Reviews: Red Robin #17 & #18

Finally, a review! (Two, even.) After the craziness of the holidays at the end of the year, I'm finally getting all caught up in my reading, and I have a little time to get a review in here and there. So, here we go, with Red Robin #19 coming out today, here's my reviews for the previous two: the epilogue to the start of Fabian Nicieza's run; and the start of next arc, set in Russia (and due up for a crossover with Teen Titans next month).

Red Robin #17

• Written by Fabian Nicieza
• Art & Cover by Marcus To & Ray McCarthy

This issue wraps up the start of Nicieza's run while establishing the status quo for the future. Red Robin gets his own Catwoman in Lynx and his own Oracle in MoneySpider, but they're not copies and it's not forced to fit into a mold. He sees the parallels between what's happening with him and Lynx and what's happened with Bruce and Selina, and it's put on his mental master list of things to consider. It shows him handling things his way (think and plan them to the n^th degree) as opposed to Bruce's more emotional handling of Selina. And MoneySpider (Lonnie Machin, who used to be Anarky) is both a useful, if not fully trusted, tool and new friend who's easier to relate to than his “normal life” friends — an issue he's beginning to have to deal with: can superheroes have normal lives?

This issue also wraps up (very nicely) Bruce Wayne's return from Tim's perspective. There's a very touching moment where Bruce and Tim are “talking shop” and Bruce stops them because, with everything that's been going on, they've forgotten one thing: a hug. Just a great, father-and-son, it's-great-to-see-you-again embrace, and you can really see how much this relationship means to both of them. It's the highlight of the issue and brought tears to my eyes. Their conversation together is done really well, with Bruce treating Tim as the able young man he's become while also offering to impart some advice both as a mentor and as a father — and just enjoying being together again. (Later we can talk about how I've dealt with Selina Kyle all these years … but for now … let's just have some fun … as they swing off into the night.)

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the appearance of Cassandra Cain. She's in the sequence that opens the issue, and the first page would be the highlight of the issue if not for the scene with Bruce and Tim mentioned above. It's a wordless series of images: a couple leaving a building (the theater, maybe?) … a mugger approaches … he grabs for the woman's pearl necklace … he's about to shoot them both … a batarang hits his hand, stopping him … and Cassandra Cain swoops in, saving the lives of the couple. You get really close parallels with the death of Bruce's parents and then — bam! — tragedy is averted because of not just Batman but because of his influence on others. This is a really emotional start to the issue and gives a great summation of everything that's been happening in the Batman world.

As for the art it is, as always, wonderful. Great expressions, great storytelling, several great splash pages (that are appropriate and don't make the story seem shortened or slighted at all): I will weep if To and McCarthy ever stop drawing this title.

Overall, this is not just another excellent issue of Red Robin. It's one of the best issues of Red Robin that I've read, and would be a decent place to jump on and get the gist of what's been going on and what's going to happen in the future. Not that new readers won't be a little lost, just not enough to matter. And for readers who have already been realizing that this is one of the best comics on the stands? This issue does the perfect job of capping off everything that's been happening with Red Robin (his personal goals as well as his involvement with Bruce's return) and setting up the next step in his overall plan. Buy this issue.

Red Robin #18

• Written by Fabian Nicieza
• Art & Cover by Marcus To & Ray McCarthy

This issue starts the new story arc for Red Robin, pitting Tim against Red Star and introducing yet another young woman for Tim to be confused about (Promise). I've only seen Red Star in the animated Teen Titans series, but he was really good there, so I got a “yea!” moment seeing him anyway, even if he is the more-or-less antagonist here. And before the confusion caused by Promise, Tim's already confused (again) by his relationship with Tam Fox who he's sharing a (two-bedroom) hotel suite with for their business trip to Russia.

Being the first issue of the arc, there's a lot of setup here but lots of action, too. We see MoneySpider in action for the first time as Tim investigates the man with whom he's to do business, Viktor Mikalek, for ties to the Society. Tam gets to help out too, providing the audio link between MoneySpider and Tim.

While this issue is largely setup and doesn't have any mind-blowingly wonderful moments, it still pulls you along and leaves you eager for the next issue to come out. Nicieza, To and McCarthy deliver another solid performance here.