REVIEW: ‘Robin’, Issue #9

Robin #9 continues to drive hard and bloody to the end of the League of Lazarus storyline. It is written by Joshua Williamson. Roger Cruz drops in to pencil the savage battle royale this time, with Luis Guerrero on colors and Troy Peteri on letters. When we last left off, Connor Hawke was dead, and Damian faced off against his great-grandmother’s (Mother Soul) literal demon as the al Ghul family never climbs small mountains. Connor Hawke lies dead and is about to become the physical housing for the huge, gnashy demon. 

First off, Mother Soul gets a chance to prove her villain status by offering Robin a monologue, and here we find she is even more of an extremist than her regenerating son, Ra’s. But this issue is really all about taking down that demon, the one way out of Damian’s weight class. Robin isn’t about to give up now that he’s at the end of the tournament, but there’s no way he can win it alone. 

So Williamson again takes the opportunity in his big action series to reveal what Damian can become in the face of adversity.  There are a few defining moments for Robin in this issue that elevate it above the fists and hellfire, and Damian’s personal growth is top-notch reading done with ease. Happily, future issues look also to carry the Lazarus fighters, so it seems we will get more of Ravager, Flatline, and the rest of this motley crew. But Robin growing into actual hero status, the classic boy becomes a man, is wonderful. Williamson connected all of the dots from one issue to the next and never skipped a beat.

Cruz returned to give readers a big-eyed Damian who is lean, older, and heroic. While the demon is a bit standard fare giant monster, the fight panels, emotions, actions and scenery are all praiseworthy. Guerrero’s colors remain high spectrum and offer fun and tropical splendor to an otherwise grim tale, with Peteri again mastering word balloon locales and dropping some killer (and rather funny) SFX along the way.

Robin #9 is a great read that delivers a Damian Wayne, perhaps more ready to be Robin than ever before. That’s saying a lot since the character has held the role for over a decade now. He is poised to take the name to new heights, hopefully without his ominous father. The focus on the al Ghul family line might take the young man to some exciting locales in the future, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

There are a lot of surprises in this issue for fans. I won’t reveal them, but all matters are attended to. This book brought back a lot of old characters who were collecting dust and cleaned them off. Hopefully, we will get to see them develop beyond the series and the 2021 Annual, perhaps even becoming something of a force with Robin. Time, and DC Comics,  will tell. Admittedly I thought the end of the story would return Damian back to Batman and make him the sidekick in Gotham again. But with the Caped Crusader leaving Gotham soon, that’s unlikely. This leaves our Boy Wonder off on his own journey for hopefully the duration of this series. After this issue, the door is blown wide open. 

Robin #9 is available now wherever comic books are sold.

William J. Jackson

William J. Jackson is a small town laddie who self publishes books of punk genres, Victorian Age superheroes, rocket ships and human turmoil. He loves him some comic books, Nature, Star Trek and the fine art of the introvert.