Tim Drake: Robin, Vol. 1: Mystery at the Marina

Tim Drake: Robin

by Meghan Fitzmartin, Riley Rossmo (Illustrator), Ricardo López Ortiz (Illustrator)

Step aside, Damian—the world’s favorite Robin has got this! That’s right, after years away, Tim Drake is taking center stage in a brand-spanking-new Robin series of his very own!

A mystery over a year in the making takes shape, as a new villain who’s been hounding Tim from afar decides to take things up close and personal, putting Bernard and everyone else Tim cares about in peril as things go from bad to worse for the world’s oldest and canonically tallest Robin (no, I will not be fact-checking that).

All that and Tim finally carves out a corner of Gotham City just for himself, and sets up shop in his very own…murder shack boat?

Fan-favorite writer Meghan Fitzmartin teams up with beloved Harley Quinn artist Riley Rossmo to define the next chapter in Tim’s life.

And as if that wasn’t enough, break out your skateboards and motorcycles cuz we’ve assembled a murderer’s row of artists to draw the 1990s’ One True Robin™ in his various looks from over the years!

Collects Tim Drake: Robin #1-6!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes, LGBT, Queer

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2023

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Directionless drivel that struggles to deliver on a coherent plot. It attempts a detective story over a superhero one, with numerous nods and easter eggs to popular crime fiction. Unfortunately, Fitzmartin is unable to execute any of her ideas in an intelligible way. This should have been Tim Drake's time to shine, but instead he falls flat on his face and gets steamrollered into the ground by poor writing and bad art direction.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Drake is my favourite Robin. I don't really like the idea of him suddenly being gay or Bi, but I have to admit it fits the theme of Tim looking to find himself and who he wants to be.

I think the thing I like most about Tim is of the Bat-family, he is the most like Bruce, especially his detective skills, but he is younger and better with technology. Really like that the story highlights his detective skills, following the clues is cool, but I really hate the artwork. This is my reason for taking off a star. (The artwork in the Annual is great) In the actual series, Tim looks like a big baby, and Bernard is drawn more female he looks a bit like a cross dresser. The biggest problem I had in this book is because of the artwork I could not really understand or enjoy the action.

I am looking forward to seeing what is next in this series. Please, something has to be done about the artwork. The book finishes with a huge varient cover gallery. I really wish some of that artwork was used in the actual series.

[Nu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly very disappointing return for Tim Drake.

The story is so mid as we continue to retread the progress the character had already gone through before the New52 dialled back Tim's age, character growth and story. While the progress with Tim coming out was great, that's apparently as far as this author has decided to think about it.

Full of tell and no show, as we're thrown in Tim suddenly decides to live on a boat at the marina (something that we will be told about as much as they author can) and we're thrown a cast of characters who will appear only long enough to say 'we're quirky' before either disappearing or being murdered.

And the elephant in the room is the art which has its merits but not in this book. It would be largely suited for a story and characters that fit it which a mainstream comic by one of the big two isn't. It's so hard to tell what the expression are suppose to be on the potato shaped heads.

[Benjamin Kimble · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst comics I’ve ever read. Meghan Fitzmartin lacks any understanding of how to make an interesting character or story and she knows nothing about Tim Drake. This book is awful, it makes no sense for Tim to move to a boat in the Gotham Marina that everyone keeps calling a “murder shack” it’s so dumb and an annoying joke that was never funny. Tim’s boyfriend, Bernard, has next to no personality in this volume, all we get is that he likes dumb conspiracy theories. But we get no reason why Tim would leave his long term, well developed, fan liked girlfriend for this. This book also contains a lot of harmful queer stereotypes that I found personally offensive, one line stuck out as particularly bad “I’m your fairy gayfather.” Meghan Fitzmartin appears to be a straight woman with no understanding of what she’s writing. As for the art, Riley Rossmo is a talented artist, he has done some amazing creature and horror work and has some really great superhero covers. But he does not work well on a monthly superhero book. His art looked phoned in and unfinished. He was not a good fit for this book. I will say he has a good feel for motion and the one time he drew Batman he made him imposing and powerful which I liked. Ricardo López Ortiz did a sequence in one issue of this book and it was amazing, he does great action and his style really fits Tim. Please don’t read this book.

[Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing with comic books: Good art can distract you from bad writing. But the art here is absolutely not my style, so I had a really hard time getting through the story even if I liked some elements. I loved seeing Tim happy, I liked the coming-of-age angle, him figuring out who he is outside of Batmans shadow. Didn't care too much about the riddle, just not into the Sherlock Holmes style. Also really? We are still sticking with sloppy secret identities loved ones can't figure out?

[Nicholas Palmieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

People have found a lot to hate about this run, but to me it fits right in with the Robin runs of the 2000s: new quirky location with a colorful supporting cast, mysteries that tie into Tim figuring out who he is, uniquely stylized art. Sure, some of the writing choices can be convoluted, but it's no worse than any other modern superhero book. This is more or less exactly what I want from a modern Tim Drake series.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esse quadrinho de Tim Drake dá continuidade a sua descoberta como bissexual que atiçou o ódio dos reacionários. Ele explora o relacionamento de Tim Drake, o terceiro Robin, com seu affair Bernard, mas não somente isso. A trama traz um assassino que começa a matar vizinho de Tim na Marina de Gotham City. Auxiliado por Pardal, Drake percebe que esses assasinatos tem a ver com histórias famosas de detetive. O roteiro de Meghan Fitztmartin é legal e espertinho, mas parece não casar com a arte de Riley Rossmo, que gosto muito de seu estilo estilizado. Os dois fazem algumas gags visuais e de narrativa que são bem legais. Mas algo parece dar a impressão que o quadrinho, apesar de simpático, tem informações demais. Outra coisa que aconteceu é que a Panini Comics Brasil lançou a série num momento cronológico muito posterior ao que está sendo praticado na revista mensal do Batman. Não que a Panini se importe muito com isso, mas acredito que os leitores que consomem os quadrinhos que ela publica se importam.

[Books Over People · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 5. Art 2. Alternate cover of issue 2, 10 million

[rima · Rating 4 out of 5]

tim drake everybody, the literal embodiment of “if you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em”

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not the best planned series I’ve ever read and the plot wasn’t great BUT!!! I still enjoyed reading it!

However…the art style? I’m glad they switched styles after #6 because the art absolutely ruined this series for me. It made these first 6 almost impossible to read through it was so bad. Tim Drake deserved better than to be drawn that way 🤦🏼

[Blanka Németh · Rating 1 out of 5]

i wanted to send my first ever death threat to the writer after how much they butchered him

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh. I really wanted to like this, because I love Tim so much. But it was cursed from the start with Rossmo, whose art I hate more every minute. Add in Sparrow, lying to the new boyfriend (cuz that worked out so much with Steph??), and the obnoxiously stupid new villain, and I can just barely offer 2.5 stars. Tim deserves so much better than this.

[Viki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tim Drake tries to his new independent life, away from his family and from the middle of Gotham. He moves to The Marina, rents a boat (yes, he lives on a boat now), and tries to figure out who he is and what he wants when he is not The Friend, The Brother, The Protege, The Son.
All this effort gets jeopardized when people start to get murdered, and Tim has a hard time putting the clues together.

This is the best spoiler-free summary I can muster up, and from this point I will be less spoiler-free so please don't read this review further if you don't want to know anything about this run.

I was very excited to read a Tim Drake solo run again and I have to be honest, DC Comics did its absolute best to make this title almost unenjoyable.

The worst part is probably the art style. I know someone worked hard on this, I know every art style is different and unique, but this style doesn't work for me, at all. It threw me off constantly, and while this isn't the most important aspect of reading a comic book that features Tim, I can't believe an artist managed to make Tim look this ugly. He is supposed to be the pretty Robin!!

When a comic has a not exactly enjoyable art style, I usually try to focus on the other parts, but this was an almost impossible challenge with this book.
I liked the parts that focused on Tim trying to figure his life out, trying to determine what exactly he needs and wants, and how he should lead his life on a vastly different path than before; I liked his moments with Bernard, and how Bernard is so unapologetically supportive of Tim, even when he knows Tim is not one hundred percent honest with him.
What I didn't like is the unnecessarily over-the-top "main" storyline. I realize the general part of readers expects writers to always come up with something new and something more grandiose than before, but I'm honestly really tired of these overcomplicated storylines. These six issues have been so much more enjoyable if the "main" storyline wasn't about a Joker-wanna-be villain out of the goddamn nowhere who can create living and talking clay people and who had a convenient crush on Tim/Robin. Or it would have been a more ordinary stalker with the same motive, but without melting clay people and huge golden monsters out of light and absolutely unfollowable detective story hints. It was just too much, especially for six issues. And I was more interested to see Tim settling in his new home, building his relationship with Bernard, getting to know new people, maybe helping the people in the Marina to fight against eviction. Literally anything else but this.

Not everything has to be so goddamn elaborate to be enjoyable, and I kind of feel like DC Comics is starting to forget its roots.

What still got me through this volume is the good characterizations and some nice interactions between characters (e.g. Tim asking for help from Stephanie and Cass; or Tim's thoughts on the other Robins).

Writing: ★★
Characters: ★★★★
Art: ★
Coloring: ★★
Lettering: ★★★
Entertainment value: ★★

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Tim Drake ~ he's my favorite DC character! Which is why I am so disappointed by this run so far. Most of the time, this just didn't feel like Tim. The moments where he felt like the character I knew and loved were few and far between.

Beyond that, there are 3 other big issues.

1) The art. Not only do I personally dislike it, but I feel like it's a style ill suited for a detective comic. There were a bunch of page compositions I enjoyed, especially involving clue breakdowns, but the style it was drawn it made it lose a lot of seriousness.

2) Timber. I think giving Tim a relationship with a civilian makes a lot of sense for where he is in his character journey. Tim is currently trying to figure out who he is beyond Robin; civilian connections help explore this more and ground him in the Tim Drake part of his life. But his relationship with Bernard feels very bland. And this was an issue from their romantic relationship's start (also written by Fitzmartin iirc). There's still time to build chemistry between them, but right now I can't fathom why they want to date each other. I will give props to making Bernard a conspiracy theorist again! It felt like Bernard lost his personality between the end of New Earth and the beginning of his reappearance, but he certainly has something going on in that department now.
I want to love timber, I really do. But right now DC is giving me nothing and the fandom is carrying the whole ship on its shoulders.

3) The villain. I enjoy the apparitions - they're very cool! The first few create a great sense of intrigue. But the more of them there are, the more it becomes same old same old. There is only so much you can do with someone whose schtick is copying other stories. He has passed homeage and landed firmly in plagarism.
I cannot wait to see Tim punch him in the face again.

My main gripe with this run is that I firmly believe that superhero comics work best when they are character-focused. And Fitzmartin's version of these characters is very watered down. For pete's sake, Tim didn't even have a personality in the first issue. He was just there. His whole personality in the second issue was being a ball of insecurity. Throw in the out-of-character "I wanted to be Batman" and I am left yearning for new writer. There is a wealth of depth to these characters and I hope Fitzmartin, or whoever the next writer is, starts digging.

[Crow · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this so badly. The idea of leaning into a more detective approach for Tim is a great idea, but so terribly executed - the writer should maybe read some more mysteries and figure out the genre before trying to write it. It seems like the writer doesn't understand Tim as a character either, as he acted very ooc for the entirety of this. It's also incredibly unfunny, a shame since I've always found Tim to be a pretty funny character.

I'm glad this story didn't erase Tim being bi, but all the bs about being an outcast was so out of nowhere and undeserved when his family seems accepting of him entirely (he's not even the only queer person in his family). He was just a whiny asshole in these comics, something I've noticed this writer tends to do with characters for some reason (like in the god-awful Dark Crisis: Young Justice where every character is the worst person to ever exist). As a young queer person myself who should be the target audience for stuff like this, I can tell you this is definitely not what I want.

I wish I could say I'd give this author another chance, but between this and Dark Crisis: Young Justice, I think this is one of the writers I blacklist for myself. I read the more recent summer Superman special, and while the story this writer did wasn't bad, it was also mostly unmemorable. So yeah, unfortunately I don't recommend this writer. I only came to read this as I'm enjoying the Matt Fraction run and heard Bernard would be in it, so I assumed some of this might be required reading, but this was just a waste of time.

...I'm also not really a fan of the art style. The artist is clearly talented and I feel bad saying this when it's just personal taste, but yeah... not a big fan.

[Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

rossmo's art was interesting, it was cool in some parts but also weirdly proportioned in some parts. why does bernard look like a woman in 80% of the panels.
the story is not too bad, but it doesn't present any particularly interesting characterisation, or drive tims character forward (which he really needs after the mess of n52 then kind of getting shoved to the side in favour of damian).
i have a hatred for bernard, i find him thoroughly uninteresting and any character he had in the 90s run has been thrown out so he can be a generic and nice boyfriend. their relationship falls into the category queer of having zero conflict and progressing easily and quickly in order to be "good representation". there's absolutely nothing interesting about it!! put some drama in there!!! also the issue illustrated by serg acuna made me throw up in my mouth a little it was just kind of cringe. the letter necklace was weird and kind of 2000s yaoi. i don't hate tim being bisexual i think it makes sense (lots of subtext in lots of runs really) but it's very clear his entire relationship was written by a (presumably) straight female millennial. and also kind of weird.
i am a bit disappointed about it's cancellation, i think it could've gotten more interesting, and it seems like now there's some uncertainty in tim's future in the dcu which i think is a shame.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tim strikes out on his own, with a new boyfriend, a new place to live, and a new mystery to solve.

It's a shame it's all kind of bland. I like that Meghan Fitzmartin approaches this like any other Robin story, rather than 'the queer Robin story'. Bernard plays a good role in the proceedings, but we've had the whole 'Tim comes out story' (although the Pride Special is collected here as well, I think I've got that thing like 3 times now) and this is the next step in the journey, rather than just rehashing the past.

The detective story is decent, if a little overwrought, relying on literary references that I expect most people reading the book won't get, and it definitely feels like a story that only Tim could be the main character for, which is a difficult thing to do. But it's just kind of...okay, and I can't really say why.

The art doesn't help matters. I've said before that Riley Rossmo isn't really suited for superheroic stories, and yet DC don't listen to me (no idea why). He draws all six issues here (with some help from Ricardo Lopez Ortiz in issue 5), for better or worse.

Not really what I wanted from a new Tim series. It's not bad, it's not great, it's just kind of okay, which is almost more disappointing.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

As others have said in their reviews - you can have bad writing if you have fantastic art, or mediocre art if you've got great writing, but when bad writing and unappealing art come together, you end up with something tedious.

Art is subjective so there's probably someone out there who liked it, but it certainly wasn't for me. The style fit a children's book, not a serious comic. There were points I couldn't tell what emotion a character was saying dialogue with because the expression didn't fit the words. Writing wise, this was a mess. The mystery wasn't anything worth puzzling, and all of the themes of self discovery felt shallow. I liked Bernard a lot in Urban Legends, and was excited to pick this up and see more of him and Tim together, but what we got was a cliche and well worn story about a superhero and their civilian partner who doesn't know they're a superhero. It was a boring story decades ago, and this comic didn't add anything fresh.

Now onto the good - the DC pride comic in the beginning was adorable, and I loved it. I got this comic from the library, but if I see the pride issue anywhere I'll be buying it for my shelf. The second star is exclusively for that story.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Let me start this entire review by saying a few things:
1) The art style in this bad. Tim looks between the ages of 12 and 17, depending on the page, instead of the confident and strong early 20s he's supposed to be.
2) Tim's confidence and leadership seems to be missing here and overprotective of his relationship seems to have taken it's place.
3) If you doubt the first two points, take a look at how Tim is portrayed on the variant covers and tell me the Tim you see there is the same in the issues themselves.

The plot is alright. Tim now lives on a houseboat in a marina and interacts regularly with his other houseboat neighbors, and spends a lot of time with his boyfriend Bernard, who does NOT know he is Robin (though how could you not!). A new villain does crimes and leaves clues that reference classic mystery stories. Given his stronger nature as a detective, Tim figures them out and it leads to a showdown with the villain, now calling himself Moriarty. Classic comic ending.... villain escapes and Tim settles Sparrow (from the We Are Robin days) into his sidekick.

Overall, not bad, but the art threw me off. I hope the next Volume is better.

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a Robin series about 'finding yourself'

...something that Tim Drake has been trying to do for close to 20 yrs.
---------
The single most negative thing I can hold against this book is the art. It's...gooey(?) Thank goodness that the villain is a shapeshifter, because everybody in this book look like they are partially squeezed tubes of toothpaste. You should be able to differentiate the characters when scenes change. I shouldn't have to find context clues on the page to see if Robin is talking to Bernard or Sparrow.

Tim is supposed to be the smart one, the analytical one, the one Barbara goes to for computer tech ideas. This series STARTED to ground him again and showcase his detective skills, but the art isn't doing them any favors. It's distracting.
===========
Bonus: No gripes about Tim's sexuality. They just need to make it feel organic...and they're trying?
Bonus Bonus: Is Damian the last Bat-family member in Gotham proper? Everybody else is in the burbs.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Після довгої відсутності Тім повернувся, і він стикається з таємницею, яка ось-ось стане близькою і особистою. Він прагне почати все заново, віддаляючись від родини і хаосу Ґотема. Тім переїжджає до пристані, де оселяється на човні, щоб знайти себе. Новий лиходій, який переслідував Тіма здалеку, тепер націлився на його близьких, включаючи Бернарда, його хлопця. Із загостренням ситуації все погіршується для нього.

Заплутана розповідь без чіткого сюжету, яка тяжіє до детективу аля Шерлок Голмс. Фіцмартін намагається передати свої ідеї розвитку Тіма Дрейка. Але це все зазнає невдачі через поганий сценарій, не цікаві діалоги і байдужість до персонажів.

Коли комікс має не цікавий сюжет, я зазвичай намагаюся зосередитися на малюнку. Але мені не до вподоби стиль Россмо. Тому взагалі біда, бо навіть ця частина не врятувала цей комікс. Далі не буду читати.

[R E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story arc is interesting but the art is so poor it takes away from the narrative.

While the book starts with gorgeous art by Belén Ortega, it quickly (and sickly) turns hideous when Riley Rossmo takes over the art. Suddenly everything is a nigh boundary-less squiggle, Tim Drake has a paunchy middle, and Bernard is walking on pointed stilts (stilettos?) for legs. Heads and faces are like balls of clay where one side has been smooshed down with a thumb to form a ridiculous chin. It’s like a Salvador Dali free-for-all without the skill Dali actually had. Making matters worse, most pages are either a drab or uninspired monochrome - although we get a strong composition with complimentary colors nicely balanced at location 46. Otherwise? Huge mistake on DC’s part.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m gonna be generous and give this 4/5 stars, as I’m a big Tim Drake fan and love where they’ve taken his character. That said, overall, I’ve expected more from this (and the Tim Drake Pride Special, which this is a continuation of). The Tim/Bernard relationship is just really boring, and it’s been spinning its wheels for like two years now. This book was alright, but could have been much better. The middle issues were surprisingly the most strong, imo. I know the art here isn’t very popular, and while I don’t hate the style, I do agree that I think it’s been misplaced in this specific story. I’d like to see a change in artist going forward and the writer take some big steps.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof, this was awful. The story grew more and more incoherent as it went along. I like the idea of Gotham's marina being a hipster / LGBTQ+ area of Gotham. That was about the only thing I liked though. Rossmo's art is so bad. It's not just the out of proportion body parts though where Robin looks like a balloon being blown up in some panels. The panels don't flow at all. I had no idea what was happening in any of the action sequences. It looked like random, unconnected panels regurgitated onto a page. Even the covers and fill in art by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz are horrendous. The only thing this comic is good for is to be put on a roll in the bathroom and used to wipe with.

[Scarlette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the story line of choosing mysteries from famous books and authors and having Tim Drake solve them one by one. The reader does not need to have read these books to understand the comic. I also really appreciated the way the story arc shows Tim forging his own destiny within the perameters of Robin after Damian Wayne inherites the title.
The only reason I gave this comic a 4 star review over a 5 star is because I am unsure on the art style within this book. I would have loved to see the whole comic drawn by Belen Ortega who created the first 'special' issue. However the main artist did not massively detract from the comic in my opinion.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Unfortunately, I was let down by this one. It's been a while since I've read a Bat-family story, so I had pretty high expectations. In the end, though, I was left with a feeling of "meh", regarding both the art and the story.

I liked the premise of the story--Robin having to solve mysteries inspired by actual mystery stories, such as Sherlock Holmes and The Murders in the Rue Morgue--but it just didn't quite land for me. I felt that the story was confusing at times, disjointed, and generic. I wasn't thrilled. As for the art--I didn't like it. It just wasn't my thing.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of Tim Drake solving single-issue mysteries connected to famous detective stories like Murder in the Rue Morgue, all with Riley Rossmo's kinetic art? Should have been a winner, ended up stumbling into a disappointing crash because the writing just didn't feel solid enough, with tons of new supporting characters and only a couple with personalities (and those were dull, just more thorough than the others). Listing out clues and then solving mysteries should have been fun, but the solution rarely needed or even used the clues. Not good.

[Pietro Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Note to self: borrowed from the library)

A very clever story launching the Tim Drake incarnation of Robin into his own series. An unknown villain is terrorising Gotham Narina area using ideas from famous detective novels.

Robin confidently wades through the clues and we get to know more about his life and love. 

The drawings are not to my taste, it's all high-level with little depth. But the story itself is well worth reading. 8/10 (and it would’ve been higher if the drawings were to my tastes.)

Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.

[cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

read all 10 issues. man i audibly cheered when the artstyle changed. look, the first half's art was amazing in its own right but why did tim and bernard have to look about 10 years old? it was so distracting to me. i found myself enjoying this more when the characters looked their age. as for the actual story? i don't understand the hate. i view this as a coming of age type of novel, it had fun mystery aspects that were right up tim's alley (and while bernard is a boring love interest to me, i didn't mind him in this). overall, it was ight

[Almendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 y siento que estoy siendo generosa.
Le tenia mucha ganas a esta historia, los robins son mis personajes favoritos de DC y tenia muchas ganas de leer una historia de Tim en solitario (ya que no tiene las suficientes) pero termino siendo una desilusión.
La historia se sintió hueca, caricaturesca y lo peor de todo es que fue aburrida, tanto el misterio como el villano fueron insulsos y se sintio que estaba ahí solo para contar la historia de amor con Bernard
En fin, leere el segundo para no dejar esto a medias