Storyline: Scattered Pieces
Date: July 23, 2008
Price: $2.99
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Joe Bennett and cover by Freddie Williams II

Synopsis: The events of “Batman R.I.P.” carve a path of destruction through Tim’s life, threatening to rip apart the entire foundation of what made him choose to take on the role of Robin in the first place.

Tim’s on the run and, with Batman’s life at stake, he can’t afford to make one misstep. Don’t miss Part 1 of a shocking 2-part story that will irrevocably change Tim Drake’s present as Robin … and his hard-won future as Batman.

Opinion: Holy cover art, Batman! Freddie William II delivers an ingeniously twisted cover that fits perfectly into the “Batman RIP” storyline. Ohh, man. Notice any similarities to a certain late ’80s cover? (Hint: Look at the words on the Robin #175 cover.)

Yeah, that’s right. “A Death in the Family,” the four-comic story in which we sadistic readers voted to kill off Jason Todd. Take a look at that cover. What a parallel! I have that old story arc in trade, and the details are a lot more noticeable. The torn clothing and blood on Robin matches that of Batman on the cover of the new Robin issue; the text and shadows across Robin’s face mimics the look of Batman from the old trade cover. CREEPY. Freddie Williams II just earned major points.

Okay, enough about the cover, let’s talk about this comic! Read my review after the jump.

The cover is fantastic, and so is the art. But what the hell is up with this comic?

This is the first Robin tie-in to “Batman RIP”—and unlike the last Detective issue that is technically a tie-in but had nothing to do with “RIP,” this one actually works with the Grant Morrison Batman story arc.

But it’s such a mess. This story is all over the place. God, I don’t know what’s worse: the obscure references in “Batman RIP” or the chaos that is this issue. “Scattered Pieces” is a great storyline name, indeed.

Okay, so let’s TRY to make sense of this insanity. The comic starts off with a flashback of Tim Drake—the current Robin, of course—thinking about the time when Bruce underwent the Thogal Ritual. Now, that Ritual—involving forty-nine days of isolation in a cave in Nepal in order for Bruce to nearly die and become reborn—directly ties into “RIP,” which is good. This really is Robin’s side of the story; this is all probably going on at the same time of the events we saw in the last Batman issue.

Anyway, the comic doesn’t tell you that at first. Robin reminisces about that Ritual, and how he and Dick Grayson (Nightwing) had to kill time while Bruce did his thing in the cave. So for several pages I was left utterly confused about what was going on—and frankly, I kind of still am. But more on that later.

In the present, Tim has Batman’s black casebook: in which he writes down everything about his nightly patrols and so on. In the midst of flashbacks and narration by Tim, he talks with Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) about what’s going on: Batman is missing, and Tim thinks he might have gone insane thanks to something that went wrong during a ten-day isolation experiment Bats volunteered for in order to better get inside the minds of the criminally insane: like the Joker. We know from “RIP” that indeed, something did go wrong. Doctor Hurt—leader of the Black Glove organization—implanted a trigger word in Batman’s head, and ever since then it has all been leading up to the events in “RIP.”

On top of that, but more insignificant, Tim and Stephanie’s relationship has become strained ever since he found out she was never really dead.

But anyway. Tim says he needs proof of his theory: so he’s scanning pages out of Batman’s casebook and is going to see if they match with someone else’s files—someone Bats has worked with. Tim is just acting weird. Reckless. Stephanie points this out, but Tim assures her he’s more on top of things than ever—but he realizes that in a way, he isn’t. What? Does that make sense to anyone?

Robin acknowledges it’s not enough to prove his theory about Batman’s insanity—he has to do more to actually find him. So he goes to see the Penguin, who has had an agreement of sorts with Batman ever since Gotham Underground. Robin wants Penguin’s help finding Batman—in exchange for a large sum of cash, of course. But I have a feeling this might not go exactly as planned …

Hell, maybe Robin’s just angry and distracted over Spoiler, and maybe he’s distressed and afraid about what’s happening to Bats—and if any of that’s true and it’s interfering with his ability to get things done well and carefully, then what he’s doing just might get him, and everyone else (including Batman), seriously screwed. So fingers crossed he knows what he’s doing.

Stephanie Brown doesn’t seem to think so, though. And after the last page—which made me even more lost—I’m honestly not sure what to think.

So here’s the bottom line: If you want to stay on top of “RIP,” then pick up this issue. It really is a good tie-in, and it might shed some light on what’s happening over in Batman (because the more explanation and details you have about something that is confusing as hell sometimes makes the whole picture slightly less confusing—or maybe you’ll just be more confused, I don’t know). At any rate, I’ll probably get Part Two (Robin #176), as well; I’ll keep you updated. If you’d rather just roll with the whole “RIP” thing and see what happens, you can skip this. It’s not a big deal, and it’s rather messy, anyway. So if you’re not as dedicated, save yourself the hassle and confusion.

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