Robin III Part 48: The Demon #23 (May, 1992)

Tim comes face to face with a monster…and a Demon.

I have this issue.

Tim’s on the job keeping an eye on a petty thief named Pretty Boy Froyd who had some kind of deal going down – when Froyd ‘s attacked by what looks like a werewolf. He knocks the beast to the ground, thinking it’s someone in a costume, but as the fight continues, Tim realizes the beast is real. At one point, the creature stares into Tim’s eyes causing a burning sensation. The hero manages to fire a bat-line, but gets yanked out of harm’s way by The Demon.

As Etrigan and the beast fight, Tim discovers that his communicator is broken - so he can’t call Batman, but he returns the favor by throwing a line around the beast. Unfortunately, he can’t secure the line quickly enough and gets pulled off the building. Etrigan catches him, and the beast escapes into the sewers.

While they regroup, members of the GCPD show up and threaten to open fire on Etrigan. Tim calls them off, saying that he helped the Boy Wonder fight the real monster, and as the duo follows the beast into the sewers Etrigan tells Tim the history of the Howler – the beast’s name. Tim also learns that the stare he was feeling was an attempt by the creature to pass itself onto a new host – Robin. The search, however, proves futile. The Beast is long gone.

Back on the surface, Tim bids Etrigan goodbye to meet up with Batman.

Notes of Interest:

1) This is the first time Tim meets Etrigan.

WTF? Moment: As they prepare to fire on The Demon, one of the police officers calls Tim “kid”. Not “Robin”, not “Boy Wonder”...but “kid”. This takes place in Gotham right?

WTF? Moment #2: Let me get this straight – Tim took time in the Batcave to create an integrated map of Gotham’s underground tunnels and sewer system back in Batman #471 right? I’m not saying he should have memorized it, but couldn’t Tim have programmed it into his suit (or mask for that matter) so he could at least look at it while tracking the Howler? Granted – that may not have helped see which direction the creature went, but it may have helped the detective deduce the Howler’s final destination. Just sayin’…