Robin War “The Daring Young Man”
Written by: Tom King
Art by: Khary Randolph
Cat’s TidBits: Now we finally come to the conclusion of this Robin War that has everyone at the edge waiting to see how it’s going to end. And believe me, stuff goes down.
If you’ve been keeping up with the story, you are familiar that Damian Wayne joined the Court of the Owls and that is where we begin the ending of the Robin War. Ah, I don’t even know where to begin. Well, the theme of this issue was “I’m not Robin.” We see the demons that Damian is experiencing in his head about not being Robin and the decision he made to join the Owls in order to save the city and end the war. Obviously, we knew that this was only the beginning to something greater that King had planned.
All while this war is happening between the original Robins and Damian, we start to see the real plan unfolding before our eyes. Lincoln March is conversing with Dick Grayson regarding the matter of the main plan since the beginning, which is to prove to him that Batman had been given the same choice that Damian made (which ultimately is the reason why Damian agreed to join.) In that same scene where he is describing to him how they convinced Damian to join, he mentions, “He’s so young. His intentions are difficult to track.” This quote reminded me of Robin War Part One where Damian is speaking to the other Robins on how he was trained by Batman and the League of Assassins. We all know that Damian can pick a fight and win, but the Court of the Owls had already planned for him to win.
I feel as though Grayson was being a bit naive when he figured that he could walk away so easily from the Court of the Owls and Lincoln March. As they’re having their professional conversation (ha), Grayson could’ve taken him down and put an end to what they were trying to do, but there was something else in mind. The fate of the “Gray Son” was apparently his destiny to join them and March was willing to die for it. Would Grayson join the Court of the Owls? See the spoiler below to find out.
On a much lighter note, it’s so easy to forget how young Damian is. I wanted to add something that I enjoyed reading, because at the end of the day, he’s just a kid! King, I applaud you for this, because this is something that I’m sure our other Robins had to go through as well. Having to cross that line of what is acceptable of being a ‘Robin’ and also being human. Really, really, REALLY enjoyed Duke’s character. Just throwing it out there.
Yup, this happened. He has joined the Court of the Owls. *This will continue in Grayson.*
The Good: There is so much good in this. Loved the storyline, loved the theme, loved the colors and art! I was actually not thrown off by how much they used the “I am not Robin”, because I feel as though since the beginning when they were going with the theme of “I am Robin”, it finally made sense on why they used it.
The Bad: I wish we could’ve gotten more of Jason and Drake; they were not shown in many panels, but overall we still got more of Damian and Dick.
Recommended If:
- You want to see if Grayson will join the Court of the Owls or not.
- You enjoy Damian Wayne as a character (Robin and Owl).
- You want to see the Robin War end!
Overall: Do you need to read all the other side stories that are in the other comic books before you actually read the second part of this Robin War? Not really, but I recommend you do, because it’s such a good story! Apparently, this is something that DC Comics will try to give us a new side of how we see the ‘Robins’. Which is the reason why we had this Robin War; we are so used to seeing them as good and they are, but some things are going to change and that starts with Grayson.
Score: 9/10
