Rating: ***

Another descent issue of Red Robin by writer Chris Yost.  I’m not blown away here, but I am enjoying this new journey that Tim Wayne is on right now.  Tim is alone.  He feels betrayed by Dick Grayson his “older brother” so to speak and the bastard son of the Batman family Damian has taken over his job as Robin.  As mentioned in the previous issue, Tim Wayne believes that his mentor and adopted father Bruce Wayne the original Batman is still alive and well and Tim has gone out into the world to search for clues as to his whereabouts.

He’s currently in Paris and finds himself fighting a group of assassins.  The assassins turn to be working for one of Batman’s deadliest enemies: Ra’s al Ghul.  Ra’s has an offer for Tim.  He agrees with and he also believes that Bruce Wayne is really alive and wants to help him.  How does Ra’s know Bruce is alive?  We don’t know.  Why does Ra’s want to help Tim?  We don’t know this one either, but I’m assuming Ra’s wants his revenge on Bruce and what better way to do it than use his son to get to him.

I’ve mentioned this before and I said that Tim seems to becoming more dark like his father Bruce.  When he’s fighting Ra’s’ assassins, he’s thinking about how he needs to work on his voice in the same way Bruce put on his “Batman” voice when he was fighting.  He’s also pushing people away in the same Bruce has done so in the past.  He deletes the messages of friends who are trying to contact him and he turns his back on Stephanie - the Spoiler who comes looking for him in this issue.

One of the more shocking moments for me in the issue came with some dialogue Tim says.  He says, “Red Robin isn’t a hero.  I can cross lines that Robin can’t.”  Now I don’t think this means that Tim will become a killer.  I think it means that he is leaving the Robin persona behind.  In some ways, that person is dead now; which is why I think he placed his old costume in a display tube similar to the way Bruce had Jason Todd’s costume on display when Jason was dead.  Tim is no longer a little kid anymore.  He isn’t the fun loving Robin character that most Robins have been in the past - the light to Batman’s darkness.  I think we also see that in the cover to this issue.

When I first saw the solicitations to issue #2, I thought that maybe DC was going to pull a fast one and have someone else be Red Robin and not Tim, but I think the cover was done to show that these two figures are almost two separate people now.  Tim is no longer Tim Drake: Robin, he is Tim Wayne: Red Robin.  He’s a man; his own man and to hell with everyone else.  I’m interested in seeing where we go from here with Tim.  It should be a very fascinating ride.  Although, Chris Yost is doing a decent job here with Red Robin, I would actually prefer to see another writer on this book in order to really flesh out some serious stories with this character ; some real character pieces. 

In the end of the issue, Tim does the unthinkable a contacts Ra’s and agrees to except his help in finding Bruce.  If you’re a fan of Tim Wayne, pick this up.  Tim is the best character to come out of DC in the past 20 years.  Here’s to many more!