Category Archives: Robin
‘We Are Robin’ to Star Duke Thomas and Friends
One of the most interesting new comics coming out of DC this Spring will be We Are Robin, a series that was shrouded in mystery when it was first announced. What’s with all the kids on the cover? What about Tim Drake, Dick Grayson or Jason Todd? Who is Robin?
Well the shroud is off and the questions have been answered in USA Today! We Are Robin is going to star Duke Thomas and a whole movement of Gotham teenagers rallying behind the mantle of the Boy Wonder!
Where can I get that jacket?
As much as this kind of goes against everything I love about Robin…I’m actually kind of excited by this news! It sounds like a really awesome comic and a neat twist on the whole concept of Robin.
Personally, of course, I much prefer the idea that Robin is a single individual: the squire to the Dark Knight, the apprentice of the World’s Greatest Detective. But I’m definitely down to check out Lee Bermejo’s We Are Robin when it launches in a few months. Maybe it’s because I’m still annoyed that Harper Row didn’t get to become the new Robin, and we’re still stuck with Damian Wayne. Maybe I’m just more open to new and fascinating comic book ideas. Whatever the case, I’m totally on board.
Bermejo mentions in the article that he’s partially inspired by movements like what happened in Ferguson, Missouri last year.
“There’s that element of this particular moment we’re passing right now, and with a book like this you have a chance to comment about certain things and bring them into the Bat-universe in real interesting ways. With ideas and big concepts, teenagers can get really passionate about that stuff and it can be their whole life. That was something interesting to me, that this thing could be bigger than just one guy jumping around in a domino mask.”
Bermejo says he wants to take the very idea of Robin and play around with it. And that maybe there are a lot of kids in the streets of Gotham who could be helping Batman out there.
Specifically, the series will star Duke Thomas, a kid that Bruce Wayne first met in Zero Year, and who recently reappeared during Batman’s fight with the Joker. And when all DC comics jumped 5 years into the future last fall, it was Duke Thomas who was serving as Robin, in costume.
Nonchalantly out of context
So maybe We Are Robin is just the next part of Duke Thomas’ journey. We shall see. But no matter what this title brings, I am definitely excited. There are big things ahead for the Boy Wonder(s)!
—————-
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/7/15
Welp, things didn’t exactly work out for me like I was hoping earlier this week, so I don’t have any awesome news to share. But maybe something else will come along in the future that I can brag to you henchies about. Until then, we have more comics to enjoy this week!
Comic Book of the Week goes to Princess Leia #1 for another great Star Wars comic from Marvel. Writer Mark Waid and his creative team really hit the princess nail on the head, with a cool new chapter of the Star Wars saga from a character who definitely needs more of the spotlight.
Not everybody likes hugs as much as me
We’ve also got fantastic new issues of Grayson and Harley Quinn, and I’m pleased to say that Spider-Woman might actually be a good comic now that it’s ditched the Spider-Verse crossover. Marvel was crazy to begin her series like they did. Oh, and her new costume is the bee’s knees in her new issue!
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my review this week of All-New Hawkeye #1, which sees a new creative team try to take over from the stellar Matt Fraction and David Aja. I think they might have a chance of pulling it off.
Comic Reviews: Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #4, Batman Eternal #48, Grayson #8, Harley Quinn #15, Princess Leia #1 and Spider-Woman #5.
The 6 Best and the 6 Worst Parts of DC’s New 52
The New 52 is over; long live DC Comics. After more than three years of sticking to their rigid, grim and gritty house style, the second biggest publisher in comics has decided to try something different — and I couldn’t be happier. I quickly soured to the New 52 and have barely hung on all these years later.
Get out of there Cyborg, you’re not Justice League
When DC rebooted their entire comics lineup in 2011 — including everyone from Superman and Batman to Green Lantern — they decided that the best way to reach fans was with dark, gritty comics aimed at teenage boys and young men. They published 52 comics a month and called the whole event the ‘New 52’. But comic book fans are prone to change, and nowadays we want a variety of different comics and styles, definitely not just grim and gritty. Marvel Comics, the biggest publisher, understands this and routinely beats DC in sales.
So starting in June, DC will abandon their New 52 way of thinking and will start offering new comics with new styles for new audiences. It’s a great plan! But before it’s gone, I wanted to take a look back at 6 things I liked and 6 things I loathed in the New 52. Hopefully DC can learn from this.
2 New Robin Comics Coming This Summer; DC’s ‘New 52’ Out the Door…Kind of!
Breaking comic book news today is that DC Comics is going to do a little rebranding of the New 52 this June. They aren’t producing 52 comics a month anymore, so the name doesn’t make any sense. The New 52 continuity and characters will remain the same, but they’re bringing in 24 new comics and basically just doing away with the ‘New 52’ name tag. All of this will launch after the April-May Convergence mini-series. IGN has part of the scoop. And CBR has some more! And Newsarama has even more!
Chief among the new comics will be something called We Are Robin. I have no idea what this is, but I am hugely excited!
I’m going to be scouring the Internet for any news about this series. Will it star the various Robins already hanging out in Gotham City? Or, like the cover implies, will it be about a bunch of street kids who wear Robin-branded clothing? Who knows! I am beyond excited to find out.
Also announced is a new solo series for Damian Wayne, which will replace the Batman and Robin ongoing. Robin: Son of Batman will be written and drawn by Patrick Gleason, a true superstar!
No word yet why Robin will be teaming up with a giant red monster.
There will also be new comics for Bat-Mite, Bizarro, Black Canary, Cyborg, Dr. Fate, Martian Manunter and many more. My favorite comic book artist, Bryan Hitch, will also be taking over both writing and art duties on Justice League! Check out the various titles at the links above.
Another announcement I’m excited about will see Starfire split away from the long-running Red Hood and the Outlaws comic into her own series, written by the Harley Quinn team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with art by Emanuela Lupacchino. That sounds pretty amazing, considering I love me some Harley Quinn comic. The Outlaws book will be shrunk down to just Red Hood/Arsenal. Could this be an attempt to finally cater to fans of the Teen Titans cartoon? Starfire’s new costume seems to suggest as much (though she’s still wearing incredibly short shorts)!
That is a damn good idea, since everybody was pretty soured to Starfire in the New 52, whereas she could be getting a ton of fans.
I’m going to try to update this post throughout the day with new information as it comes in! For me, I’m just excited to see Robin getting some attention! I can’t wait to find out more about We Are Robin!
What do you henchies think? Any of these new comics look good to you? Or do you think DC should do away with the New 52 entirely? Looks to me like they’re going to take a play out of the Marvel NOW! playbook and just introduce waves of new titles to see what takes off. The focus of this new rebranding is to reach out to a wider audience. When the New 52 launched, it was rigidly tied to DC’s grim and gritty house style, but then both Marvel and DC had much more success with a wide variety of comics (like Ms. Marvel and Batgirl). Now it looks like DC learned their lesson. The house style is out and variety reigns!
I like the sound of that!
Sound off in the comments!
——————
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/24/15
Time to ease off the massive reviews, finally! We’ve just got a few comics this week – or at least the few comics I was in the mood to buy and read – and they’re all Batman and Spider-Man comics! How cool is that? Those two are arguably my two favorite mainstream superheroes, so this is kind of a big deal.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Amazing Spider-Man #13 for another entertaining chapter of Spider-Verse, though it’s not necessarily a spectacular standout. This is still just a Big Event I enjoy reading.
I’ve missed you, Superior Spider-Man!
We’ve also got the Spider-Verse tie-in that is Scarlet Spiders, as well as new issues of Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin. In fact, I didn’t hate this week’s Batman Eternal for once! I would say this is a solidly cool week.
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #13, Batman and Robin #38, Batman Eternal #42 and Scarlet Spiders #3.
Henchman-4-Hire 