Robin: A Hero Reborn tells the story of the third young man to become Batman's crime-fighting partner.

This particular volume collects a whopping eight issues, three from D.C.'s Batman series and the rest from the first Robin miniseries, all published within 1990-91. What is refreshing about Tim Drake is that his intelligence and maturity make him the most interesting character to fill that role.

Writers Alan Grant and Chuck Dixon pull out all the stops, both doing some of the best writing of their careers. Now, while the previous statement could be considered mere opinion, what has to be admitted as fact is that they established a strong character that continues to enjoy success and solid fan support in his own series to this day. That doesn't happen without strong characterization. Drake was mature and confident beyond his years, without being brash or foolhardy. Yet, he still struggled with the feeling that he was not ready -- unprepared for this new stage of his life. It's a very real part of growing up, no matter what the next "big decision" may be.

Artists Norm Breyfogle (Batman) and Tom Lyle (Robin) have extremely different styles. Breyfogle's work is more angular, and more emotionally evocative, with an almost surreal quality; he does fantastic nightmare sequences. Lyle's art is a tad more solid, or based in realism. Though slightly more subdued than Breyfogle's work, it still lends itself very well to the action sequences inherent to this story.

Another great selling point of this book is the low price: $4.95 for almost 200 pages of great reading.

Robin: A Hero Reborn is recommended for all readers. In fact, try giving it to a junior high school student in your family, like I did. It took months to get it back from my 14-year-old niece. Who says kids don't want to read comics?

by Mark Allen
Rambles.NET
4 February 2006