Robin #87 (2001)

Robin #87 (April, 2001)
"Secrets Revealed"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Pete Woods
Inker - Andrew Pepoy
Colorist - Noelle Giddings
Separations - Jamison
Letterer - Willie Schubert
Assistant Editor - Frank Berrios
Editor - Matt Idelson
Special Thanks - Esther Newlin
Cover Price: $2.25

Just as I was falling into a Titan-ic rut... my buddy Andrew tweeted out some great Chuck Dixon-era Robin comics he happened across.  So, I sez to myself, "self... you haven't covered any Robin in far too long."

And so, here we be!  Thanks for the inspiration, Andrew!

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Tim Drake hasn't made it home for the night... and Batman is a bit worried.  And so, we open with him visiting with Robin's gal-pal, Stephanie Brown.  She's kinda fangirling out... and it's really rather endearing.  This is the kind of scene they try and do these days, and it just falls flat.  Here, I dig it.  Anyhoo, Steph... she thinks this is cool and all, but isn't entirely clear on why Batman is gracing her with his presence.  Well, ya see... he needs her help.

Now just where could Tim be?  Well, he's sleeping off a night of patrolling atop a building near his Brentwood Boarding School.  Ya see, things have been in a bit of upheaval in Gotham of late... in the recent "Officer Down" arc, Commissioner Gordon was shot... and ultimately retired.  Tim sits down to think on it... but falls asleep before long.

Back in the Batmobile, Batman and Steph head toward the Batcave.  In a cool bit, the windows go black... so Stephanie can't tell where they're headed.  Seems he's not sure she's ready to know everything just yet.

Back at Brentwood, Ben Stein calls roll.  Tim's still sleeping, so he ain't there.  A kid named Danny raises his hand to cover/inform the Teach that he "thinks" Tim might've had a family emergency.

Back at the Cave, Batman gives Spoiler the tiniest of tours around the facilities.  He tells her that he's checked all of Robin's regular "haunts", save one.  One that he cannot go... and that's where Stephanie comes in.

That night, after sleeping the entire day away, Robin wakes up... still atop that building.  From this vantage point he sees one of his Brentwood classmates running around the streets like he's Superman.  Tim narrowly saves him from becoming street pizza.  Because, c'mon... it doesn't look like that bus driver had any interest in pumping the brakes, does it?

Getting a closer look, Tim recognizes "Supermeth" as his classmate Tommy.  The kid begins to seize before passing out.  Tim does what he can before Emergency Services arrive.

Then... he goes back to his dorm, where he faces off with his nosy roommate Wesley the Weasel.  After telling ol' Wes off, Tim calls into the hospital to check on Tommy.  Turns out, he didn't make it.  Dead on arrival... brain hemorrhage.

Since Tim slept the entire day away, it looks like he's gonna be up all night.  While he vegges out, he is visited by big-guy Buzz... who is happy to announce that not only did he receive a full-ride football scholarship... but that his father is once again talking to him.  Then... Alfred shows up!  Yep, after a sizable "falling out" with Master Bruce, Alfred is staying at Brentwood.  Tim shares his troubles with him.

Tim retires to his bedroom... and sees a bat-themed sticky-note on his window, and so... he suits up and heads to the roof.  He's shocked that his "midnight caller" isn't Batman... but Spoiler!  What's more... she knows... everything.  Well, almost everything.

Tim freaks the eff out, and swings away.  Spoiler chases him through a park... and for whatever reason, past a pug?  Well, that's random enough to capture for posterity, ain't it?

Robin winds up running smack dab into Batman... who tells him that this was all his idea.  This doesn't settle Tim's teakettle, it just shows him where to focus all of his anger.  He lays into Batman for betraying his trust... for spilling the beans on his (Tim's) secret identity... while continuing to play his own close to the vest.  He also calls him out on being too much of a coward to visit him in person... just because Alfred is there.

As Tim stomps away, Spoiler's all "whoa...".  Batman kinda shrugs it off... this kinda thing happens with every Robin.  Well, he isn't wrong.  He even goes on to explain that "sometimes it ends well".  Yeah, and other times... they get their skull caved in by the Joker.  Anyhoo, we wrap up with Batman telling Stephanie that she's got a lotta work ahead of her.

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Man, I miss this era of the Bat Books.  Not only is this a great "weird day in the life" story for Tim, it's got some of that Bat-Family drama that you know I'm a sucker for.

This comes off the heels of "New Gotham"... at least that was what the trade paperback collections were branded as.  Not so long before this, Gotham was still in the midst of No-Man's-Land... and stories like Officer Down really helped move things forward and build a new status-quo... at least for the interim.

Feels like Batman was being written in "chunks" back then... and, I really dug it.  We had this "chunk" coming out of No-Man's-Land which would take us to the Bruce Wayne: Fugitive/Murderer "chunk" then to the War Games "chunk".  A really inventive (though, perhaps not intentional) way to give many of these ongoing arcs a more-definitive "ending".  Kind of like a "seasonal" approach without chucking the entire volume, continuity, numbering and all into the toilet any time it's deemed convenient to do so.

Now, for this issue... Spoiler learns about Tim's secret identity.  Kind of a jerk-move on Batman's part, right?  Even Stephanie sorta calls him out on it... of course, he brushes it off with a "Pshh, that's just the latest of my many betrayals", but still... I think this was a big deal.

So much of the Steph/Tim dynamic was the fact that she didn't know who he really was... and he wasn't about to tell her.  It kinda kept her at "arm's length", and added an extra layer to their odd romance.  That all ends here... and, like I said... I feel like it's a pretty big deal.

We have the "Brentwood Mysteries"... of sorts.  Tim recounts all of the weirdness... which, if I'm honest... doesn't seem all that weird, but the fact that he recounts it the way he did, makes me feel like maybe I should think it is weird?  Who knows?  I can't remember how this rolls out... but I'm always up for a mystery.  And a Boarding School is as good a setting for one as any!

Overall... this was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately it just makes me yearn for a time long gone.  The art here was fantastic... Woods and Pepoy were the perfect team for this book.  Definitely worth a read.  This one is available digitally.

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New Titans #72 (1991)

New Titans #72 (January, 1991)
"Death of a Hero!"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Tom Grummett
Inker - Al Vey
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Tom McCraw
Editor - Jonathan Peterson
Cover Price: $1.75

Sticking with the Titans a bit longer... and following up on an issue I discussed... like 844 days ago!  Yep, we're going wayyy back and taking a look at a "Titans Hunt" era issue from Marv and Tom.  At this rate we'll be able to add this to the "Collected Editions" page by 2025!

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We open with Golden Eagle swooping in somewhere over Long Island's northern shore... he's been called there by Deathstroke the Terminator, however has arrived early in order to rendezvous with Deathstroke's other invitee, Aqualad.  Ya see, they're not sure that Slade's on the level... and, I gotta say, they might just have a reason not to trust him.  As they chat... we can see that the Wildebeest has got his eye on them.

The Beest then attacks, blasting Golden Eagle in the back with his pulse-laser thing.  As he flails, Aqualad unsuccessfully tries to get in a few shots of his own.  The Wildebeest then gets him with the ol'... er, joy-buzzer play... okay, not really... but it really looks like it here!  Anyhoo, Garth plummets into the drink... but not before smashing into the rocky shore.

Then... things get really hardcore.  The Wildebeest pins Golden Eagle down... and garrotes him to death!  Oddly, when the deed is done, the 'beest looks... repentant???

We shift scenes and join Deathstroke... who is checking in at Dick Grayson's apartment to see if he can find out anything about the Titan-ic abductions.  As he approaches, he hears a creaking.  Kicking in the door reveals... Wildebeest!  Boy, but he's fast!  Even fixed his mask.  Well, no... it's soon revealed that there is, in fact, more than one Wildebeest.  They're actually an entire society!  Been so long since I read this era of Titans, I'm not sure if this was a reveal to the reader as well as to Deathstroke.  I think we already knew that it was a "Society", but wouldn't swear to it.

Anyhoo, the 'Beests beat the holy hell out of Deathstroke for a little while... however, they do not kill him.  He is not their "assignment"... but, when he refuses to walk away, they do boot him from the fire escape.  He survives because, that's sorta what Deathstroke does.

Then, the Wildebeests... leave.  It's kinda charming... and kinda hilarious to watch these hulking 'beests just walk out of an apartment building and hop into a van.  Anyhoo... as they leave, Slade overhears them discussing "two deaths" that have occurred.  He decides to call this in to Steve "Mento" Dayton, especially since they have some common interest in this case.  Slade's son Joey and Dayton's sorta-son Gar are among the Titans missing... and perhaps, dead.

Dayton suggests that they check in on Golden Eagle and Aqualad first... and so, they do.  What they find is... well, GE's dead body, and some bloody water (I guess the tide hasn't come in yet?).  Also, they find a chunk of Wildebeest mask that the Eagle managed to tear from his murderer's face.

Slade 'n Steve then head over to the Titans Party Place to get a little more information.  When that doesn't work, they decide to just head over to Titans Tower... which would've been the smart play all along.  They boot up the computer and start scanning the files when... a distress call comes in from Donna Troy's Photo Studio.  It's great how nonchalantly Deathstroke just answers the Titans' phone here.

The pair head off... and we can see that they were being watched by a Beest the whole time.  The baddie takes note of one of the names listed on the monitor... Arella, better known to us as Raven's mother Angela.  So things might just be about to get real...ly boring!

We then rejoin Slade 'n Steve at the Troy Photo Studio where... hey, a Wildebeest is terrorizing the staff!  Deathstroke swoops in and starts beatin' that baddie... until it decides to self-destruct?!

Luckily, the Terminator was able to get himself and Donna's staff into a... uh, bomb-proof dark room... and survive the blast.  Unfortunately, the 'Beest was vaporized... leaving him quite unable to answer any of Slade's questions.  A question we do get an answer to is... just where did Donna Troy get off to?  Turns out, she and the Red-Menace are off on a second Honeymoon.  Likely story... 

After hopping back into the Dayton-copter, Deathstroke is told that something had been found off the north shore of Long Island... and a short flight later reveals that something as... Aqualad.  A dead Aqualad!

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A fun... and pretty intense issue!

Let's get the "big" stuff outta the way... the deaths.  We have Golden Eagle and Aqualad... dead.  Or course, neither of these will wind up sticking, but we can play along for now.  I'm never keen on killing off characters from the Silver Age (in Garth's case), however... if you wanna make a splash (ha!) and kill off one of the Titans founders... then, now, or whenever... it's almost always gonna be Aqualad, right?

This all comes before the "big" changes in the DC Universe... Death of Superman, Knightfall, Emerald Twilight... stuff like that, so this isn't really the Titans "answer" to that.  This is just a story... which somehow makes it feel more as though these changes will be permanent.  Of course, hindsight reveals something different... but, still.  I gotta imagine, if I were reading this back in the day... I'd for sure figure at least one of the dead guys would stay dead.

Onto the Wildebeests.  I suppose I could dig through my longboxes and confirm whether or not we (the readers) knew that they were "a Society"... but the boxes are allllll the way over there, and I'm really rather comfortable where I'm sitting.  I suppose it really doesn't matter... it's just that in this issue Deathstroke figures it out.  That's probably all we really need to know.

The Deathstroke scenes were all really cool.  This was very much his story... even down to many of the narrative captions being in his "voice".  His sense of honor is really played up here... and his need to save his son is noble.  Many of you know where this "Titans Hunt" is headed... but I won't completely spoil it here.  Just saying that much of what Slade says here is kinda telegraphing what's to come.

Overall... had a good time with this.  Is there a Titans Hunt trade paperback?  There really should be.  I'd say this is certainly worth a read.

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Titans #16 (2000)

Titans #16 (June, 2000)
"Survival, 2 of 2: Limbo"
Writer - Devin Grayson
Penciller - Mark Buckingham
Inkers - Marlo Alquiza & Richard Bonk
Colorist - Gregory Wright
Separations - Heroic Age
Lettering - Comicraft
Associate Editor - Maureen McTigue
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

I ever tell ya this place was originally going to be a Titans blog?  Prob'ly...

Anyhoo, today we wrap up the two-part Survival "epic" from 2000 (Part 1 is right here).  I'll go ahead and toss it up on the Collected Editions page in a bit.

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We open with a young Dick Grayson sitting out Haley's Circus with his elephant pal Zitka.  He heads into the park proper and chats up his parents... and they have a bit of a quarrel about his "playing Gotham", and suggest perhaps "playing Metropolis" was more a more worthy game.

We then shift scenes to Paradise Island where Wonder Girl is diving from a waterfall.  A friend asks about the whereabouts of Diana... to which Donna suggests she's on "Man's World".  Hey, waitasec... wasn't Donna herself just there as well?

Next stop, Atlantis... where a young Garth is being comforted by his mother.  I guess the Atlantean kids were making fun of his purple eyes... which I suppose was probably a thing that happened.  Garth feels like something just ain't right.

Elsewhere, a young Wally West gets beaten up by his post-Crisis (and, perhaps... a Manhunter) father Rudy.

Finally, we meet up with Roy... who swings over to his Park Ranger father while in full American Indian garb (plus blue jeans).  Things might begin to get a bit meta here... Roy asks about his mother, to which his father mentions that he doesn't have any particulars to share about her... she's was just "never referred to", and was never meant to play into Roy's story.  Weird.

At this point, grown-up Roy walks into the scene... and it's revealed that his "father" is actually... the Gargoyle!  That reaction you just felt was probably either yawning... or fighting off a yawn.  Don't hold it in, it ain't good for ya.

Young Roy then (somehow) convinces his father/Gargoyle to escort him to Haley's Circus... where he meets young Dick Grayson... and where it's confirmed that they still have memories of their real lives.

Then... Wally, Garth and Donna also enter the tent (Donna escorted in by John Grayson)!  They're still a bit salty toward one another, but come to realize that their anger is both (in part) caused by and strengthening the Gargoyle.

John Grayson is then revealed to be... the Gargoyle!  He reveals that the kidlets are in Limbo, and explains that he was able to return to taunt them due to the recent "crisis in hell", which we've already discussed here at the blog during Day of Judgment.  Worth noting that this fella had been locked away since Teen Titans #14 (March, 1968)... and is actually a transformed version of Brom Stikk... ya know, Mister Twister!

The Titans tussle with the Gargoyle for a while, but it's plainly clear that they can't do much to hurt the baddie in Limbo.  Robin hurls a 'rang at him... which, actually looks to do the trick.  Well, actually... it's pretty obvious that it is a trick.  Gargoyle just wants the Titans to keep up with the in-fighting.

And so, the Titans begin to walk... through all of the bits of scenery we opened with... barring Atlantis of course, that would just be madness.  During this walk, the Titans make nice... and actually decide to push their baggage aside and listen to what each other is saying.  It'd be touching... if it weren't so contrived.

Then... then... Roy starts getting confrontational again.  The rest of the Titans haven't the foggiest idea what he's on about.  It gets so heated that he actually punches Robin in the jaw... which, uh... somehow wakes them all up in the present?

Okay... it's flimsy, but we'll let Dick explain.  He claims that the Gargoyle was trying to "stagnation"... which is to say, doing things the same way.  Roy's punch was "novel" and therefore made them "unstuck" in Limbo.  I... guess?

We wrap up with the T-Jet being thawed out... and the Titans heading home.  While in the air, Roy admits that his "saving the day" was purely accidental.  Wonk wonk.

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There was that saying that went around the internet awhile back... hell, you still see it from time to time.  What was it... "You never go full..." something or another.  Ah, it must've been... "You never go full Twilight Zone"!

The second part of Survival goes full Twilight Zone... and, for the most part... it's a bore.  Anytime we take a team and toss 'em in Limbo... or put them in their most "perfect world" or make them face their "worst fears", I kinda check out.  It's overused... overdone... and, really not a whole lotta fun (rhyme!).

I'll admit... the way Roy busts'em out of Limbo was cute... and definitely a "zag", when I was expecting a "zig"... but, that doesn't really make up for the rest of the book.  I get the feeling that maybe Grayson thought of the (admittedly clever) ending first... and wrote backwards?

I'll give a bit more credit where it's due... Grayson really did some digging here.  The Gargoyle/Mister Twister isn't a villain we hear about all that much.  I'd go as far as to suggest many current-day Titans comics fans only know about him from the semi-recent Titans Hunt limited series.  And this was 2000... before Showcase Presents "phonebooks" and digital distribution made these stories easily and affordably accessible... so, there was definitely a little bit of homework done.  The idea that she might've had some "help" does nag at me a bit... but for now, we'll just play it straight.

For the cliffhanger last issue... the Gargoyle doesn't even appear as much of a threat (also, how did Dick get out of the caved-in cave?).  I really wish they'd have just played this one straight.  Could've been a Titans Classic!  We do at least get a bit of closure on Wally and Donna's drama... which was handled pretty well, if not wiped away a hair too conveniently.

The art here, while still nice... wasn't as nice as last issue.  I did notice there was an extra inker listed on this one... which might've had something to do with it.  Worth mentioning... ya know how sometimes we bag on artists for only having a handful of go-to "faces" in their arsenal?  Gotta say... Mary Grayson just looked like a taller version of Wonder Girl here... and, ya know... vice versa.

Overall... Survival started out exceeding all expectations.  Great interpersonal drama... fun conflict... rising tension... and then, freaking Limbo.  If Twilight Zone riffs are your thing, you might dig this.

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