Some thoughts about Robin #1

Can Robin fight to the death to prove himself?

Damian is tired of his father's ways and is ready to face some fo the deadliest fighters in the world to find his own way but that could be one of his worst mistakes.

I admitedly wasn't looking forward to even more Batbooks after being constantly disappointed with the current direction of the line along with recent releases. However, I just couldn't say no to the always on-point Joshua Williamson and a new take on the Son of the Bat that most certainly just had a promising start.

Williamson follows the set-up he created during his backup stories in the Batman books that puts Damian in a new path where he has to face some of the deadliest warriors that have ever existed. As usual for Williamson, you can expect a lot of attention to continuity and there are certainly many references about classic DC fighters like Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger and even a few more obscure ones, it was cool to see Raptor once again with his fun personality.

The characterization seems sound with the writer creating a logical explanation for Damian to choose this new course in his life, particularly focusing on the death of Alfred along with all the recent events that have happened in the Batman universe. I must say that I much prefer this kind of character work than the one that, let's say, James Tynion IV has been doing all over Batman. Not to mention that there are a few fun details like Damian being a fan of Manga.

And I guess what most of us were excited about was the reintroduction of Connor Hawke, the son of Green Arrow, into current continuity and I must say I was expecting... more. Connor's name simply gets dropped into the story and appears in a little panel. For an event that seemed so important and hyped, I was hoping for a more impressive entrance. Then again, I trust Williamson to handle the character better than whatever the hell Ben Percy was planning on Green Arrow a few years ago (Speaking of which, Constantine Drakon also gets a cameo and will hopefully be better treated than how Percy did).

The story progresses at a fast pace with many exciting moments based on action scenes and a pretty surprising cliffhanger.

Gleb Melnikov's semi-cartoony artwork is perfect for the fluid fight segments and creates a good range of expressions for the characters.

Great beginning, can't wait for the next one.