Robin Son Of Batman #7

We had a good tie in and ONE good issue of this Robin War event in We Are Robin #7. A six part event where only a single part has been enjoyable isn't a good sign for a story. Fawkes does the dialogue for this and since he did part 3 (Detective Comics) that doesn't feel like a good sign either.

SPOILERS AHEAD


Riko is among the group although Duke didn't see her in the cages in part 4 which I assumed would be a plot detail. It's not. She's freaking out as she says the Court of Owls lullaby. Damian is screaming for everyone to fight clearly not getting that these untrained kids aren't as skilled as them (despite saying so--a lot--in part 4.) The WAR kids should not be able to take on assassins as deadly as Talons. Yet they manage to land some hits. I don't care if their helping each other that shouldn't be possible. Jason says they need to work together which shockingly Damian gives him credit for.

Two of the kids get thrown down onto one of the cages when Damian remembers the explosive drums that were in the room for no reason and still haven't been moved. Noctua starts to have doubts as she's forced to use the police force. The Owls claim this is all part of a global plan. Dick fights what I think is one Talon and three Court members (why? The point of the Talons is to do their dirty work.) He wants to know why this is all happening and the Talon agrees to tell him. Gotham Academy gets a shout out and the claim one of them was at the school. Despite Duke saving Damian he's gone three panels later with no one knowing where he went.

Riko takes them to Gotham Academy down a tunnel to try to trace it back to the Owls. Gordon shows up after following them and asks why they didn't tell him. Why would they after he threw them in prison? He calls in for back up and tells the kids to go. Dick goes to the man in charge who happens to be Lincoln March. Instead of wanting Dick to work for them the plan was to kill him. For some reason Damian becomes a Talon/Owl and works with the Talons to fight the Robins?


Overall: Any credibility build up with the Talons takes a serious dive when you have untrained and unskilled kids able to take them on. Last issue highlighted how out of their depths the WAR kids are. Now their battle undead killers that most characters in the bat books struggled with during NOTO. Everyone acts like the Talons are unthinking things when the real Robins--especially Jason who sympathized with one--would know their not. Jason, Tim and Damian should also be able to take three of them on by themselves. The WAR members shouldn't be able to land a hit.

Dick has been incredible arrogant throughout this and going into the Owls lair alone is unbelievable stupid on his part given what he knows about the Gray Son stuff. Why does it matter if Dick is dead if he's not in Gotham? You could say March is doing it to hurt Bruce but Bruce doesn't remember his kids. Why not go after Bruce? Why only focus on Dick instead of all the original Robins? It's not even addressed that March is supposed to be Bruces' brother which would make Damian his nephew.

Speaking of Damian how did he know where to go ahead of the others? Because he somehow managed to get to March before Dick did. Which means he couldn't use the maze and the tunnel under Gotham Academy was apparently the only way Tim and Jason figured they could go. What is Damians' plan? Yes he wants to save Dick but his whole arc in his title is redemption which makes it seem like he's just doing this to catch the Owls off guard. Which raises the question of why the Owls are dumb enough to let him do this. Granted they've been extremely stupid throughout this event. Also? I had to stop myself from laughing at him wearing a Owl mask.

The scene where they tell most of the kids to go home pissed me off. A girl asks them who they are to stop them from fighting? Uh their the real Robins you're all mimicking and supposedly honoring. Their opinions should matter. I also don't think Duke has any right to speak for the originals by saying they want the others to join when they have the skills. Jason promises their train them later and the kids that's aren't the main WAR cast accept this and leave. Wouldn't they be leery or trusting them after Dick screwed them all over? Do they know? Dick told Duke to explain it so maybe.

Lincoln March. I quit reading Batman Eternal after the first trade although I know he was the big bad. Maybe this was addressed there but I don't know why the Owls would let him back. He did get members killed and had his own agenda. What happened to Noctua? They over hear that she is "no longer" then March claims she'll be rewarded. The Owls make her call Gordon but he does his own thing so she has no control over him. No one is being subtle and this supposed global plan involving the Robins seems to be missing more than a few steps.


Did You Notice?: I was distracted in the panel Gordon says "fire in the hole" because it looks like a heart in the background. If you crop it the image would look like a odd Valentines Day card.


Questions Raised?: Shouldn't hearing that the nursery rhyme monsters are undead freak the WAR kids more?

Why would Jason dislike Damian for giving "combat advise"? He's always been amused by Damian except for the time he got his PTSD triggered.

Why not get Jasons' guns or a cops' guns and shot the Talons in the head?

Why did Jason use Damians' real name instead of his code name?

Why did Dick have to go into the labyrinth if the Court was looking for him?

Where the hell are the other hundred WAR members during the Talon fight? If they ran away from the Talons say so. It makes their claims that their fight even weaker.

Hatching? Elite Talon? Wasn't Cobb considered the best? Where is Cobb? This is all very stupid.


Say What?: "You guys call Robin stupid but he got it done!" I know this line was put in just to praise Damian but it annoyed me. Not just because one of the Talons along with Damian was flying through the air for no reason when they should have been on the ground the whole time. TIM assumed what Damian was doing was stupid because he knew it would be risky. If the explosion was done right Damian would have died instantly instead of get flung up in the air. His action also endangered the WAR kids and when Duke says this he's saving Damian from falling to his death! Also, remember one of the WAR members recently died from an explosion?