Robin #175 Review

ROBIN #175
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Chris Batista and Cam Smith

People looking for a Batman RIP tie-in will be much happier with this issue of Robin compared to the previous Detective Comics non-tie-in.

I was a little surprised to see Fabian Nicieza was writing this issue because it was originally solicited as a Chuck Dixon story and was still listed as such on DC's website (which is never updated) as such. That's not a bad thing as Fabian does a fantastic job here and I could barely tell it was a new writer, but I thought Dixon's solicited issues were still going to be coming out despite his firing.

As I said, Fabian did a great job here, but it's still very much a setup issue. We don't get any major RIP revelations or even see anything major in regards to that.

What we do get, though, is a lot of 52 flashbacks to Nanda Parbat interspaced between Spoiler and Robin filling in people on what Batman RIP is about and how Tim is looking for the now insane and missing Batman.

The 52 flashbacks didn't reveal anything important, to my knowledge, but were still interesting reads and hardly filler. They do a nice job of fleshing out that aspect of Morrison's story, something Morrison, himself, seems to take for granted that readers know all about and remember.

Who else, but insane people, would dress up in ridiculous costumes and fight crime?

The best part of the issue had to be the Spoiler and Robin scenes and I'm not saying this because I'm a Spoiler fan. There's a scene in here where Robin, acting serious and genuinely concerned, tells Spoiler that he thinks Batman has gone crazy. Spoiler just looks at Robin and bursts out laughing at the absurdity of what Tim just said. Of course they're all crazy she tells him. Who else, but insane people, would dress up in ridiculous costumes and fight crime?

Another highlight of the issue was Robin telling Spoiler that if it comes down to it that Batman has really gone insane, he'll take down Batman himself.

Verdict - Must Read. While there's no direct connection to Batman RIP, this issue is a perfect example of how tie-ins should be handled. It's clear it's related to RIP, but it doesn't intrude on the current Robin storylines and subplots.

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