Review: We are Robin Vol. 1- Vigilante Business

Quick Summary

Pros: The concept of this series keeps it fresh throughout the book. The characters are fun and present some good emotional moments.

Cons: A plethora of new faces and names make the beginning of this collection pretty confusing. This confusion then prevents some emotional moments from being meaningful. It also fails to truly address any societal issue, despite bringing multiple issues up.

Overall: This is an alright start to this series. It presents promise through its fresh concept and unique characters. However, it is hampered by the confusion brought on by mass introductions and an oversaturation of themes. Overall this is not a bad first volume, though it is not great either.

Story

We are Robin Vol. 1: The Vigilante Business is a mixed bag of quality. For one, it features an entertaining cast of characters who provide a unique new aspect of Gotham City. However, we as readers do not become close enough with them to fully appreciate most of their actions or personalities. This creates a story which is not bad by any means, however it has not been fleshed out enough to prove itself as a good one either.

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The story in this book starts pretty quickly. We are introduced to Duke and the rest of the Robins, who are then thrown into a battle against some underworld society. For the most part this is all just fun, street level, superhero action. It doesn’t dig too deep into characters or themes.

Things begin to pick up as the Robins go up against their biggest challenge yet, defusing bombs. There are moments of real suspense found here which Bermejo does a tremendous job portraying. Usually, in movies and television, characters defusing bombs will be shown sweating and nervous before making the right decision. Here, the heroes are shown crying and vomiting due to the pressure of the situation; these are real emotions. They are also emotions that run so deep, that I felt them as a reader; I was on the edge of my seat throughout this portion of the story.

The only part that didn’t work about this part of the story was Troy’s death. Killing Troy at this moment was an unusual move. Readers barely had time to learn about him at all, let alone connect with him. Thus, his death has far less impact and meaning than it is designed to have.

The high point of the story probably occurs right after this, at issue #4. It is an individualized story focusing entirely on Riko and her emotional journey after Troy’s death. It digs into her motivations deeper than any of the other characters while also being a fun story as well. Out of every issue in this book, this one provided the best explanation for why these kids are doing what they are doing.

After this we get some more of what we got before: a little bit of generic action mixed with help from Alfred. This time though, additional character development and a new villain help things along. However, much of this is setup for Robin War and thus is not fantastic on its own.

One of the story’s biggest problems is the confusion created by having a cast of all new characters. There are seven different Robins in this story, all of which are pretty much brand new characters. This means that readers don’t get a handle on their names and personalities until about halfway through the collection. The problem is that their names and backstories are utilized extensively before the halfway point. In particular, text messages between the group are almost impossible to understand or enjoy because readers don’t even know the characters yet, let alone their “usernames.”

The other big problem with the book is the lack of a unifying theme. Teenage vigilantism, cyber bullying, racial profiling, and domestic abuse all come up and play a small role in the story. However, none of them are expanded on and dealt with. It seems like this book wants to take on societal issues but can’t quite decide which one to focus on. This oversaturation then dilutes the meaning of each issue brought up, leaving them all feeling shallow and lacking any real meaning.

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Art

Jorge Corona’s artwork in this collection can be hit or miss depending on personal preference. It is light and almost cartoonish in some respects but still looks clean overall. Personally, I thought it was a little bit too cartoonish. This was a negative for me because it somewhat clashed with the tone of the story. When there were deeply personal or serious moments, it was hard to see them as such because the characters looked like they came out of a Saturday morning cartoon. However, this is just my opinion, and I recognize that others have plenty of reason to like what is presented here.

The only issue in this collection not drawn by Joe Corona is drawn by James Harvey. This issue looks shockingly different from the rest of the collection, in a good way. It is a pop art styled issue with absolutely radical paneling. These features allow it to juxtapose the story with scenes from Lord of the Flies. It enhances the story and also looks great while doing so.

In addition, Lee Bermejo provides the covers for this issues. Overall, each of these looks fantastic and stand on their own as being a great product of this series.

Continuity

The We are Robin series is a brand new series from DC Comics, so there are no direct predecessors to this book. However, characters in this book have their origins in a few other DC series, giving them a small degree of backstory.

• About half of the Robins in this book first appeared in Detective Comics: Endgame #1, an issue which is currently collected in The Joker: Endgame.
• Duke Thomas has his roots in Scott Snyder’s Batman series.
  • He first appears as a child in Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year- Secret City (Review) and Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year- Dark City.
  • He then appears later in Batman’s history in the Endgame storyline, which is collected in either Batman Vol. 7: Endgame or The Joker: Endgame. The events of this storyline have a large impact on his life in We are Robin.

This volume also makes some references to more specific events in DC Comics history and continuity. These are listed here:

• The origin and appearance of the new “Batman” is explained in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy.
• The condition of Alfred’s hand is explained by the “Endgame” storyline. Once again this is collected in either Batman Vol. 7: Endgame or The Joker: Endgame.
• Batgirl mentions a recent run in with the new “Batman.” This happens in Batgirl Vol. 2: Family Business.
• This volume’s main villain has his origins within Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (Review) and Batman Vol. 2: City of Owls (Review).

The events of this story continue in both We are Robin Vol. 2: Jokers and Robin War.