Reviewer: Tim Stevens
Story Title: Dead Robin: Part 2 of 4
Written by: Greg Rucka & Ed Brubaker
Pencilled by: Kano
Inked by: Stefano Gaudiano
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Clem Robins
Editor: Matt Idelson
Publisher: DC Comics
A little while ago I seemed to reach the end of the road with Gotham Central. It wasn’t the book, it was me. I had grown apart from it and seeing it once a month in my hold bin just did not give me the same charge that it used to. I still respected and admired the craftsmanship, I just couldn’t make the relationship work anymore. I was but a step away from declaring it time to move on.
Then came along this storyline and”¦well, sometimes you can rekindle the spark is all I have to say.
A Robin, (no, not THE Robin) showed up dead at the beginning of last mont’s issue and it caused a sequence of events that culminated with Detective Romy Chandler apparently shooting Batman. I don’t think it gives much to say that Batman still lives and remains his rather cantankerous self. However, what’s interesting about the incident is not that Batman survives (again, surprise surprise) but what he does after he gets up and what he could mean for poor Detective Chandler. Actually, I’m also curious why he bothered doing it in the first place. Batman does a lot of weird, anti-social things, but usually has a reason (however skewed) beyond something as simple as “She shot at me so I thought I’d learn her some manners.”
Robin (THE Robin in this case) is similarly confused when he swings in on Stacy (the former girl in charge of bat signal) to let her know (and thus let everyone else know) that he is still alive. The two have a bit of a lighthearted chat about how things were better in the good ol’ pre-War Games’ days. I’d say that I agree, but I’d hate to beat a dead horse.
Elsewhere, the Teen Titans stops by the precinct, thanks to the string Captain Sawyer pulled last month. Sadly, beyond reinforcing what Robin just told Stacy, the interrogation does little to further the investigation. It does, however, give the creative team a chance to stage a very funny scene as Starfire swings by the precinct and leaves several members of the PD a bit slack jawed over the whole thing.
Heap on top of that a reporter who is may or may not have an inside track on crime scene photos (This is actually the book’s one false note. I can’t read it as anything other than a bit of commentary on the Judith Miller affair and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I support the message, but I have distaste for the lack of subtlety.), and the ongoing tension between pro-Batman cops (like Montoya) and anti-Batman cops (like her partner Allen) things seem like they couldn’t get worse around the precinct. Then something shows to rather unhelpfully test that theory.
