Author: dtm666

You all know that Robin’s being replaced. That’s common knowledge. If you don’t, one only needs to go here and find out.

At the risk of “spoiling” everything, I’m going to tell you that no, Robin doesn’t die. He quits. There you go; no need to buy this comic…

In all seriousness, however, the means of forcing Tim Drake to retire the Robin mantle is rather interesting, but the fact that no one has made an effort to hide what is to come doesn’t help the stock of this issue. I’m guessing the “retirement” of Tim Drake was the big consequence of last issue’s “unveiling”… and even though I haven’t read that last issue, I did read this issue. It peaked my interest even though I knew what was going to happen in a sense, so it worked on that level. The cover is rather bland and doesn’t really relate much to what’s in the issue, but it’s a good thing. The art in this issue is okay, but it really doesn’t do much for me. It’s not that it’s bad, but on the other hand, it’s really uninteresting and it doesn’t try to suck me into the story. Then again, that’s just me.

On the up side however, we’re getting a new Robin… again. And it’s a girl… again. This is the history of the Robin persona, a position that had been filled in by a young kid raised in a circus who had the nasty tendency of saying “Holy-this” and “Holy-that”, a snot-nosed kid whose rebellious nature got him killed by readers, and a “bland, whitebread kid” (thanks, Brian)… Whoever this new kid is (I know who, but I’m not going to “spoil” it for you) has some pretty small shoes to fill, but she should glad that she isn’t going to be wearing those god-awful pixie boots from the early days of the Robin legacy.

Under a different time, the 125th issue of Robin would have been a good book because it has the title character, through circumstances out of his control, forcibly step down from his career as a superhero. That alone would have been an unexpected move. But today, with DC’s own website and Previews basically spoiling the surprise by posting images of future issue covers, this comes off as nothing more than an average book with nothing to sell it on. Whether it’s worth the asking price is up to the customer (as with… everything), but I’d skip this one and wait for the next issue… which has the girl Robin debuting.

In a couple months’ time, there’s a new Spider-Man movie. So naturally, Marvel produced several story-arcs and mini-series that features a newly redesigned Doctor Octopus, who just so happens to be the main villain in the flick. That’s just fine and dandy, but this is Ultimate Spider-Man, where Humberto Ramos’ new Doc Ock (which kicks @$$ by the way) doesn’t make an appearance here, but rather the regular Doc Ock that’s indigenous of the Ultimate line of books. In any case, it’s the same intent.

If the fact that the latest arc in the Ultimate Spider-Man series pits the wall-crawler against Doc Ock isn’t a dead give away that this is another one of those oppurtunities to cash in on the hype of the upcoming Spider-Man movie sequel, then the disappointing plot element of an unauthorized movie being made on Spider-Man will. So Spider-Man gets upset that a movie company is producing a movie about him without his consent or input. Doc Ock gets upset that Spider-Man is getting a movie made about him. Gwen Stacy, still distraught over the recent death of her father due to stupidities in super-heroics, is upset because Spider-Man’s getting a movie. I get upset because the entire storyline revolves around the production of a movie, which is something that should have been a one-shot deal, not necessarily an entire story-arc that could have been good for something else.

I don’t follow the Ultimate Spider-Man series, so I don’t know what has happened before this issue and thus, I can’t really comment on the serial aspect of it. Then again, I really don’t care for serialization to begin with, so that’s a non-factor. The art in this issue is pretty good. Everything is pretty much laid out nicely and everything has a clean look to it. On the other hand, it’s nothing special and certainly nothing that I haven’t seen before.

Of all the Doc Ock-centric stories that are being shot out recently, I’d have to say that this one is a little weak, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad story. If you really need to go out and get something with ol’ Otto, I’d suggest you pick up the Countdown arc in the Spectacular Spider-Man series (or wait for the trade – it’s almost the same thing). You should only pick this up if you’re into Ultimate Spider-Man or don’t mind the “movie” plot, but if you’re somewhat interested in what the arc has to offer, there’s nothing stopping you.

For the uninformed, the strange looking comic series is based on  the latest DC cartoon series. Unlike the previous cartoons that came before it, which had some slick animation and presented  pretty good storylines, Teen Titans had anime-style animation and storylines that seemed way too kiddy. Perhaps you’re not supposed  to take it seriously, since it’s a team of kids, but the bunch of  kids that the series is based on were a tad more serious than what we have here. But we’re not here to look at the cartoon, we’re here to look at the comic.

Of all the issues I could have picked to review, I had to review  the one where the main plotline revolves around Raven getting a pimple. No, you’ve read right. And no, the cover of the issue is real. The whole story revolves around a pimple. This little pimple is the main villain of this story. Granted, it’s an interesting idea that is rarely thought of or implemented, but… oh good god, what am I saying? It’s a zit. For the majority of the book, the other Titans make fun of poor Raven’s zit, which reduces the issue to a poor man’s guide to zit jokes that are not only unfunny, but they really distract from the flow of the book, or lack thereof. The book tries to be humorous, but it doesn’t really work for me.

On a more positive note, the art is actually pretty good and it replicates the anime-style of the cartoon. I was a little reserved  about the show’s choice to forego the regular graphics and go with that form of animation, but on the comic, it works fine. I find it suits the printed format as opposed to the small screen. I could say more, but… it’s a zit.

There isn’t much else I can say about the comic. If you’re a fan of the cartoon and haven’t tried the comic, it doesn’t hurt to  give it a try. If you don’t mind a comic book where half of it contains poorly-executed zit jokes, this is for you. As for the rest of us, I’d take a pass.