Red Robin #14 – Review

By Fabian Nicieza (writer), Marcus To (penciller), Ray McCarthy (inker), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: The Hit List, Part II: I think the core of this book is nicely summed up in this quote by Red Robin: “I’ve always forgiven him because he was raised in a vat of chemicals and taught to be a homicidal maniac. I’ve always held back for Bruce or Dick, but as stupid as it sounds, if this idiot is ever going to respect me, I’m going to have to kick his ass!”

What’s Good: Tim Wayne, the former boy wonder, the man with the plan, has a slap-down with our favorite psychotic, ninja-trained, ten-year-old sidekick. Fabian Nicieza has written an awesome book about two brothers: the middle one and the youngest. Nicieza exploits the dynamic of the dead father and the absent eldest brother to create an issue where these two very different brothers must deal with each other. This is not to say that this will lead to a happy ending (Cain and Abel anyone?), but Nicieza gets to the root of both characters, especially Damian in a way I’d never expected. I’d never seen Damian as particularly sympathetic or vulnerable (Bad-ass…Yes. Do I want him on my side of any fight? Yes. Do I want him over for supper? Hell, no!), but Nicieza succeeded in doing that. And Tim’s patented monologues, always engaging, continue to give us a great window into Tim’s world.