Tim Drake: Robin #10 // Review
Tim is in a maze. It’s not like...a metaphor or anything. (Though it could be.) It’s real. He’s really in some kind of maze in a basement. He was looking for Batwoman, and then the darkness came. When he woke up, he found himself lost in a dark place inhabited by robot phantoms that lurked in the shadows. He’s got a lot of work to do just to survive in Tim Drake: Robin #10. Writer Meghan Fitzmartin concludes her mini-series with artist Nikola Cizmesija. Color bleeds out of the darkness courtesy of Lee Loughridge. Tim Drake pulls through the darkness once more in an interesting issue with a strong visual pull.
Tim Drake and Batwoman are trapped in the maze. They are being stalked by Chaos Monsters. Still...it could be worse, right? They’ve both gotten through worse in one way or another over the years. They WILL escape the maze. The only question is: can they do it and maintain their sanity? Meanwhile, Bernard and Pie run into each other at the Gotham Marina. They’re trying to make some sense of things. The Chaos Monsters got out the previous night, and Robin is nowhere to be found.
The story arc wraps up with nuanced drama that resonates through darkness and horror. Robin is a clever heroic figure stalking the shadows with a Batwoman who narrowly manages to come across as being a whole hell of a lot more interesting than him. The final push to resolution has a nice arc to it as Robin awakens in darkness and pushes forward to the climax of everything. It’s a nice feel for the final issue of the series. Characters around the edges of the ensemble aren’t given quite as much time as they might need to feel fully realized, but the story on the whole is quite engaging on a deeper level.
The scenes in the maze are a heavy, labyrinthine darkness that is very immersive and atmospheric. The green lines of the maze assert themselves from the black background as a wallpaper behind the action panels in the foreground, which cleverly locks in the feeling of being trapped on a visceral level. The visuals aren’t all darkness. Loughridge provides a beautiful sort of amber in the air at the Gotham Marina. Cizmesija gives the drama subtle pushes in various directions that all seem as though they have a far deeper meaning and connection to the overall plot.
The series makes its way to a smart and largely satisfying ending that completes a very strong overall plot structure by Fitzmartin. While her dialogue is also quite strong, it DOES lack a bit of personality to illuminate the darkness. Fitzmartin’s adventure is more than engaging enough to overcome a slight lack of personality on the part of the dialogue. And Cizmesija’s art has a straightforward elegance that makes for a really appealing visual presentation of an enjoyable story. The screenwriter/comic book writer has had a warm relationship with Robin in the recent past. It’s nice to see that continue.
