Robin #176 - DC

I love this book. Tim Drake has really come in to his own self as Robin. I think there was a lot of comparison to Dick, obviously, in the beginning . . . same costume . . almost same look, but now . . Tim is definitely his own person. I like the way he looks to Dick for guidance, and friendship. Bruce is his father now, but their relationship is almost that of sensei and student. Of course Bruce doesn't have a whole lot of free time, so . . . what're ya' gonna' do? Anyways, with Fabian Nicieza writing this book right now . . of course the stories are going to be tremendous. Fabian is a fantastic character writer, and he's got some great stuff to work with here. I like how he's handled the relationship between Tim and Stephanie. Tim still cares for her and admires her talent, but . . he's also pissed that she let him believe she was dead. Especially when the Batman knew all along. And now . . now he's got something new to be pissed at her for. Over in the Batman title, Batman has gone a bit over the edge and a member of this Asian gang took a picture of him with his cell . . in all his rage and fury. Batman, anticipating that there may be a storm brewing, asked Spoiler ahead of time, should something happen, not to let see Tim see him in that state. So when they go through the gang, and Stephanie finds the phone with the picture . . . she erases it. She's doing it for Batman . . . and Tim, but that doesn't make it sit any easier with him when he finds out. Now she's really on his short list. We're also getting flashbacks from Dick and Tim's trip, while Bruce was in the cave in Nanda Parbat. Although, I'm not quite sure what the connection is. Obviously, Tim thinks that is the source of all of Bruce's problems, but I'm not sure what information he's gaining by thinking about it so much. Joe Bennett is doing a great job with the art. I liked the work he did on Birds of Prey, and this issue is right up there with them. It's hard to say that this is one of my favorite Bat-books, because I like them all so much. But I really do like Tim's character. He's a good character, and they're doing lots of great stuff with him. This book will be up to #200 before we know it. It deserves it . . really!