Red Robin #13 is a book I want to love. Is it the fact that Marcus To is slowly becoming one of my favorite consistent artists at DC, and making me feel like a proud parent watching their child grow up before their eyes. Because let’s be honest, his first few issues of this title, weren’t that great to look at. But now, it seems like we are starting to see how awesome Marcus To can be. Sadly that is not the reason I enjoyed this book. The reason is, foreshadowing by Nicieza.
In this issue, Tim is starting to grow up, trying to find his own place, create his own rogues gallery, and it is really a turning point for the character. We are seeing character progression; Tim wants to make it in the world on his own, which will sadly lead to his downfall. In this issue, we are given the seeds of what can, if done right, be a fantastic character defining event for Tim as Red Robin, he is set to make a serious mistake at the end of this comic, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.
The writing for the most part is Nicieza trying to relearn how Tim works, but also try and reorganize him in his new role. It’s a fun thing to read, however only for one issue. If it goes any further than this, I will get bored of the book very easily. As stated before, this is a set up issue, but it’s the right kind of set up issue. This is different of what we received from the Yost era, where things just randomly came together. Nicieza seems to have a big master plan going for the adventures of Red Robin. Like I said already, something is going to happen in this book. Tim is finally growing up and not being the whiny brat that made me want to punch him last month.
Art by To is the best it’s been so far in this book, and I can only see him getting better. To has finally been given a writer who is giving him interesting sequences to draw. In a fun way, I found myself putting this book down and not giving my usual response of “God damn you, Chris Yost” I instead found myself saying “I can’t wait to see what happens next.” And I truly can’t.
In this day and age, it takes a lot more to actually look forward to the next issue of a book with anticipation for what comes next, and Red Robin is becoming one of those books.
Now if only there was some way I could pretend the entire Christ Yost run never happened, I would be a happy man.
Red Robin #13:
Reviewed by Suavestar
