When Red Robin and his friends are trapped in the unknown world of the Unternet by the Calculator's fail-safe program, it's Batman and Robin to the rescue - but which Batman and Robin is it? Then, Red
Fabian Nicieza is a writer and editor who is best known as the co-creator of DEADPOOL and for his work on Marvel titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, and Robin.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
This was by far the weakest volume. Scoring it around a 2.5 out of 5.
The positives are mostly watching Tim grow and change here. The final issue really shows just how truly special the boy is. See Damien is vicious, Dick is courageous, Jason is insane, but tim is calculated. If he wanted, he can run with that and be a fierce villain. Thankfully he's not, because the bat family would have trouble.
I really enjoyed my time with Tim, learning about who he is, but this volume felt rushed and things were jumping all over. One issue Cass came to help Tim and then he went to help her, and they jumped around so much, it felt so disjointed, and lifeless. Same with the naked girl trying to get prego, way to rushed. The ending was good, the rest was okay. However, Volume 1-3 are very much worth reading.
the concepts are there, but the execution feels lackluster. red Robin was so supposed to be the next step and exciting new chapter of Tim Drake, and while hindsight might seem like a luxury, reading this book was not. critics were right when saying that DC fumbled Tim Drake, because all the potential was ripped away in amazingly sluggish fashion, this book didn't make the series go out with a bang, but rather, with a slow, boring drag.
Red Robin: 7 Days of Death picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting eight issues (Red Robin #18–21, 23–26) of the 2009 on-going series and Teen Titans #92. The trade paperback covers three storyline: "The Rabbit Hole", "7 Days of Death", and "What Goes Around" with a crossover tie-in to the Teen Titans story "On the Shoulders of Titans".
"The Rabbit Hole" is a three-issue storyline (Red Robin #18–19, 21) with Red Robin #20 serving as an interlude to Teen Titans #92. Tim Drake as Red Robin ventures into the Ünternet, which is a separate Internet hidden beneath the Internet that super-villains congregate. Red Robin attempts to take the super villain network down. Cameo appearance of Leonid Kovar as Red Star and introduces a new character named Promise.
"On the Shoulders of Titans" is a two-issue storyline that was started in Red Robin #20 and concluded in Teen Titans #92. After a scuffle with Catman, and a failed assassination attempt of Tam Fox, Red Robin reunites with the Teen Titans to track down the Calculator – the creator of the Ünternet. However, it is more difficult than it seems, as the Calculator has made many robot copies of himself and scatter them around the world. Cameo appearances include the Teen Titans and Damian Wayne as Robin, who was with the Teen Titans during that period.
"7 Days of Death" is a three-issue storyline (Red Robin #23–25) which has Tim Drake as Red Robin encountering a new threat in Black Spider and the Covenant of Ka. Also, there is an Assassination Tournament going on and Tim Drake is one of the targets, while doing his duties as a vigilante and member of Batman, Incorporated. However, to win the Assassination Tournament, he must go against the world’s deadliest assassin – Cassandra Cain.
"What Goes Around" is a one-issue story that has Tim Drake as Red Robin go against Mr. Freeze and a newly resurrected Captain Boomerang – his father's murderer. Tim Drake must resolve his feelings with wanting to return him back to the dead and get vengeance for his father's death, after making many wrong decisions – he finally made the right one in saving Captain Boomerang from plunging to his death.
With the exception of one issue (Teen Titans #92), which was written by J.T. Krul, Fabian Nicieza penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written rather well, it further makes the distinction of the difference as a vigilante between Tim Drake to the likes of Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne – making him into a distinct and valuable superhero.
Again, with the exception of one issue (Teen Titans #92), which was penciled by Georges Jeanty, Marcus To penciled the entire trade paperback. For the most part, their penciling style somewhat complements each other rather well, however Jeanty's penciling is rather distinctive to To's style so it was rather jarring – artistic wise when reading through.
Overall, Red Robin is a wonderful series – it solidifies Tim Drake as Red Robin as a superhero in his own rights with his own and distinct allies and rogue gallery. The new characters created seemed interesting and more importantly has longevity beyond a single issue or storyline, albeit within the same series. Sadly, it ended much too soon, as I think there would be more stories left to tell in the series, but the dreaded New 52 Reboot happened.
All in all, Red Robin: 7 Days of Death is a wonderful conclusion to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
The art was great and while the story did not raise the bar for Tim Drake stories like the first three volumes did for me I thought it was adequate. The only problems I had with this book came from DC comics end of the publishing. Because of the New 52 revamp, Red Robin loses his solo series and is moved to the Teen Titans revamp. That series is actually fairly great but the problem is that DC never bothered to really conclude Red Robin in a significant meaningful way. The result is this volume contains one full story arc regarding Red Robin's battle to stop Lex Luthor wannabe Viktor Mikalek from taking over the Ünternet, and a half developed but still well written story arc where Tim tries to stop an assassination tournament and takes on the Covenant of Ka (the scarab assassins)The last single issue in this compilation is the best written part of the book where Tim plans to get revenge on Captain Boomerang for the murder of his father.
The Good: Story is reasonably well written and Fabian Nicieza's art is clean and well drawn. The book continues to build upon Tim Drake's personal mythology. Everyone else is going to say this but: The Ünternet Red Robin costume is extremely awesome! Also worth noting is three panels in #25 where Red Robin imagines his future as a crime fighter.
The Bad: The story literally cuts off at a high point with only a "Thanks for reading!" caption in the single releases. This book feels like it would have been better split into two volumes instead of having three separate stories crammed into one volume. Some of the villains in this story were difficult to take seriously.
So that's how you get what started out as a very promising series cancelled. The idea for the story had potential but it was never realised. Also parts of it felt very juvenile with to many silly and unnecessary double entendre.
Maybe I am just to old for this book but parts of it made me cringe. The teen titans cross over although interesting, as It was my introduction to these characters, felt forced into the surrounding stories a bit. The rest just didn't live up to the previous volumes in the series.
The final single story issue was completely pointless.
All in all, a real shame that an otherwise very good comic series went out like this.
The story got loose in the volume. It didn’t have the flow the previous volumes did, or as unique a plot. There were still a lot of entertaining moments and I looked forward to every issue, but it also had a lot more flaws than the other volumes. Tim wasn’t exactly the same Tim he has been, and to be fair this is a story about him growing and changing (which he showed a lot of), but at times certain things were too uncharacteristic. His jokey conversation with Scarab for example, or how he handled a situation with Tam . The Assassin Tournament was cool in premise but resolved itself almost as fast as he it came, and I just felt like it could’ve been done better.
S/o to Marcus To for the art on the entire series. He was replaced for only one or two issues but was sorely missed. The art was consistently crisp and matched really well with the series. I’m not sure if I’ve seen any other books with his name, but it’ll catch my eye now, especially on a Batfamily title.
Overall this series was great, and I really hope it gets an omnibus, especially since all the trades are hard to find.
If anyone knows where Tim Drake’s story continues after this I would like to know in the comments!
The story here, in a macro sense, was even more of a mess than last volume. But each of the individual pieces were so much fun that I didn't really care. I love the direction Nicieza takes for Tim, "the man with a plan," each issue some intricate plan to take down an aspect of the criminal underground. His captions and the character interactions are still the highlight, as are Nicieza's wild ideas. I also like how hacking and technology are also at the forefront: the Unternet, a sort of "internet for villains" before the dark web was common knowledge, was a little prescient for the current state of the real-world internet, while also being a bizarre stream-of-consciousness journey.
The whole Red Robin series was a joy to read, and I'm really glad this was the way this version of Tim Drake ended things.
I never thought I'd be a fan of Tim Drake. Jason Todd being my favorite of the Robins when he became Red Hood, I wondered how Tim Drake would grow out of being Robin. However, I became intrigued, so for my birthday I bought all four volumes of Red Robin and started reading them in one sitting. I wanted to know where the story was going and how he would outsmart a few villains and prove that Bruce Wayne was in fact, still alive. Amazing! I recommend this to everyone and give Drake a chance!
This was a mess. Fabian Nicieza and DC editorial throw a handful of generic villains, some nonsensical story points, and incoherent plot connections together to form a disjointed, unenjoyable read. Tim is a terrific character and this is barely evident here as he blunders around the world. He treats Tam terribly, has terrible plans, and has lost the ability to make sense. Marcus To was still impeccable on art duties. Overall, the series ends and its an unfortunate ending to say the least.
This was all right with good artwork. The Unternet and Victor Mikalek are once again a focus for Red Robin. In the second part of the book Red Robin is investigating a tournament which targets wealthy CEOs.
This trade collects Red Robin issues #18-21 and 23-26, and Teen Titans issue #92.
Red Robin has a new target: a secret online net for villains that increases both their communication and power but may be benefitting someone else even more. His efforts to deal with this and yet more assassins bring excruciating choices and actions questions by even his closest allies.
Nicieza does an incredible job wrapping up the series given the constraints. The opening three part "Down the Rabbit Hole" (with two part "On the Shoulders of Titans" interlude) gives Tim a worthwhile new focus, reunites him with his former team against a classic foe, and foreshadows side effects of his choices.
The following three part titular story features the culmination of Red Robin's meddling in the affairs of various assassin groups with a tournament underway and clues towards a new(?) enemy secretly manipulating everything from the shadows. The effect of the impending cancelation to make way for the New 52 is felt as plot points and fights that normally could support the better part of an entire issue are reduced to single page summaries, but the main plot of this arc is allowed to develop naturally and the number of long running story elements and characters tied together here is amazing and much appreciated as the series winds down.
It ends with the moment Nicieza's been building to since his run started as Tim Drake goes after his father's killer. This story was obviously meant for more than a single issue, but is condensed well and remains true overarching purpose of the entire series unilluminating who Tim Drake has become and what he does when faced with impossible situations. The various opinions of other Bat-family members was pitch perfect and laid what would have been a great foundation for future stories.
While I'm disappointed DC's grand plan for their universe cut this wonderful comic short and that the various fascinating story threads being foreshadowed were doomed to "what if" status, the stories being told here were given satisfactory conclusions, the series never lost sight of its main focus, and 7 Days of Death is a suitable send off for this captivating incarnation of the Tim Drake character.
All things must pass. The same remains true for comics and in this case for Red Robin. Volume 4: 7 Days of Death marks the end of Tim Drake's solo title prior to the New 52. Unfortunately, it seems like this ends the series before it's time. Which is extra unfortunate considering how Tim was looked to be the next Batman but instead has lost most of his character development in the New 52 and barely even visits Gotham. But that's a rant for another day.
Tim finds himself facing off against Viktor Mikalek in the Unternet (supervillain internet) in this volume. While it's an interesting story that is boosted by some wonderful art, even Tim admits that Mikalek comes off as more of a Lex Luthor wannabe. Although I did enjoy the opportunity to see Tim's new best friend (aka the Old Anarky) help him fight within the Unternet.
One of the more interesting stories of this volume was about the assassination tournament that Tim quickly finds himself the target of. It's a great way for the story to take place outside of Gotham and was interesting overall.
The best story is the last issue of Volume 4, where Tim faces off against Captain Boomerang. Captain Boomerang of course being the individual that murdered Tim's father Jack, and then came back from the dead himself. It was the most well-written story and did a great job connecting to the larger mythology they built around Tim throughout the series. Seeing Tim choosing to decide whether or not he wants to murder Captain Boomerang makes for a fascinating story.
Overall, this isn't the strongest volume of the Red Robin run but it's still a great volume of comic book writing and art. Definitely consider giving this volume a read if given the opportunity. I'll be looking forward to seeing if the status quo changes (hopefully) with Tim being in Batman: Eternal this year.
Five for artwork, & three for story, so that rounds out nicely to a four. XD
Story wise, I had a little trouble figuring out what was going on. It seemed like little snips of story that were filled in elsewhere--not exactly new when it comes to comics, but it's still annoying.
On the bright side though, I did enjoy the stuff with Red Star in the beginning as well as seeing the Titans again & of course, Cass. Lots of good one-on-one stuff between the characters (Tim & Damian, surprisingly enough), and I enjoyed those moments quite a bit between the plot.
The artwork was amazing cover to cover. I love To's style to bits and pieces though. I'd buy the book just for the artwork alone. The panels are great, the poses are dynamic & the panel layout is superb. Lots of praise for it. :D
My only remaining comment? That Cricket kid was cute, even if he was only one page. I may need to find him in something else and read that. XD
Starts off promisingly enough, but rapidly degenerates into a huge mess. Clearly this was one of the many titles cut-off midstory for the advent of the New 52, but even that doesn't really excuse some of the sloppy storytelling. There are instances where Red Robin's narration directly contradicts things he is doing or saying. Every single "twist" is actually just a deus ex machina with absolutely no possible way to have happened. It's like Nicieza wrote each issue and then retconned everything the following month, which is just garbage. Even the slightest bit of story finesse could've made the twists work, but instead it's just "Oh, and then this hero we've never seen in this book before shows up and saves the day." The art is the only real redeeming aspect of this book.
Also, I'm now pretty much caught up on every pre-New 52 Batman title and it is astounding how bad most of them were! Not gonna miss them.
In this fourth installment, Tim travels to Russia to deal with a man named Mikalek, whom he believes to be involved in a society of villains. The story itself is rather complicated, so I won't even attempt to explain summarize it for you, but it's good. I will say however that Tim is still trying to figure out where he stands with Tam, and now the mysterious Lynx, who may or may not be an undercover cop. In Gotham Tim finds it strange to have not one, but two Batmen (both with very different personalities) keeping tabs on him, and with having to keep up the facade of being injured. In this volume we get to see not only the main Batfamily, but also see Red Star, Cassandra Cain, and the Teen Titans (YAY!). It's a great installment, the only thing that bothers me about it is that the ending scares me (in a good way that is meant to scare you). READ IT!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I enjoyed the Red Robin series overall (Tim Drake's a great character, the setup had potential, and Marcus To was great on art for the issues he drew) but this is a so-so ending for it. Unlike, say, the end of Bryan Q. Miller's run on Batgirl, this ending doesn't offer a good sense of closure--you're mostly left with a sense of how rushed this all was. I loved seeing Cass, Steph, and the Teen Titans in cameos, but I wanted more time with each of them (especially Cass). Marcus To's art is a great match for this character though, and you really miss it when you hit the issue that he didn't draw toward the middle of the collected trade.
Like most of the DC titles pre new 52, this story felt rushed, especially the Black Bat pages. I would have loved to have seen the whole Hong Kong adventure but instead we are given a single splash page that promises more that we know will never come in the New DCU (is there even a Cassandra Cain in the New DC?)
Red Robin audiences deserve more and the New Earth DCU deserved a better send off then a deadline driven pre-Flashpoint frenzy.