Category Archives: Robin
6 Best Animated Robins
Batman and Robin are like a rock concert. Batman is this brilliant, blazing, glorious rock star, the idolized hero of millions who burns brighter and rocks harder than anyone else ever will. All the other superheroes, like Superman or Wonder Woman, they’re competing rock stars. Maybe they’ll do an album together or hang out at a charity together, but in the end they have their own bands and their own concerts. Batman views them as rivals. But Robin is unique among other superheroes.
Robin is the guy with the backstage pass.
Animated Batman Lego series anyone?
If Batman is arguably the greatest, most popular superhero, Robin is the fan who Batman lets hang out back stage. We can’t be our favorite rock star. We can’t be Batman. But in some ways, we can be like Robin. We can be the fan with the backstage pass. We can hang out with Batman and learn all of his secrets. We’ll be there for Batman when he’s in a tough spot, or we’ll be by his side when he’s kicking ass. We can be the fan that Batman actually likes hanging out with, the one he shares a beer with. And maybe someday, when Batman needs us the most, he’ll invite us on stage to jam with him.
And then we will prove that it has all be worth it, and we will rock hard enough to impress Batman.
I think that nicely sums up one of the reasons why I like Robin. He’s the guy that Batman trusts above all others, the one that Batman likes hanging out with. The one superhero who is truly in Batman’s inner circle. But Robin is not just ‘Batman’s Pal’, he’s Batman-in-training. He’s Batman’s assistant. That’s what it means to be his sidekick. I plan on doing a lot more with Robin on this blog, but for now let’s take a look at one enterprise that seems to do Robin right: animation.
Here are the top 6 animated Robins, ranked worst to best!
***This list was inspired by friend-of-the-site Momma Pwncess! Thank you!
Red Robin to Return to Batman Family
Tim Drake is rejoining the Bat-family, baby! At least temporarily!
The comic book solicitations for April are starting to come out, and CBR has all of the Batman titles. The Night of the Owls will be in full effect, and I’m happy to say that my favorite Robin, Tim Drake, is going to take time away from his Teen Titan duties to make a jump back to his Bat-family roots! For people who don’t have any clue what I’m talking about, this probably won’t be that important. But to a comic book geek like me, this is fantastic news!
Red Robin will be appearing in Batman: The Dark Knight #9.
Kick his ass, Red Robin!
For those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about or why I’m so excited, allow me to explain. Because I love talking about comic books.
So everybody knows about Batman and Robin. Well in the comic books, Batman has had 4 Robins. Every time one of them outgrows the role of sidekick or dies, Batman gets a new apprentice. My favorite Robin is Tim Drake, who was Robin from the early 90s to the late 00s. Which is a very long time. Well as the story went along, Drake ‘graduated’ from being Robin to make way for a new apprentice, and Drake instead became Red Robin.
Then in the New 52 reboot from last September, DC drew several clear distinctions between their ‘families’ of comics. Red Robin was taken out of the Batman family of comics and placed in the Teen family, as leader of the Teen Titans. Which is too bad, because I like my Tim Drake as Batman’s sidekick, even if there is already a new Robin who has replaced him. Since September, Tim Drake’s adventures have had very little to do with Batman. Which, again, is a shame.
But with this new epic Batman story, The Night of the Owls, DC has decided to let Tim Drake return to Batman’s side to lend a hand. They could have just had Red Robin skip the whole Owls thing and nobody would have batted an eyelash. So I’m now even more excited for Night of the Owls! And I can only hope you are too.
Review: Teen Titans #5
Writer Scott Lobdell and artist Brett Booth team up to deliver what could be the very best issue so far of the new Teen Titans series. The problem is that I only say that because this issue is wall-to-wall action and fight scene, meaning there isn’t time to focus on the various problems I’ve had with this series. Still, great fight scene! The Titans take on Superboy in this issue, marking their first real superhero brawl as a team.
Teen Titans #5
Do they win? Well, you’ll just have to keep reading to find out.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
I’m going to try, from now on, to get over the various hang-ups I’ve had with this series. I can’t keep repeating them over and over again in every review. The dialogue feels forced, N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is a terrible villain and this team of Titans feels like they were picked out of a hat and just thrown together. These aren’t going to be fixed because one random guy is whining on the Internet. So I’m just going to start incorporating them into the basic fabric of the book. If they get better, I’ll let you know. They’re all still evident in this issue, but they don’t drag down what is an otherwise awesome fight scene.
Every character that appears in this issue gets their moment to shine, highlighting new aspects of their personalities while building towards a better story overall. Definitely an issue I would recommend.
Story and synopsis after the jump!
Fun Notes from April Comic Book Solicitations
For lack of anything better to write about today, let’s take a look at the recently released Marvel and DC comic book solicitations for April. Comic book companies release cover pictures and brief blurbs about upcoming comics months in advance so that retailers can know what they want to order. It also gives us comic book fans a chance to see what’s coming down the pike. I rather enjoy looking at all the colorful titles and read about upcoming stories, especially in my favorite titles.
There will be some spoilers, so watch out!
Marvel Comics
First up, let’s take a look at the potentially exciting summary of X-Factor #234.
X-Factor #234
X-Factor #234
Peter David 
Leonard Kirk (A)
Covers by David Yardin
• Catfight! Monet Calls Layla Out…And It’s Gonna Get Ugly.
• A Departed Member Of X-Factor Returns.
• And Introducing Seattle’s Newest Heroes: The Insignia And Shutterbug! (One Of Whom May Not Make It Through The Issue.)
A departed cast member returning!? Could that be the highly anticipated return of Jamie Madrox the Multiple Man to the land of the living? Madrox’s ‘death’ is supposed to play out over the next few months, will he be ready to return to the team in April? The cover is clearly more interested in the Monet vs. Layla fight, but I’m definitely curious who the blurb is talking about. I know that Peter David and Marvel marketing are protective of their secrets, so they wouldn’t spoil the end of the current Madrox ‘death’ storyline in a solicitation. But it’s enough to hope.
The only other character it could be is Darwin, who left the series many issues ago for parts unknown. It could very well be Darwin and I’m just getting my hopes up. But they will stay up until proven otherwise that Multiple Man isn’t coming back for good.
Next is X-Men Legacy #265 and the fabled appearance of Mimic!
X-Men Legacy #265
X-Men Legacy #265
Christos Gage (W)Rafa Sandoval (A)
Cover by Mark Brooks
• Time Is Running Out For Weapon Omega, The Mutant Time Bomb. How Will The X-Men Disarm Him Before He Implodes And Takes The School With Him?
• A Recently-Returned Mutant Becomes A Full-Fledged Member Of Wolverine’s X-Men.
I’ve known for months now that Mimic would be making a cameo appearance in this title, and it’s exciting to see him there on the cover. It’s rumored that either Mimic or Omega will join the cast, and I hope it’s Mimic…but it’ll probably be Omega. He has much more story potential as a student at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The blurb there mentions someone joining, and I’m just going to assume that it’s going to be Omega.
But I can dream, can’t I?
Mentioned by one of the commenters in my last Ultimate Spider-Man review, when is regular artist Sarah Pichelli coming back? Well according to the solicitation for Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #9, she’s not coming back in April.
Ultimate Spider-Man #9
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9
Brian Michael Bendis • David Marquez (A)
• The Police Have Miles Squarely In Their Sights!
• Prowler Versus The Scorpion!
• Is The Secret Of The New Spider-Man Out?!
So I guess we will continue to be denied Pichelli’s stellar art from the first 6 issues of the series. Shame. It’s cool to see more Ultimate Prowler action, but is that not a hideous cover? It looks computer rendered and it looks like colorforms plastered on a cardboard backdrop.
You can read the rest of the Marvel Comics solicitations for April here.
DC Comics
There’s only one comic in April from DC that I think has something worth note, and that’s Red Hood and the Outlaws #8.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #8
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL; Art and cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT
Suzie Su is back, and she’s betting a hospital full of hostages will get Red Hood’s attention! If that isn’t enough to keep him and the Outlaws busy, there’s someone waiting in the wings! It’s Tim Drake knocking on Red Hood’s door with a very special package for his estranged “brother.” Don’t miss Red Robin’s cameo this issue, as it ties directly into next month’s “Night of the Owls” Batman event!
A guess appearance by Red Robin!? Sweet! Tim Drake appears to be crossing back into the Bat-family of books in preparation for Night of the Owls. I only wish it was a more Batman-oriented book instead of the red-headed step-child of the family. Night of the Owls is going to encompass all of the Bat-books, including Red Hood, but Tim Drake and the Teen Titans are considered part of the teen-family of DC Comics. So he wasn’t guaranteed to appear in the crossover.
This solicitation is a good sign that Tim has not been forgotten.
You can read the rest of DC Comics solicitations for April here.
I Need to Post More Batman Fan Films
And to rectify that, here is one called Batman: Death Wish. It’s pretty OK. The acting isn’t all that great, the dialogue is simple and the guy playing Batman is terrible. But it’s very well made, with fantastic costumes, at least. They use Batman movie costumes, which is an interesting choice. It definitely works. I’m definitely excited about the major use of Robin and Nightwing. If you’ve got 12 minutes, it’s a fun little film to watch.
Henchman-4-Hire 