what was coming. That's another strength in Dixon's writing... or perhaps an indictment on my memory... but we "zig" for so long, and so strongly... that when we finally "zag", it means something... and blows you away. All throughout the Robin and Spoiler "relationship", she had, in passing, mentioned an old boyfriend... it was organic "teenagery" talk... nothing that would really stand out. Love that it pays off in this way.
I love Robin's reaction to the news too! Just that blank bewildered face he gives... makes me wonder if he thinks a girl could get pregnant from a kiss...
Overall... great issue... lots of fun. Staz Johnson's art here is great. I find his work pretty underrated. He had the misfortune of following Mike Wieringo on this title... which I would imagine could give a guy a sort of inferiority complex (internal and external). The entire Dixon run here is a blast... almost comics "candy". Definitely worth checking out. Luckily this issue and the entire volume are available DC Digitally.
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