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Robin War #1-6
Robin War
In a Gotham City turned upside down, Robin has become more than a single hero—Robin is a movement. With Bruce Wayne sidelined and the Batman co-opted by the police, a legion of teens are putting on the yellow “R” and following in the footsteps of their crime-fighting icons.
But all it takes is one tragic accident for everything to go wrong. And when it does, the crackdown on the Robins is swift and merciless. Now, all of the original Boy Wonders—Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne—are back in Gotham, determined to save the kids who have taken up their legacy.
This Robin War is not as spontaneous as it seems. From their shadowy lair, Gotham’s oldest and most powerful secret society is manipulating all sides of the conflict—and not even those who trained for years with the World’s Greatest Detective can guess the true purpose behind the Court of Owls’ intricate plan.
Features the talents of Tom King (BATMAN), Ray Fawkes (BATMAN ETERNAL), Scott Lobdell (SUPERMAN), Khary Randolph (TEEN TITANS GO!), Mikel Janín (JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK), Steve Pugh (ANIMAL MAN) and many more!
Collects: Robin War #1-2, Robin: Son of Batman #7, Grayson #15, Detective Comics #47, We Are Robin #7, Gotham Academy #13, Red Hood/Arsenal #7 and Teen Titans #15.
But all it takes is one tragic accident for everything to go wrong. And when it does, the crackdown on the Robins is swift and merciless. Now, all of the original Boy Wonders—Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne—are back in Gotham, determined to save the kids who have taken up their legacy.
This Robin War is not as spontaneous as it seems. From their shadowy lair, Gotham’s oldest and most powerful secret society is manipulating all sides of the conflict—and not even those who trained for years with the World’s Greatest Detective can guess the true purpose behind the Court of Owls’ intricate plan.
Features the talents of Tom King (BATMAN), Ray Fawkes (BATMAN ETERNAL), Scott Lobdell (SUPERMAN), Khary Randolph (TEEN TITANS GO!), Mikel Janín (JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK), Steve Pugh (ANIMAL MAN) and many more!
Collects: Robin War #1-2, Robin: Son of Batman #7, Grayson #15, Detective Comics #47, We Are Robin #7, Gotham Academy #13, Red Hood/Arsenal #7 and Teen Titans #15.
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 19, 2016
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1206 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 155 reviews
August 23, 2025
(B) 73% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: Awful tired, uninspired, overcooked, too logic-light, its twist professed ain't worth the mess: a bicker-fest with fights.
*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Pages 7-94 ◦ Pages 95-140 ◦ Pages 141-250
Notes: Awful tired, uninspired, overcooked, too logic-light, its twist professed ain't worth the mess: a bicker-fest with fights.
*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Pages 7-94 ◦ Pages 95-140 ◦ Pages 141-250
November 1, 2021
This was really kind of a dumb idea. The Gotham city council outlaws Robins so anyone wearing red or yellow is arrested, of course using excessive force. Editorially, this was really poorly put together. The story didn't line up very well at all between issues. The art in at least half the issues was terrible, especially the Robin War issues. They look like they were drawn by amatuers. Really, the only reason to read this is so that the Rebirth issue of Nightwing makes sense.
June 9, 2016
IT HURTS SO GOOD. I'm a huge fan of the Bat Family, but I have a particular soft spot for the Robins - Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne. It's so great to see them all here together, even though I was constantly worrying over what would happen next. And then it ended like THAT (which I knew would be the case, but still), and now I need to know what happens next!
August 11, 2021
*Mild spoilers, read at your own discretion.*
Robins! Robins everywhere! SO. MANY. ROBINS.
This entire volume was so much fun to read because of the interactions between all the past Robins and Damian. Otherwise, the storyline was pretty much meh and only half made sense.
I want to say Damian was the absolute best Robin in this but that wouldn't be true. Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian all shone in this, including Duke Thomas. He was the only good addition from the We Are Robin team.
All this "You're not Robin. I'm Robin." was totally overused throughout all the issues but it's still an iconic line so I'll let it slide. But there were some super fun moments and exchanges between lots of different characters. Like That made me laugh.
Some of the action was a little hard to follow. Some of it seemed pointless. I didn't really understand why But the scene where was pretty epic. I definitely had a triumphant smile on my face at that point.
There were some genuine shocks in this whole volume though and some twists and turns I didn't expect so it wasn't all funny banter and your regular action. There were some heartfelt moments too, especially involving Dick and Damian's characters.
Favourite quote:
Duke Thomas: "Batman sacrificed everything he had. He sacrificed you. And you're doing the same damn thing."
Damian: "You don't know me."
Duke Thomas: "Kid, I don't think you know you."
Robins! Robins everywhere! SO. MANY. ROBINS.
This entire volume was so much fun to read because of the interactions between all the past Robins and Damian. Otherwise, the storyline was pretty much meh and only half made sense.
I want to say Damian was the absolute best Robin in this but that wouldn't be true. Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian all shone in this, including Duke Thomas. He was the only good addition from the We Are Robin team.
All this "You're not Robin. I'm Robin." was totally overused throughout all the issues but it's still an iconic line so I'll let it slide. But there were some super fun moments and exchanges between lots of different characters. Like That made me laugh.
Some of the action was a little hard to follow. Some of it seemed pointless. I didn't really understand why But the scene where was pretty epic. I definitely had a triumphant smile on my face at that point.
There were some genuine shocks in this whole volume though and some twists and turns I didn't expect so it wasn't all funny banter and your regular action. There were some heartfelt moments too, especially involving Dick and Damian's characters.
Favourite quote:
Duke Thomas: "Batman sacrificed everything he had. He sacrificed you. And you're doing the same damn thing."
Damian: "You don't know me."
Duke Thomas: "Kid, I don't think you know you."
March 10, 2021
I don't know. This could have been better.
So there's a bunch of kids, all calling themselves Robin and fighting crime. This is in addition to the usual Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, etc. (I don't remember the other one’s name, and don't feel like looking it up. I’d rather spend the energy typing this absurdly long parenthetical …) that we know and love. A liquor store robbery involving the intervention of a Robin goes wrong, resulting in two deaths, one of them a police officer. A new law is enacted banning Robin paraphernalia, and the GCPD begins arresting kids left and right. The city councilwoman behind the new law is doing all of this to secure a position with the Owl Court, and it's up to the actual Robins to save the day …
As always, the biggest drawback from doing a series involving crossovers between multiple titles is the number of creative teams involved. Good stories are rarely written by committee, and Robin War, sadly, is no exception. The strongest chapters of this were the ones that originally appeared as issues 1 and 2 of Robin War--the first and last chapters of the book. The one chapter from the Gotham Academy series was also fun, and made me want to read more of that series. It seems quirky and interesting, much more so than any of the other series crossed over in this book.
So many things happen in this book simply because the various writers decided that they had to happen that way. The GCPD starts mass arrests and incarceration of teenagers. In the real world, there would be all sorts of public outcry, likely on a national or even global scale. But there's nary a peep from the citizens of Gotham, no outraged parents rallying in the streets, nothing. And just how did the police department get that Cage thingy built so quickly anyway? That’s not something that just happens to be available. It was purpose built and required some serious cash. How did the funding get approved?
And, when the actual Robins offer to train the We-Are-Robin kids, how long does that take? Realistically, it should take weeks or months at least, but it seems to happen in a single evening in the book. I’m willing to suspend disbelief and all, but come on! Give at least a nod to plausibility …
There are moments where this book is fun, but overall it's pretty tedious and, really, just as campy in its own way as anything the 60's ever produced. Read at your own risk.
So there's a bunch of kids, all calling themselves Robin and fighting crime. This is in addition to the usual Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, etc. (I don't remember the other one’s name, and don't feel like looking it up. I’d rather spend the energy typing this absurdly long parenthetical …) that we know and love. A liquor store robbery involving the intervention of a Robin goes wrong, resulting in two deaths, one of them a police officer. A new law is enacted banning Robin paraphernalia, and the GCPD begins arresting kids left and right. The city councilwoman behind the new law is doing all of this to secure a position with the Owl Court, and it's up to the actual Robins to save the day …
As always, the biggest drawback from doing a series involving crossovers between multiple titles is the number of creative teams involved. Good stories are rarely written by committee, and Robin War, sadly, is no exception. The strongest chapters of this were the ones that originally appeared as issues 1 and 2 of Robin War--the first and last chapters of the book. The one chapter from the Gotham Academy series was also fun, and made me want to read more of that series. It seems quirky and interesting, much more so than any of the other series crossed over in this book.
So many things happen in this book simply because the various writers decided that they had to happen that way. The GCPD starts mass arrests and incarceration of teenagers. In the real world, there would be all sorts of public outcry, likely on a national or even global scale. But there's nary a peep from the citizens of Gotham, no outraged parents rallying in the streets, nothing. And just how did the police department get that Cage thingy built so quickly anyway? That’s not something that just happens to be available. It was purpose built and required some serious cash. How did the funding get approved?
And, when the actual Robins offer to train the We-Are-Robin kids, how long does that take? Realistically, it should take weeks or months at least, but it seems to happen in a single evening in the book. I’m willing to suspend disbelief and all, but come on! Give at least a nod to plausibility …
There are moments where this book is fun, but overall it's pretty tedious and, really, just as campy in its own way as anything the 60's ever produced. Read at your own risk.
January 14, 2019
Robin fans are everywhere and dressing up like so. The Court of Owls takes advantage of it, drawing all of the Robins into the fray. Damian gets the best lines.
OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus.
OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus.
September 25, 2021
Hmm... not sure I'm a fan of this 6-part (or 9-part, as the collection has 3 tie-ins) cross-over series. It was okay, but it had a few flaws that became obvious with time.
So, in multiversal chronology, we are late in the New 52 stretch of history. New 52 was the soft-reboot that rewrote DC history, such that the "now" of 2012-ish didn't have a past that stretched back to 1939, but only back maybe 5ive years. (But the retconns of the New 52 period will be corrected again in 2016-ish and "Rebirth".)
[Spoilers For Other DC New 52 Events Ahead/Behind...] So "right now", we seem to have lost Batman in the Joker's latest attack. Nightwing was publicly outed as Dick Grayson and killed months earlier. In Batman's absence, GCPD has substituted a guy in a robosuit, an almost-non-homocidal Damian Wayne travels the world as a solo Robin, Tim Drake (Robin-minus-1) is on the Teen Titans as Red Robin, Jason Todd (formerly-dead, Robin-minus-2) is worldwide villain-turned-outlaw-turned-mercenary-hero Red Hood, and the self-same Dick Grayson (original Robin and death-faked Nightwing) is an agent of Spyral, when he isn't running to secretly help Bat-Family partners in peril. Oh, and a street movement has been growing, the We Are Robin movement of Gotham teens rearing red and gold and fighting crime.
Everything comes together when a punk-rock Robin interrupts a convenience-store hold-up and a young cop interferes. Soon it is trained Robins vs. Amateur Robins, then Batman vs. Robins, then a pack of caged Robins. But is it really the GCPD holding them, or an even more sinister foe?
Two Robin War issues bookend crossovers among Grayson 15, Detective Comics 47, We Are Robin... 7, Robin: Son of Batman 7, Gotham Academy 13*, Red Hood/Arsenal 7*, & Teen Titans 15* (*indicates the loose tie-in stories).
Problems: conflicting chronologies means out -of-sequence events; some writers failed to do all the personalities justice; the finaldenouements climactic scenes are weakly held by logic and sense.
So, in multiversal chronology, we are late in the New 52 stretch of history. New 52 was the soft-reboot that rewrote DC history, such that the "now" of 2012-ish didn't have a past that stretched back to 1939, but only back maybe 5ive years. (But the retconns of the New 52 period will be corrected again in 2016-ish and "Rebirth".)
[Spoilers For Other DC New 52 Events Ahead/Behind...] So "right now", we seem to have lost Batman in the Joker's latest attack. Nightwing was publicly outed as Dick Grayson and killed months earlier. In Batman's absence, GCPD has substituted a guy in a robosuit, an almost-non-homocidal Damian Wayne travels the world as a solo Robin, Tim Drake (Robin-minus-1) is on the Teen Titans as Red Robin, Jason Todd (formerly-dead, Robin-minus-2) is worldwide villain-turned-outlaw-turned-mercenary-hero Red Hood, and the self-same Dick Grayson (original Robin and death-faked Nightwing) is an agent of Spyral, when he isn't running to secretly help Bat-Family partners in peril. Oh, and a street movement has been growing, the We Are Robin movement of Gotham teens rearing red and gold and fighting crime.
Everything comes together when a punk-rock Robin interrupts a convenience-store hold-up and a young cop interferes. Soon it is trained Robins vs. Amateur Robins, then Batman vs. Robins, then a pack of caged Robins. But is it really the GCPD holding them, or an even more sinister foe?
Two Robin War issues bookend crossovers among Grayson 15, Detective Comics 47, We Are Robin... 7, Robin: Son of Batman 7, Gotham Academy 13*, Red Hood/Arsenal 7*, & Teen Titans 15* (*indicates the loose tie-in stories).
Problems: conflicting chronologies means out -of-sequence events; some writers failed to do all the personalities justice; the final
March 2, 2019
Truly an abysmal piece of comics writing. Throughout my time reading New 52 titles, I've been met with a lot of steaming piles of trash, but this might truly be the steamiest. I read this only due to its crossover with Grayson (a title I'm thoroughly enjoying), and boy was it a slog. I genuinely think this is the worst New 52 book I've read yet, and that is really saying something.
Now, doing a crossover between every B- and C-list title in the Batman family of DC comics obviously doesn't sound super appealing. But this hunk of trash doesn't even try to make sense. It's basically about a horde of teenagers who have taken to the streets and all declared themselves a giant, collective "Robin:" fighting for the ideals of Batman in his stead. OK, fine. But this goes off the rails in a hurry. Plot threads are established and then abandoned instantly, there are crossover issues in here that don't have anything to do with the story at large, it's impossible to keep track of who anyone is outside of the main Robins we're all familiar with, and the Court of Owls' motivations are nonexistent. I mean, all they ever say is they want to capture a Robin, any Robin, for... some reason? What would that even do for them? If people are going to behave like maniacs, I need to know why.
One of this book's biggest problems lies in its characterizations of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. They are completely all over the place. They make huge, idiotic decisions throughout this book, none of which are ever explained or reckoned with. They just do something stupid offscreen, act like assholes, and then suddenly decide to not be assholes anymore apropos of nothing. If I didn't already appreciate the two of them from Grayson and Batman & Robin, respectively, this book would make me hate them.
And, I should note, there's a ton of continuity problems this book creates. Not that that matters a ton, but still. I'd like it if DC at least pretended like they were paying attention to the universe at large. For instance, the Court of Owls yet again sends 2000 murderers into the streets of Gotham dressed up like owls (this has happened a LOT in the New 52), and still, by the end of this, nobody in the world believes the Court of Owls exists. I mean, come on! For a secret society, these dudes are extremely visible.
And then there's Lincoln March, who readers may know from Batman vol. 2. He claims that he disappeared in the first place to hatch this huge conspiracy to, um, capture a Robin (the ultimate accomplishment of course). Only, we just saw him in Batman Eternal hatching a completely different massive conspiracy? I at least buy the one in Eternal because the ultimate goal there was to upend the power structures of Gotham City and regain control of its infrastructure. Here, again, his goal is to capture a Robin. Who. On earth. Cares. Also, just get a big net, you idiot!
Oh, and don't worry, this pile of garbage ends on a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger I have absolutely zero interest in ever reading more about, so I guess I'm just gonna be hanging on this cliff for the rest of my life. No big loss!
I'll just say it: don't read this. It's terrible, affects nothing in the greater Batman world, and will make you physically angry. I kept reading it being like "This can't possibly suck this bad, can it?" But I was proven wrong time and again. I hate it!
Now, doing a crossover between every B- and C-list title in the Batman family of DC comics obviously doesn't sound super appealing. But this hunk of trash doesn't even try to make sense. It's basically about a horde of teenagers who have taken to the streets and all declared themselves a giant, collective "Robin:" fighting for the ideals of Batman in his stead. OK, fine. But this goes off the rails in a hurry. Plot threads are established and then abandoned instantly, there are crossover issues in here that don't have anything to do with the story at large, it's impossible to keep track of who anyone is outside of the main Robins we're all familiar with, and the Court of Owls' motivations are nonexistent. I mean, all they ever say is they want to capture a Robin, any Robin, for... some reason? What would that even do for them? If people are going to behave like maniacs, I need to know why.
One of this book's biggest problems lies in its characterizations of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. They are completely all over the place. They make huge, idiotic decisions throughout this book, none of which are ever explained or reckoned with. They just do something stupid offscreen, act like assholes, and then suddenly decide to not be assholes anymore apropos of nothing. If I didn't already appreciate the two of them from Grayson and Batman & Robin, respectively, this book would make me hate them.
And, I should note, there's a ton of continuity problems this book creates. Not that that matters a ton, but still. I'd like it if DC at least pretended like they were paying attention to the universe at large. For instance, the Court of Owls yet again sends 2000 murderers into the streets of Gotham dressed up like owls (this has happened a LOT in the New 52), and still, by the end of this, nobody in the world believes the Court of Owls exists. I mean, come on! For a secret society, these dudes are extremely visible.
And then there's Lincoln March, who readers may know from Batman vol. 2. He claims that he disappeared in the first place to hatch this huge conspiracy to, um, capture a Robin (the ultimate accomplishment of course). Only, we just saw him in Batman Eternal hatching a completely different massive conspiracy? I at least buy the one in Eternal because the ultimate goal there was to upend the power structures of Gotham City and regain control of its infrastructure. Here, again, his goal is to capture a Robin. Who. On earth. Cares. Also, just get a big net, you idiot!
Oh, and don't worry, this pile of garbage ends on a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger I have absolutely zero interest in ever reading more about, so I guess I'm just gonna be hanging on this cliff for the rest of my life. No big loss!
I'll just say it: don't read this. It's terrible, affects nothing in the greater Batman world, and will make you physically angry. I kept reading it being like "This can't possibly suck this bad, can it?" But I was proven wrong time and again. I hate it!
March 5, 2023
I liked Duke journey and a couple of bat brothers' scenes, but this was a mess.
June 15, 2019
I actually enjoyed quite a bit of this.
As far as events go, this was only contained in the Gotham centered books and it worked pretty well. They managed to stick some politics in there with the police brutality angle. For a book based in Gotham, that was an element I actually think they handled pretty well. These kids want to do their part and "be Robin" but mistakes happen (orchestrated by the Court of Owls) and now they're being hunted. While I really didn't care for the Talon stuff in Grayson and Batman, I think it was used sparingly enough in this arc.
I really liked the Robin Retirement Club coming together to help the kids. That was cool to see! I loved seeing how the different batkids explained what Robin means to them. I really liked seeing their different training techniques.
I loved having Duke's point of view again. I really like that kid and I think he's different enough from the other batkids to be a true member of the family: he's grounded. He doesn't like heights, he sees beyond everyone's bullshit and gets at the heart of what they do what they do and, in the end, the family respects him for that. It's fitting that he's the only "We Are Robin" kid to really stick around into Rebirth (as much as I hate his codename). I think he's the most grounded member of the Batfamily and I love him for that. Even Damian came around to liking him!
Anyway, I actually liked this and if you like Robins and the message that "anyone can wear the mask", you might like this book.
As far as events go, this was only contained in the Gotham centered books and it worked pretty well. They managed to stick some politics in there with the police brutality angle. For a book based in Gotham, that was an element I actually think they handled pretty well. These kids want to do their part and "be Robin" but mistakes happen (orchestrated by the Court of Owls) and now they're being hunted. While I really didn't care for the Talon stuff in Grayson and Batman, I think it was used sparingly enough in this arc.
I really liked the Robin Retirement Club coming together to help the kids. That was cool to see! I loved seeing how the different batkids explained what Robin means to them. I really liked seeing their different training techniques.
I loved having Duke's point of view again. I really like that kid and I think he's different enough from the other batkids to be a true member of the family: he's grounded. He doesn't like heights, he sees beyond everyone's bullshit and gets at the heart of what they do what they do and, in the end, the family respects him for that. It's fitting that he's the only "We Are Robin" kid to really stick around into Rebirth (as much as I hate his codename). I think he's the most grounded member of the Batfamily and I love him for that. Even Damian came around to liking him!
Anyway, I actually liked this and if you like Robins and the message that "anyone can wear the mask", you might like this book.
March 4, 2018
We Are Robin was a fantastic debut series that had a pretty nice premise to kick things off. Robin War, a major crossover event that affected at least 4 on-going DC comic series and loosely impacted 3 others (tie-ins), also started things off with an interesting idea. However, the idea itself was far from enough to keep this event stable, coherent and worthwhile. But, what exactly is this idea I speak of? It's the sudden and very controversial Robin law, of course! While this gives the story multiple angles to tackle and various ways to deliver an interesting story about juvenile vigilantism and what not, Robin War ended up being a messy collage. There fluidity between the main issues of this storyarc is almost inexistant, while the tie-ins barely had any real relevancy to the issue at hand. The villain in all this? Of course the cover tells it all. Did they succeed in portraying the Court as something powerful , mythical and memorable? Absolutely not. Robin War was messy, with poor dialogue in several issues (especially the 2 part Robin War issues to begin and end the event). But when I look back at it, piece by piece, I still found myself to enjoy some of the stories. The artwork varies A LOT throughout this series (it could look disastrous at times, and wonderful at other times), but hey! It's still nice to see a series with a bunch of Robins interact between each other!
P.S. Full review to come
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com
P.S. Full review to come
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com
January 8, 2017
5 stars
Good comic book. Nice to see all the Robins in one comic book. Wonder what Dick is going to do now that he is in the Court of Owls. Also wonder what is going to happen to the other Robins.
Can't wait to read We are Robin!!!!
Good comic book. Nice to see all the Robins in one comic book. Wonder what Dick is going to do now that he is in the Court of Owls. Also wonder what is going to happen to the other Robins.
Can't wait to read We are Robin!!!!
July 6, 2017
Don't know why I finished this, because from the start I already didn't like it that much...
Not worth reading imho..
didn't like the characters, the story, the artwork,... sorry, this was a dud.
Not worth reading imho..
didn't like the characters, the story, the artwork,... sorry, this was a dud.
June 24, 2016
¡Vaya final!
July 16, 2025
A little all over the place, but it was interesting and entertaining towards the end when it got its footing a little better. Wish I had known to read We Are Robin vols. 1-2 first, but I pretty much got the plot here.
July 18, 2024
This was kind of an insane time.
Absolutely loved how this brought all the Robins together. Nothing like seeing Bat-fam dynamics.
Absolutely loved how this brought all the Robins together. Nothing like seeing Bat-fam dynamics.
March 4, 2018
I said it in my review of The Vigilante Business: To me, the "We Are Robin" movement is everything Batman would hate. Untrained children on the streets facing criminals with guns.
And I really did hate how everyone kept going on and on about how they are Robin: "I am Robin", "We are Robin", and most of all how Duke Thomas says he is Robin & then isn't Robin multiple times throughout.
I actually liked how the volume started with the shooting in the bodega/market. It was a good tipping point, ruined by the revelation at the end .
I hate GordonBatman, I hate how Damian was supposed to be the annoying one here but was actually the one I identified with the most (uh, hello, he is right!), and I hate how I still don't know anything about Duke. Is he athletic or a good fighter? Smart? Good at computers? A good detective? All of the above? The more I read about him, the less I know about his character. He's just there. He shows up.
I didn't like "All's Fair in Love And Robin War" because I hated Arsenal and what-ever-her-name-is in the Joker mask (I've hated every Red Hood/Arsenal issue I've read so far.)
I did like the little chat Tim and Jason had about the situation, about having been an actual Robin, and their feelings. <3
(Jason: We're both outsiders in a family of outsiders. In order of service to Batman we were Robin numbers two and three. Respectively. Which means we'll spend our lives never being number one.)
And I agree with Jason again in "Robin War pt 2 The Originals".
Jason: "You can throw whatever you want at these kids, but none of them are going to be Robin. I mean, you can't have Robin without Bats. He picked us. He trained us. That's what makes us us."
I also like how each Robin shares what Batman said being a Robin is all about:
Dick -Family
Jason -Confidence
Tim -Investigation
Damian -Suffering
A+ writing there from Tom King.
Overall, I didn't like most of the issues in this volume. The Gotham Academy issue (#13) was a nothing with bad art. "Getting Dirty", Detective Comics #47, had terrible writing (the dialogue between Dick & Gordon was so stiff and jerky I read some of it three times to make sure, just in case I was reading it wrong), and the Teen Titans issue (#15) was also a waste of space.
Also, who would ever guess that Councilwoman Nocturna was working with the Owls?! What a surprising twist for a conveniently named character -not.
Tim's acrobatic feat in Robin War pt 4 was awesome! Rarely do I ever compliment the art of an action scene, but that was just cool. And Jason's zing that "Dick could probably have done it in less time." made me lol.
(Am I becoming a Jason fan??!!)
Ok, now to the Owls. I didn't like the Court of Owls storyline in Batman, and I dislike it again here.
Why are they obsessed with Dick? They need him because he was going to be the next child acrobat Talon? Who cares?
Anyway, they'll settle for Damian until they can get Dick.
Issues I have with this being a Court of Owls story:
1. Who cares?
2. How are there more Talons? I thought Batman put them on ice... Oh! These are the berserker Talons from the ground that you didn't know existed before. Oh, ok.
3. How are all the Robins not murdered by Talons with weapons in Robin War pt 6? It literally makes no sense that dozens of untrained and unarmed teenagers could hold their own against trained Talons, even if they're not the skilled assassin types.
The story ends with Duke declaring (again) that they're not Robins ("We're not Robin"), Duke going out to a movie with Damian, and Dick .
2.5 stars.
And I really did hate how everyone kept going on and on about how they are Robin: "I am Robin", "We are Robin", and most of all how Duke Thomas says he is Robin & then isn't Robin multiple times throughout.
I actually liked how the volume started with the shooting in the bodega/market. It was a good tipping point, ruined by the revelation at the end .
I hate GordonBatman, I hate how Damian was supposed to be the annoying one here but was actually the one I identified with the most (uh, hello, he is right!), and I hate how I still don't know anything about Duke. Is he athletic or a good fighter? Smart? Good at computers? A good detective? All of the above? The more I read about him, the less I know about his character. He's just there. He shows up.
I didn't like "All's Fair in Love And Robin War" because I hated Arsenal and what-ever-her-name-is in the Joker mask (I've hated every Red Hood/Arsenal issue I've read so far.)
I did like the little chat Tim and Jason had about the situation, about having been an actual Robin, and their feelings. <3
(Jason: We're both outsiders in a family of outsiders. In order of service to Batman we were Robin numbers two and three. Respectively. Which means we'll spend our lives never being number one.)
And I agree with Jason again in "Robin War pt 2 The Originals".
Jason: "You can throw whatever you want at these kids, but none of them are going to be Robin. I mean, you can't have Robin without Bats. He picked us. He trained us. That's what makes us us."
I also like how each Robin shares what Batman said being a Robin is all about:
Dick -Family
Jason -Confidence
Tim -Investigation
Damian -Suffering
A+ writing there from Tom King.
Overall, I didn't like most of the issues in this volume. The Gotham Academy issue (#13) was a nothing with bad art. "Getting Dirty", Detective Comics #47, had terrible writing (the dialogue between Dick & Gordon was so stiff and jerky I read some of it three times to make sure, just in case I was reading it wrong), and the Teen Titans issue (#15) was also a waste of space.
Also, who would ever guess that Councilwoman Nocturna was working with the Owls?! What a surprising twist for a conveniently named character -not.
Tim's acrobatic feat in Robin War pt 4 was awesome! Rarely do I ever compliment the art of an action scene, but that was just cool. And Jason's zing that "Dick could probably have done it in less time." made me lol.
(Am I becoming a Jason fan??!!)
Ok, now to the Owls. I didn't like the Court of Owls storyline in Batman, and I dislike it again here.
Why are they obsessed with Dick? They need him because he was going to be the next child acrobat Talon? Who cares?
Anyway, they'll settle for Damian until they can get Dick.
Issues I have with this being a Court of Owls story:
1. Who cares?
2. How are there more Talons? I thought Batman put them on ice... Oh! These are the berserker Talons from the ground that you didn't know existed before. Oh, ok.
3. How are all the Robins not murdered by Talons with weapons in Robin War pt 6? It literally makes no sense that dozens of untrained and unarmed teenagers could hold their own against trained Talons, even if they're not the skilled assassin types.
The story ends with Duke declaring (again) that they're not Robins ("We're not Robin"), Duke going out to a movie with Damian, and Dick .
2.5 stars.
July 13, 2020
After reading King's terrible Batman run, it was a relief to see him write these books in a manner that was not aggravating, pretentious and repetitive. People spoke like actual characters here, not like people with brain damage (ok, except the one kid who keeps repeating "I'm not Robin.")
But this event just didn't quite grab me. I'm not familiar with Gotham Academy, and I've read and disliked We Are Robin, so a lot of this fell flat to me. There's an interesting idea here, a bunch of kids being vigilantes are in some sort of war with the police and with other villains. But I kept wondering who's side we are supposed to be on. The cops in Gotham rightfully don't want a bunch of teenagers carrying out vigilante justice and the cops are right to be concerned after someone is murdered. Whether the murder was a setup or not, the cops here are still right to want to keep these kids safe and keep people safe from them.
So it felt strange to be told by so many characters how wrong the cops were all the time. Some of the dynamics between the original Robins (Dick, Tim, Jason, Damian) was interesting. There are some very entertaining moments with them in this. But overall this felt kind of unfocused and once the real villains entered the picture, I was pretty checked out rather than excited to see how it will end.
But this event just didn't quite grab me. I'm not familiar with Gotham Academy, and I've read and disliked We Are Robin, so a lot of this fell flat to me. There's an interesting idea here, a bunch of kids being vigilantes are in some sort of war with the police and with other villains. But I kept wondering who's side we are supposed to be on. The cops in Gotham rightfully don't want a bunch of teenagers carrying out vigilante justice and the cops are right to be concerned after someone is murdered. Whether the murder was a setup or not, the cops here are still right to want to keep these kids safe and keep people safe from them.
So it felt strange to be told by so many characters how wrong the cops were all the time. Some of the dynamics between the original Robins (Dick, Tim, Jason, Damian) was interesting. There are some very entertaining moments with them in this. But overall this felt kind of unfocused and once the real villains entered the picture, I was pretty checked out rather than excited to see how it will end.
June 4, 2016
The gang of "We Are Robin" joins our 4 living Robins' (Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin) to combat the rise of the Court of Owls and their Talons'. We really see some great teamwork here, and I love the idea of the Robins' teaching these new vigilante Robins' about it means to live up to the title of "Robin". Would have loved to see Barbara (Batgirl) and Kate (Batwoman) get in on the action, but keeping it "all Robin" worked.
Two issues with this crossover title: 1) I feel like I am missing something. I've been keeping up with Bat-title releases, but I might have missed why the Owls have chosen to show themselves again, or is this really all coming about from the death of Batman and the start of his replacement? and 2) Sometimes knowing current single issue events from the comic world spoils the emotional impact of the graphic novel title I am reading. Point being... the very last scene in this Volume should have been shocking, but I have been trying to keep up on DC Rebirth, so it just didn't get to me like it should have.
Overall good. A few misses with some of the art, but the story was cohesive and well put together.
Recommend.
Two issues with this crossover title: 1) I feel like I am missing something. I've been keeping up with Bat-title releases, but I might have missed why the Owls have chosen to show themselves again, or is this really all coming about from the death of Batman and the start of his replacement? and 2) Sometimes knowing current single issue events from the comic world spoils the emotional impact of the graphic novel title I am reading. Point being... the very last scene in this Volume should have been shocking, but I have been trying to keep up on DC Rebirth, so it just didn't get to me like it should have.
Overall good. A few misses with some of the art, but the story was cohesive and well put together.
Recommend.
January 24, 2016
You know, this was pretty damn good considering. I think my biggest complaint is that it was spread out over too many ongoing titles. The arc itself is only 8 or so issues, but it's spread out over several Batman centered titles. Fortunately, I read all the Batman/Robin etc titles so reading this story line wasn't too much extra work. It would be a problem for someone who only reads one or two titles regularly.
The art was the strongest aspect. It was consistently wonderful to look at. The story was good too; I'm excited to see where they take it now that the whole story has been resolved. It's going to create interesting changes for Grayson. I also loved seeing all the Bat boys back together again. The sass was strong. We got to see a little more character growth for the main Robin group in We Are Robin!. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Everything was resolved but left enough room for the individual stories to pick up and run with the aftermath of this arc, and I'm optimistic given how surprising this was.
The art was the strongest aspect. It was consistently wonderful to look at. The story was good too; I'm excited to see where they take it now that the whole story has been resolved. It's going to create interesting changes for Grayson. I also loved seeing all the Bat boys back together again. The sass was strong. We got to see a little more character growth for the main Robin group in We Are Robin!. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Everything was resolved but left enough room for the individual stories to pick up and run with the aftermath of this arc, and I'm optimistic given how surprising this was.
July 5, 2023
Not bad but I'm not sure where thing go from here. Basically a movement has started among teenagers where they are forming "Robin Gangs" to fight crime, but as you can expect a bunch of untrained teenagers don't make the best crimefighters. At the same time the city council is being influenced by the Court of Owls who have a sinister plan that actually comes to fruition at the end of the volume, but I'm sure things aren't what they seem.
If you like the various Robins (Damian, Red Hood, Red Robin, Grayson) this book is right up your alley as you should enjoy it. The art is inconsistent but generally good, and the story is a little dense but just interesting enough to keep things moving along.
If you like the various Robins (Damian, Red Hood, Red Robin, Grayson) this book is right up your alley as you should enjoy it. The art is inconsistent but generally good, and the story is a little dense but just interesting enough to keep things moving along.
July 5, 2021
Very interesting time frame. I especially enjoyed the dynamics between the four robins (and Duke). I’ve been wanted to learn more about Duke’s origin before he joined the bat family and this was very interesting. Again, the court of owls are an excellent villain in this story and Damian’s character development was a high light (especially his growing friendship with Duke).
April 3, 2017
Color me surprised. This was entirely better than I expected it to be. It's far from perfect but it's a good time with some strong character moments. And anything that uses Dick Grayson prominently (and well) gets brownie points, too.
November 1, 2025
I really struggled with what to rate this comic. I really liked some things, mostly to do with Duke, but found a lot of it either boring or stupid. Ultimately I settled on two stars by comparing it to another comic I’ve read and rated, Batman and Robin Eternal. That comic also had varying levels of good to me but was a more coherent story (mostly), so the Robin War comic goes below it.
The basic plot of this story is there are a bunch of Gotham kids that are dressing up like Robin to try and do some good, the city is against that so they make it illegal, and then the resulting fallout of that. Not an inherently terrible plot, but executed rather poorly.
Its main stumbling block I believe is that it’s one rather large story that is spread across a little over half a dozen comic runs, writers, and artists. It loses a lot of cohesion and story momentum because of this. The art style is not consistent at all (and sometime downright ugly), the characters talk about stuff repeatedly because they’re catching readers of a separate comic up on the basics of events from a different comic that they may not have read, and sometimes the story goes BACKWARDS so we can go see what some random characters off on the side were doing during the events that we already covered.
Duke is one of the only things I liked in this story. He’s still fairly new to the universe at this point so this is the first time the Robins have met him, and he’s got interesting interactions with Dick and Damian both. He actually doesn’t even really talk to Tim or Jason, which is a shame, but I’m not too broken up about it.
This story takes him from fairly confidently leading his group of aspiring crime fighting kids, to holding his own in debates with Dick and Damian (and showing off deductive skills by figuring out both of their secret identities), to realizing how in over their heads the Robin gang kids were and seemingly walking away from them. I’m looking forward to seeing where his story goes next, and how he ends up becoming a superhero proper after realizing a bit of what it takes.
There was a bit of good stuff for the OG Robins, my favorite being a specific moment between Tim and Jason. The both of them plus Damian and all the Robin kids are in jail (after Dick turned them in “for their own safety” 🙄), and Tim and Jason are told they have to fight to the death with each other or the kids in the Robin gang are gonna get killed. The boys go at each other convincingly enough that Duke, who is watching this happen from above along with the rest of the Robin gang in various cages, is worried they actually are trying to kill each other. During the fight they get themselves in a position for Jason to launch Tim up into the air, and after he does so Tim grabs onto the hands of the various Robin gang members and uses them to propel himself higher up, ending at the top of the room where the switch to release the cages is. It was a cool sequence, and if they ever adapt this storyline into animation I hope they do this scene justice.
Out of the multiple comics the story sprawls across, three are only tie in comics; Arsenal, Teen Titans, and Gotham Academy. Gotham Academy is the only one that I’d say even actually ties into the Robin War arc at all, it features a location, events, and some characters that are all actually relevant to the story. The other two tie ins basically just mention that the Robin War is happening somewhere else but don’t do anything else relevant to the story. This is super jarring if you’re reading the collection of the Robin War comics and don’t realize that these two stories are basically their own thing.
The Teen Titans one was okay, I don’t really read any Teen Titans comics but I watched the animated show so I was familiar with some of the characters, even if the designs were different. It may not have had anything to do with the Robin War but it was nice to see Beast Boy get whumped.
The Arsenal tie in on the other hand did absolutely nothing for me. It didn’t have anything to do with the Robin War, I didn’t know the main character Arsenal, and found the ‘Joker’s daughter’ really annoying. Plus it ended on a cliffhanger of the two of them getting dragged away by lava zombies or something? If they expect me to go read another Arsenal comic to find out what happened I’m not doing that.
The ending of Robin War was kinda dumb and almost anticlimactic. The Court of Owls are behind the war happening in the first place and activate their super secret berserker Talons (might not be their actual name) to raise the city to the ground because they have failed to recrute Dick Grayson to their cause, so Damian decides to join them to stop them from killing everyone, and then after debating with Duke he joins the good guys again, only for Dick to be talked into joining the Owls to keep Damian safe from the nanobombs that were put into Damian when he joined the Owls.
The last page of this story is Dick being dramatically revealed with the owl mask on, clearly leading into a different story that’s supposed to wrap that up. It’s totally unsatisfying, and leaves the reader (or me at least) feeling like they were just reading a super long set up for a comic they weren’t looking to read.
The basic plot of this story is there are a bunch of Gotham kids that are dressing up like Robin to try and do some good, the city is against that so they make it illegal, and then the resulting fallout of that. Not an inherently terrible plot, but executed rather poorly.
Its main stumbling block I believe is that it’s one rather large story that is spread across a little over half a dozen comic runs, writers, and artists. It loses a lot of cohesion and story momentum because of this. The art style is not consistent at all (and sometime downright ugly), the characters talk about stuff repeatedly because they’re catching readers of a separate comic up on the basics of events from a different comic that they may not have read, and sometimes the story goes BACKWARDS so we can go see what some random characters off on the side were doing during the events that we already covered.
Duke is one of the only things I liked in this story. He’s still fairly new to the universe at this point so this is the first time the Robins have met him, and he’s got interesting interactions with Dick and Damian both. He actually doesn’t even really talk to Tim or Jason, which is a shame, but I’m not too broken up about it.
This story takes him from fairly confidently leading his group of aspiring crime fighting kids, to holding his own in debates with Dick and Damian (and showing off deductive skills by figuring out both of their secret identities), to realizing how in over their heads the Robin gang kids were and seemingly walking away from them. I’m looking forward to seeing where his story goes next, and how he ends up becoming a superhero proper after realizing a bit of what it takes.
There was a bit of good stuff for the OG Robins, my favorite being a specific moment between Tim and Jason. The both of them plus Damian and all the Robin kids are in jail (after Dick turned them in “for their own safety” 🙄), and Tim and Jason are told they have to fight to the death with each other or the kids in the Robin gang are gonna get killed. The boys go at each other convincingly enough that Duke, who is watching this happen from above along with the rest of the Robin gang in various cages, is worried they actually are trying to kill each other. During the fight they get themselves in a position for Jason to launch Tim up into the air, and after he does so Tim grabs onto the hands of the various Robin gang members and uses them to propel himself higher up, ending at the top of the room where the switch to release the cages is. It was a cool sequence, and if they ever adapt this storyline into animation I hope they do this scene justice.
Out of the multiple comics the story sprawls across, three are only tie in comics; Arsenal, Teen Titans, and Gotham Academy. Gotham Academy is the only one that I’d say even actually ties into the Robin War arc at all, it features a location, events, and some characters that are all actually relevant to the story. The other two tie ins basically just mention that the Robin War is happening somewhere else but don’t do anything else relevant to the story. This is super jarring if you’re reading the collection of the Robin War comics and don’t realize that these two stories are basically their own thing.
The Teen Titans one was okay, I don’t really read any Teen Titans comics but I watched the animated show so I was familiar with some of the characters, even if the designs were different. It may not have had anything to do with the Robin War but it was nice to see Beast Boy get whumped.
The Arsenal tie in on the other hand did absolutely nothing for me. It didn’t have anything to do with the Robin War, I didn’t know the main character Arsenal, and found the ‘Joker’s daughter’ really annoying. Plus it ended on a cliffhanger of the two of them getting dragged away by lava zombies or something? If they expect me to go read another Arsenal comic to find out what happened I’m not doing that.
The ending of Robin War was kinda dumb and almost anticlimactic. The Court of Owls are behind the war happening in the first place and activate their super secret berserker Talons (might not be their actual name) to raise the city to the ground because they have failed to recrute Dick Grayson to their cause, so Damian decides to join them to stop them from killing everyone, and then after debating with Duke he joins the good guys again, only for Dick to be talked into joining the Owls to keep Damian safe from the nanobombs that were put into Damian when he joined the Owls.
The last page of this story is Dick being dramatically revealed with the owl mask on, clearly leading into a different story that’s supposed to wrap that up. It’s totally unsatisfying, and leaves the reader (or me at least) feeling like they were just reading a super long set up for a comic they weren’t looking to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2023
Gostei de poucos momentos dessa trama, sendo eles: interação entre Damian, Jason, Tim e Dick (apesar do Dick ter sido acabado pela DC nessa fase); Mais da origem do Duck Thomas e a relação que pode ser pensada entre a significância da imagem/símbolo do Robin para com as crianças e a população de Gotham.
Nesse sentido, me lembrou um pouco Cavaleiro das Trevas, no que tange a participação da imprensa em emitir opiniões adversas sobre os Robins, tornando-os ilegais e com uma visão deturpada diante a sociedade.
No geral, a história da Guerra dos Robins foi ok, não teve nada demais, porém foi interessante ver a narrativa. Levando em consideração tudo que foi construído ao longo dos Novos 52, com a corte da Coruja, faz sentido, mas no geral de histórias do Batman, não me agradou.
Faço a avaliação com a perspectiva dos novos 52, e por isso das 3 estrelas, no geral, eu daria 2.
Nesse sentido, me lembrou um pouco Cavaleiro das Trevas, no que tange a participação da imprensa em emitir opiniões adversas sobre os Robins, tornando-os ilegais e com uma visão deturpada diante a sociedade.
No geral, a história da Guerra dos Robins foi ok, não teve nada demais, porém foi interessante ver a narrativa. Levando em consideração tudo que foi construído ao longo dos Novos 52, com a corte da Coruja, faz sentido, mas no geral de histórias do Batman, não me agradou.
Faço a avaliação com a perspectiva dos novos 52, e por isso das 3 estrelas, no geral, eu daria 2.
May 29, 2023
Tom King's scripts are a little more interesting, with a hint of social context in the dialogue, but this is just a big long fight scene. This ending that must have continued in the Grayson title rather than resolving here. Good mashup of characters, but poor resolution. The Court of Owls strikes me as the Snyder Batman utility villain society like HYDRA is for Marvel and SHIELD: your mileage may vary.
It is good to see stories where sidekick Duke originates, like this. Batman Family is big crowd here... and in this New 52 sequence, Batman is a young Jim Gordon, with a good scene with Grayson.
Thanks for the loan to Fulton County Public Library.
It is good to see stories where sidekick Duke originates, like this. Batman Family is big crowd here... and in this New 52 sequence, Batman is a young Jim Gordon, with a good scene with Grayson.
Thanks for the loan to Fulton County Public Library.
August 1, 2020
Pretty good event. I always love the owls
August 26, 2023
Highly recommend not to read this it sucks. It is uninteresting and a stupid plot from the very beginning.
August 29, 2025
Einfach nur chaotisch...
Nicht mal für große Fans der Robins zu empfehlen. Dick hat ein paar coole Momente, aber das wars...
Nicht mal für große Fans der Robins zu empfehlen. Dick hat ein paar coole Momente, aber das wars...
April 7, 2023
I'm not sure, I am a great Batman fan and maybe this spin off is a little far for me.
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