Red Robin #4 – Review

By Chris Yost (writer), Ramon Bachs (artist), Guy Major (colors and digital inks)

The Story: Yost and Bachs continue to shuttle us back and forth between Tim Wayne’s past and present. In the past, he’s not dealing with well-meaning friends, but the new Batman in Gotham. In the present, he’s not just dealing with the league of assassins; he’s dealing with their boss, Ra’s al Ghul, in Iraq, the cradle of civilization. And we get to see what Tim stole in that museum in Germany – and some of the puzzle pieces start to fall into place.

What’s Good: Tim Wayne is still on his own, kicking ass, taking names, looking for his dead, adoptive father. But he’s growing up bit-time. Only months ago, he was Robin, a young sidekick to the arch-nemesis of Ra’s al Ghul. Now, they’re on a first-name basis and Tim knows he’s holding a snake by the tail. The tension in this series is just great. You’ve got all the thrills of watching a hero on the run at the same time as he’s bitten off a whole lot more than he can chew. Yost works the past and present together very well, and in fact, every period is compelling. And the assassins are great. They’re excellent foes for Tim.

The art is getting even better. Don’t get me wrong. I loved Thibert’s inks, but Major’s digital inks give a very different look to Red Robin without changing the feel. In fact, some of the panels have a style a lot like what John Byrne’s art looked like when he was inking his own stuff. All in all, the art team is dead on.

What’s Not So Good: I have nothing really to ding this book on. Yost and Bachs and Major are delivering the goods.

Conclusion: Solid, solid story telling, month after month. I wish every comic was this good. If you’re not reading Red Robin, start now.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault

DMZ Volume 4: Friendly Fire (TPB) – Review

By Brian Wood (writer), Riccardo Burchielli, Nathan Fox, Viktor Kalvachev, Kristian Donaldson (art), Jeremy Cox (colors)

To sum things up, Friendly Fire is Brian Wood’s version of Rashomon. We have a horrific event taking place where hundreds of silent protestors in the DMZ are killed in a bloody massacre by US forces. And while it’s hard to tell who instigated the hostilities, there’s no way to deny the loss of life. It’s a PR nightmare for the United States, who intends to hold a tribunal against the soldiers caught in this mess. Because of his experience within the DMZ, Matty is tapped to investigate and report his own separate findings.

Most of this book follows Matty as he interviews a handful of soldiers, survivors, and even top brass regarding the events of the now infamous “Day 204”. With so many contradictory reports, it’s hard for him to draw his own conclusions. Eventually, he realizes that there’s no real winner to this outcome. The people within the DMZ want their own version of justice. If the soldiers involved are put to death, does it really quench the thirst for justice? Will it really change the outcome?

The questions (and answers) posed by Brian Wood are ones to be pondered. Reflecting many current events happening in the middle east, it’s hard not to distinguish the parallels this story draws. As much as I hate using the “social commentary” term, that’s exactly what this book is about, and it does it so well. The scary thing is, if continued down our current economic path, it’s very easy to see this country falling into the same trappings of the country portrayed in this book. Do yourself a favor and pick this trade up. It’s not the best DMZ story, but it’s one of the most profound. (Grade: A-)

– J. Montes