Robin III Part 20: Batman #455 (October, 1990)

The “road to Robin” gets a little shorter as Tim reaches another milestone.

I have this issue in the Robin: A Hero Reborn Trade Paperback.

Tim is full of emotions, suffering from nightmares and fits of rage, as his mother is laid to rest. To cope, he helps Batman try to find a connection between various acts of violence caused by random people wearing skull masks. He argues with Bruce about wearing “the suit” and going into the night to find answers, but obeys Batman’s order to stay in the cave.

However, Tim also decides that the best way to prove to Batman that he’s ready is to show him…

Notes of Interest:

1) This is the first time Tim has seen Dick since the events of A Lonely Place of Dying.

WTF? Moment: The nightmare sequence is awesome. Tim accuses Dick and Bruce of being monsters, and rips off their masks to find…another set of masks – clearly indicating that they are their masks. But then he confronts a dream version of himself, and when it starts to take off its face he wakes up. I’m not 100% sure of that message, but I believe Tim thinks there’s a monster (or at least fears there might be a monster) hiding inside him.

WTF? Moment #2: I’ll call this a nit-pick. I love Norm Breyfogle’s art, but I have a hard time knowing who the narrator is when the funeral sequence starts. At first I think it’s Bruce, but it’s not until the fourth panel that I realize it’s Dick who’s talking. Both Bruce and Dick have blue eyes and black hair (so does Tim come to think of it…) and Breyfogle sets them apart by making Bruce roughly six inches taller and wearing a hat. Writer Alan Grant doesn’t help things because the monologue is kept vague. Dick doesn’t even mention Bruce by name until panel #4. A quibble I admit, but I get confused every time I read this issue. Was this intentional?

WTF? Moment #3: It may be wrong, but I love when Tim loses his cool. Every issue. Every time.