Catching up....
So as usual I've fallen behind on my comic reading. I've been trying to catch up by reading at a furious pace, but it may be time to finally admit that I buy too many titles and I have to cut back a bit... or not. In reading these books the last 2 weeks, one really stood out…
Robin #156
Anyone who has been reading Robin lately knows how good this comic has been. Adam Beechen has captured the tone of a high schooler perfectly. Freddie Williams has been a revelation as the regular series artist (I mean seriously, where did this guy come from, I'd never heard of him before his brilliant work on Mister Miracle), he infuses the pages with an energy that hasn't been seen in the pages of Robin in quite a while.
This stand alone issue starts out with Robin (Tim Drake) visiting the hospital to check on wannabe superhero Dodge. Dodge as regular readers of the title know has literally been popping up and being a nuisance to Robin as he tries to fight crime. He had wanted Robin to train him but Tim wanted no part of him. So he decided he could help anyway, and was tragically injured trying to breakup a teenager kidnapping ring. Tim of course feels this was his fault. Getting back to the issue... Robin is sitting in the hospital with Dodge (who is some suspended limbo type state) when he runs into Dodge's parents. Robin starts to apologize to the parents of Dodge when they stop him and let him know that for as many times he's saved the city, that he has no business apologizing to them. It was a nice, emotional and touching moment. If the comic had ended there, I would have felt I got my money's worth, but something very different in todays comic landscape happened. The story kept going and got even better.
On his way to Wayne Manor from the hospital Robin spots a guy on a roof ready to jump off and end his life. He swings by and tells the kid to wait. The kid thinks Robin is going to get all preachy on him, and Robin tells him no, he just wants to talk to him. They both go on to tell each other about their lives and how hard it is to be a teenager, let alone a superhero teenager. He then talks the kid into speaking to his old guidance counselor or potentially calling a help line. Brilliant back and forth between two troubled kids who both needed someone to talk to.
It was one of the rare moments in any mainstream comic, where the hero actually bares himself emotionally and becomes identifiable to the common reader. It’s something that DC has really tried to do ever since Identity Crisis. Seriously, how many of us are going to jump off roofs with a batarang and a kendo stick. Not too many of us. But how many of us will have to deal with the loss of a parent, or a girlfriend, or having to hide a secret from someone you care about, or accidentally harm someone else. Those are things some of us deal with on a daily basis.
Kudos to DC for releasing such a wonderful, emotional single issue. My only regret about this issue is that it came out to late in the year to be seriously considered for single issue of the year by wizard or any other publication. It has been a great year in comics, but this single stood out and truly resonated with me.
Robin #156
Anyone who has been reading Robin lately knows how good this comic has been. Adam Beechen has captured the tone of a high schooler perfectly. Freddie Williams has been a revelation as the regular series artist (I mean seriously, where did this guy come from, I'd never heard of him before his brilliant work on Mister Miracle), he infuses the pages with an energy that hasn't been seen in the pages of Robin in quite a while.
This stand alone issue starts out with Robin (Tim Drake) visiting the hospital to check on wannabe superhero Dodge. Dodge as regular readers of the title know has literally been popping up and being a nuisance to Robin as he tries to fight crime. He had wanted Robin to train him but Tim wanted no part of him. So he decided he could help anyway, and was tragically injured trying to breakup a teenager kidnapping ring. Tim of course feels this was his fault. Getting back to the issue... Robin is sitting in the hospital with Dodge (who is some suspended limbo type state) when he runs into Dodge's parents. Robin starts to apologize to the parents of Dodge when they stop him and let him know that for as many times he's saved the city, that he has no business apologizing to them. It was a nice, emotional and touching moment. If the comic had ended there, I would have felt I got my money's worth, but something very different in todays comic landscape happened. The story kept going and got even better.
On his way to Wayne Manor from the hospital Robin spots a guy on a roof ready to jump off and end his life. He swings by and tells the kid to wait. The kid thinks Robin is going to get all preachy on him, and Robin tells him no, he just wants to talk to him. They both go on to tell each other about their lives and how hard it is to be a teenager, let alone a superhero teenager. He then talks the kid into speaking to his old guidance counselor or potentially calling a help line. Brilliant back and forth between two troubled kids who both needed someone to talk to.
It was one of the rare moments in any mainstream comic, where the hero actually bares himself emotionally and becomes identifiable to the common reader. It’s something that DC has really tried to do ever since Identity Crisis. Seriously, how many of us are going to jump off roofs with a batarang and a kendo stick. Not too many of us. But how many of us will have to deal with the loss of a parent, or a girlfriend, or having to hide a secret from someone you care about, or accidentally harm someone else. Those are things some of us deal with on a daily basis.
Kudos to DC for releasing such a wonderful, emotional single issue. My only regret about this issue is that it came out to late in the year to be seriously considered for single issue of the year by wizard or any other publication. It has been a great year in comics, but this single stood out and truly resonated with me.
Labels: Comics
posted by LEV at
12:30 PM
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