Red Robin #7

Like most text messaging services, standard spoiler warnings apply!

We're now seven issues into Red Robin and two story arcs deep. The first arc, 'The Grail', when Tim left Gotham with his belief that Bruce was alive and the he could find him, was brilliant. When Tim found the cave symbol, I felt his reverence, conviction and elation with him - yup, I had chills.

And then he went and got stabbed and dragged into the mess with the League of Assassins; leaving his search for Bruce on pause.

This twist had promise (still has promise, I guess). I like the idea of him trying to take down the organization from the inside, because it demonstrates to the reader that he's crossing those oh-so-fine lines Batman drew.   But, as a reader, I'm supposed to believe that a bunch of Spider-meta-killers are taking down the League of Assassins?   I'm not really buying that, because Ra's is a smart, evil man and these... oh, 6 members of the Council of Spiders are a bit campy for my taste.   Up until this point, it seems to be just a game to these guys; they're hunting or killing for the sport.   And maybe it's because I'm not a chemically imbalance sociopath, but I'm not getting the motivation.   The 'Council of Spiders', as the antagonist is, I'm sorry to say, not that interesting.   But even though I'm not a fan of the villain in this arc, I've always appreciated the sentiment that, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".    

There is still a lot going on in this comic, so I can take the villains with a grain of salt.   Chris Yost continues to weave past and present, Gotham and The Cradle (Iraq?!   Budapest?!   Where the hell is the Cradle, anyways?).   The first story you have going on is in the past and features Vitoria gettin' the 'band' together, so to speak.   I would really like to know why most of these assassins are spider-esque (That's a big freakin' coincidence, if you ask me).   I already said my piece on the Council of Spiders, but, if nothing else, these are extremely worldly characters.  

Yost has a firm hand on Tim's voice, I believe, but, what is possibly one of my favorite parts of this issue, is that the reader get's Tam's narrative.   I've pretty much liked Tam's character from the beginning, for the simple fact that she seems to be completely, charmingly average.   Anyways, it kind of feels like Tam's narrative is used as a device, of sorts, to explore Tim's character more deeply, or independent from what you get from Tim's own narrative. Tam comes up with some good stuff, like how Tim seems obsessed about something and that he was angry and intense, but mostly that he was the saddest person she had ever met.   Which say's a lot about how much Tim is projecting and how similar he really is to Bruce.   Tam also says, "there [is] something about Tim...despite the sadness, the obsession, the weird costume... just him being there, I knew I'd be ok."   It was refreshing to see an outside perspective on Tim.   

(I feel like I should also share with you the fact that a 'TimTam' is the name of a Pepperidge Farm cookie.   Subliminal messaging via comic?)

Also, along with Tam's thoughts and feelings on Tim, the reader also see's how Prudence feels about Tim after he has saved her life twice as many times as he has broken her nose during the short time they've known each other. You know that she's brash, untrained and trigger happy from the first time she was introduced and trying to kill Tim. Then she was angry, untrained and trigger happy when she and Tim went out on the arranged hit to capture the assassin in issue 6 (Tim even notes, "Pru is still shooting. I have a feeling Pru will try and shoot me when I'm not useful anymore"). But this issue, it seems Pru has a shift in alliances, because she took Tim's command even against the orders of the White Ghost. I think this say's a whole lot about the kind of person Tim is, and how other people perceive his leadership. Because, like Tam say's, "There is something about Tim".

There is a scene with Alfred and Lucius back in Gotham where they discuss the Hush problem.   And, yup, it seems L-Fox is catching onto something.   It's a short, but well crafted dialogue, but I find it a bit troubling that those in Gotham aren't more concerned about Tim, whether they believe him or not.   Back in the Cradle, where Tim is trying to save Tam, there is the obligatory fight scene with a nice little twist at the end, but I won't ruin it for you (and I honestly don't think it'll stick anyways).  

Also, to wrap up some of my random thoughts... Throughout the last two issues, Tim's been mentioning his Blackest Night event that went on back in Gotham.   He's distracted, not thinking clearly.   He admits this.  Before that he was still elated about his proof of Bruce being alive.   And before that, his fourth parent figure had been pronounced dead and he had been fired from his job.   It's safe to say, Tim has not firing on all cylinders lately.   He's missing stuff, making mistakes, and though you can see a bit of his usual wit, intelligence and detective skills, he's batting about a 0.200.   Which, if you aren't a baseball fan, is not... great.   I'm wondering if this is because of all the head games floating around Tim's brain, or is it just the writing.

I don't particularly like this cover, but it ties the three story lines that are taking place in this issue pretty succinctly.   The inside art is nice – Marcus To is very capable but I don’t think he’s had to draw Tim outside his costume yet and I can’t wait to see that.

Also, Tim, if you don't send someone a text message, or maybe even a quick Tweet telling someone that you have proof Bruce is alive I'm going to scream.   Seriously.   You have way too many near death experiences to not utilize 126 characters and get the message out there.   Doesn't have to be fancy; here is an example:

"Hey D. B alive. Got proof. You suk. kthxbye. -T"