Rating: ***

I wasn’t thrilled that Damian Wayne would be replacing Tim Drake as Robin, but with that disappointment came the revelation that Tim was now the new Red Robin.  In my reviews of this series so far, I haven’t been all that thrilled with the writing or the artwork for this series.  The first two issues were okay, but the last issue was not very good and I began to think that maybe it was time to drop this title.  This month’s issue was able to prevent that decision from being made.  Writer Chris Yost has written a good issue - maybe the best in the series so far, but Ramon Bachs artwork is still weighing things down which prevents me from giving this book a better rating. 

Our story picks up with Tim in Iraq.  The members of the League of Assassins that we’ve seen in the previous issues are there waiting for him to assist him with his mission in locating Bruce Wayne.  It dawned on me in this issue that these three members of the League of Assassins don’t look like people Ra’s al Ghul would normally have in his League.  The lead member in this trio is a black man who fought against Tim and the other members of the Bat Family as a ninja when Ra’s was being resurrected.  Normally I picture Middle Eastern assassins with Ra’s, but at this point it doesn’t really matter.

The story jumps back and forth from the past to the present.  We see Tim in costume in Gotham City doubting his mission when Dick Grayson shows up to confront him.  Dick offers his assistance to Tim, but not to help look for Bruce, but instead to help Tim get over this notion that Bruce is alive.  The two eventually start fighting and Tim gets the best of Dick.  Not crazy about Tim getting over on Dick here.  Dick is supposed to be the new Batman.  He’s supposed to be a better fighter than Tim.  How can Dick be “Batman” if Red Robin can beat him in a fight?

We flashback to Tim in Iraq as the League members assist him in his search.  In a very cool moment that made me smile, Tim locates the cave we saw Bruce in at the end of Final Crisis where he was drawing a bat symbol on the wall next to the body of Anthro.  I think the reason I smiled is because no matter how good any story is with someone else being Batman, there is something about the character of Bruce Wayne that I love and he is to me and to millions of other fans the one true Batman.  Here we have maybe the first step in the story of his return. 

Tim exits the cave and rejoins the League members when suddenly, they’re attacked by a masked super-villain called the Widower.  He kills the three League members and injures Tim.  As Tim goes unconscious, all that remains is darkness and the sound of Ra’s on his comm link asking Tim if he found what he was looking for.

A good issue here.  Hopefully writer Chris Yost is able to build off of this good story and continue from here.  As of issue six of the series, a new artist named Marcus To will be taking over the job as the series artist.  From the cover for issue six, his work is pretty good, but I would much rather see an artist like Andy Kubert or maybe Tom Grummett take over the book.  I’ll be sticking around for a few more issues.  Hopefully we get some good stories.  Later.