Review: Red Robin #13

RED ROBIN #13
Written by Fabian Nicieza; art by Marcus To and Ray McCarthy.

This is the beginning of Fabian Nicieza's run on the title, so it does feel a bit like a transitional issue. But it's a very good transition, and I like the direction that Nicieza is heading in. This has been said a hundred times already, but Tim Drake is a character who has suffered a lot of abuse in resent years, and by the end of Robin and Battle for the Cowl, he was in a pretty dark and unhappy place. Chris Yost's run on Red Robin was all about bringing him back into a brighter place. I think he accomplished that very well, and now Nicieza is picking up where he left off and setting things up for the next chapter in Tim's life.

The book opens with a very cool scene showing teamwork between Tim, Dick and Damian. They work really well together, and I hope we get to see more of this trio in action before Bruce inevitably reclaims the Batman mantle. There's no guarantee, though, because by the end of the issue, Tim has crossed off a few items on his to-do list – "figure out what to do," "how to do it," and "who to do it against" – but one item that remains unchecked is "who to do it with." The majority of the issue is devoted to him figuring out and setting up the pieces for his master plan, but we don't know yet exactly what that plan is.

Marcus To's artwork is fabulous, and I hope he's going to stick around as the regular artist on the book. (Too many rotating art teams at DC.)

Overall, this is a very good issue.