Robin III Part 13: Batman: Bride of the Demon (1990)

Tim’s education expands beyond Gotham as he helps fight a classic villain with global ambitions.

I have this issue.

Bruce takes Tim to a lecture by Dr. Brant Carmody about global warming and its effects on the environment. Afterwards, he meets Carmody’s son, (Brant Jr.) and they hit it off…until Tim sees the Bat-Signal overhead. He follows Bruce back to the limousine, and listens as Alfred is told to take Tim back to the manor. Tim asks to go along with Batman, but agrees to stay with Alfred.

Later, Tim radios Batman and asks how he could help. Batman describes the riddle the police needed him for, but Tim can’t solve it.

The next time we see him, the Batcave is under attack. Tim sneaks in and causes a distraction by using the Giant Penny to knock down as many intruders as possible. Batman swoops in and grabs him before the Penny falls over, but the Bat-line is cut and Tim lands hard. He’s grabbed by one of the bad guys, and learns that the man behind the invasion is Ra’s al Ghul. He listens as Batman agrees to be knocked unconscious, watches it happen, and sees Batman dragged away. Tim is then brought outside along with Alfred, and Ra’s tells them both that their lives are spared as a reward to their loyalty to Batman. The villains return to the plane and take off.

Hours later, Tim is in the Batcave with Alfred as the plane – and Batman – return.

Notes of Interest:

1) This is the first time Tim meets Ra’s al Ghul.

2) The riddle Tim can’t solve involves a special hand of poker – the Dead Man’s Hand.

WTF? Moment: So…Ra’s al Ghul is the third of Batman’s older foes Tim faces. I like that. There’s a sense of family between Bruce and Ra’s - and this story deals with that – and having Tim in the mix makes sense. But…

WTF? Moment #2: …the writing here is downright terrible. Just god-awful. Here’s an example: Tim is training to be Robin. He knows that Bruce has been called via the Bat-signal. He also knows that Bruce explicitly told him to stay with Alfred. So why in God’s name would he a) use the radio to ask…once again…if he could help, and b) almost call him Bruce over the radio? Tim is way smarter than that.

WTF? Moment #3: Tim mentions that he knew what cards made up the Dead Man’s Hand but couldn’t make the connection with the condition of the dead body Batman was called in on - showing that as smart as Tim is, he’s still new to thinking like a detective.

WTF? Moment #4: I put this Graphic Novel here in Tim’s chronology because he mentions Penguin by name in the past tense – meaning he’d already faced Penguin prior to this story.