Overview: In Tim Drake: Robin #10, the titular Robin (Tim Drake) is finally able to end the chaos threat with a little help from both of his families.
Synopsis (Spoilers ahead): Robin wakes up in a dark and lonely room. The last thing he remembers, he was looking for Batwoman (Kate Kane) and was attacked by the chaos monsters. Robin soon realizes he is in a maze filled with traps. He is certain that Batwoman is in this maze as well. If he can find her, maybe together they can escape this trap.
At Gotham Marina, Bernard Dowd is faced with his own mystery. He is unable to find Tim. In fact, Tim is not even answering his door, and this is concerning. Bernard is struggling with telling Tim that he knows about Tim being Robin, but he does not want to sound aggressive either. He is soon interrupted by Pie, a fellow resident of the Marina. Pie needs to tell Bernard that he saw Tim in his boat with Robin. Pie admits that he saw Tim without his shirt, the water running in the shower and a Robin costume on the floor. Then Pie mentioned that Louie told him that the chaos monsters were out last night. Again, Bernard stops him and asks Pie what Louie said exactly.
This leads Bernard to talk to the other residents of the Marina, starting with Louie. Louie said that Lauren and her girlfriend mentioned the chaos monsters. They send Bernard to Tuna, who saw the monsters. Everyone had one thing in common, they all are worried about Tim, including Bernard.
Robin, meanwhile, is still in danger. Tim continues to try to find his way out of the maze while avoiding the various death traps. He soon runs into a familiar voice, his father. He knows that it is not his dad, but he runs to hug him anyways. The man shoves Robin aside. Robin realizes that it is a hallucinogenic mask combined with the gas that makes him see anything. The chaos leader then makes one more offer for Robin to join them and now he reveals that he has Batwoman on an altar. She is to be sacrificed for her crimes.
Batwoman found the chaos monsters recovering from their last encounter with Robin. She found the leader’s son and dragged him out of the cult. The boy was unable to handle life away from chaos. She was able to escape the labyrinth that Robin was in. She, however, does not belong, only Robin does. All Robin has to do is kill Batwoman.
Robin realizes that Kate was right, chaos is a cult, and the only thing they understand is absolution. Robin takes on the crimes of Batwoman, placing himself as the savior of Batwoman.
Bernard goes to Darcy’s bedside where she is recovering from her injuries. Meanwhile, Detective Williams, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown all looking for help for Tim Drake. Finally, Bernard finds Batman (Bruce Wayne). Batman immediately asks the boy what he wants. Bernard tells him that Tim needs help.
Robin is still drugged, and Batwoman lies unconscious on the altar, making their survival unlikely. Robin is surrounded, outnumbered, and weakened; he needs help. The leader comes up behind him reading the pronouncement of death when the wall suddenly smashes down. Bernard, along with the residents of the marina and the Bat-Family, all leap into action to save Robin. In addition to Batman, Robin (Damian Wayne), Nightwing (Dick Grayson), and all three Batgirls leap into action. Bernard immediately runs into Robin’s arms. This show of force empowers Robin to join the fight with both of his families. He pursues the leader from the fight and takes him down with a batarangs. Robin leaves the man for the police, and the chaos threat is over.
Analysis: This is a good view of the Robin character. We see that he never wanted to be Batman, and he even admits that he never wanted to be Robin either. All he wanted to be was his dad. He let everyone’s needs define what he was. He even thought he had to be alone. All the characters coming together show Tim that he does not have to be alone. He’s already home.
Where this is a great representation of Robin, the same treatment wasn’t given for Batwoman. She is relegated to a plot device, a damsel in distress that is literally unconscious throughout the entire issue. Batwoman is not even a main character here, but this use of her harkens back to the 90’s where too many women characters were used as plot devices. As a result, she is belittled. This is troubling to me that this is still being used today, especially in this title, which is more progressive in its focus as some other titles with its use of various queer characters. Most of the marina residents are queer, Tim and Bernard are both queer, and Detective Williams, the main police character, is written as gay with a husband. Even Kate is a gay character. With Kate being unconscious, all the action happens to her, and she is not in any control, which I find disturbing.
The art of this arc is consistently good. Bernard and Robin are both shown as being masculine, making no mistake that these characters are in a homosexual relationship. The only characters that appear remotely abnormal are some of the residents of the marina, and they are all quirky in various ways, so their designs fit their characters.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with a copy of Tim Drake: Robin #10 for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Comixology through Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
Tim Drake: Robin #10
Overall Score
3.5/5
Overall this is a good issue, but I have a real problem with Batwoman’s depiction here. She is a person and a fighter in her own right; she is not a plot device for showing the strength of Robin. He does not need it, and it is belittling to both characters to do it.
