2.27 (392) Robin Ongoing #2 ... DC ...

This version of Robin is my absolute favourite of them all ... even better than Dick (really?) Grayson, the first Robin in his underwear with no leggings ... hahahaha ... and I am so glad I didn't start with the early issues of this series because if I did (aside from 1), I doubt I would have been a fan

You see ... issue 1 is reintroduces us back to Tim after his previous 3 miniseries ... and a new artist is always a fresh take ... but the villain of the piece or rather the thrust of the tale is kind of weak ... car thieving ... and the worst part of it all is, it continues into this issue

Oh sure we have the detective bit but come on! We come here for a superhero in training kind of comic, not a detective noir style of tale and to me, this falls flat SPLAT!

The cover itself tells you everything and it's not good. Robin goes against the gang and someone decides to stick a mask on himself, someone big and strong but not super strong like Solomon Grundy or Bane ... sigh ...

But hey the issues after these early starts? Awesome!

Ratings: 5/10 (only because we are prejudiced hahaha)

327. Robin Ongoing #177 ... DC ...

My all time favorite Robin is Robin number 3 i.e. Tim Drake and most comic collectors from the 90s will agree with me because that young man has many one off and limited series coupled with a more than 10 year run of his own solo series ... that later morphed into Red Robin (becoming a huge mess) and all other rubbish ... although the tv series (campy but fun) was also good ...

Anyway in this issue, towards the waning years of his series, the Red Robin character started popping up making others wonder who the F is this ... because when RR appeared we also see Robin in his own red and black costume ... and simultaneously the guy who was originally the RR in his civilian clothes (say what)

Confusing? I guess they want us to keep guessing ...

And while all that is going on, we have the backdrop of Gotham falling into chaos as gangs and crazies are popping up for a snatch of the action i.e. turf war

Sorry if this is what they think will get new readers to try and collect or old readers to continue. I steadily collected this until before 100 and thereafter spotty because of the artwork and general direction and this issue didn't make me want to be a collector. Sorry Mr Williams, your artwork is not my taste

Ratings: 5/10

170. Psyba Rats #1 to 3 ... DC ...

Pssst for those who do not know, in the world of Batman, there have been tons of Robin ... some you can say are "canon" ... and some are "alternate realities" ... anyway the main few (please don't PM for those who will say I miss some because this is not meant to be exhaustive listing) are Dick Grayson (1st chap), Jason Todd (the one who got killed via phone call survey back before the internet), Tim (the one with the longest running solo series) and Damian (Batman's son) ...

This limited series is during Tim's era

And Tim is one of those non-super-powered but seemed like super-powered type of character. He is smart at everything, intuitive, super athlete, super agile and super fast at picking up fighting styles! I kid you not. If you meet him in school, you will hate him. Hahahahaha!

I am not sure why they did a limited series when it could have easily been slotted into his then ongoing series but this series focuses on some of the "lucky" people who have gained their abilities overnight and what they did with them

So here are 3 persons, youthful who decided not to be altruistic but to make a living. As the cover shows, the girl has arms that are metallic. Her mates inc the chap on the left typing away and another that is inside the screen!

As for the military chaps, basically they stole some info to sell to others and naturally the bad guys do not want to leave evidence behind. So they are attacked viciously and in comes Robin to save the day. While I bought the 3 issues, I have to wonder ... although the bad guys are bad guys ... but these 3 kids are not angels either ... Robin should have thrown their asses in jail or brought them to the law!

Still, the workmanlike artwork ... works ... and the storyline is decent enough (although nothing special) for an afternoon's read

Ratings: 6/10