Three issues into a new creative team's stint on this title, and they've lost me. I'm really quite surprised, as I've been thoroughly enjoying just about everything Bill Willingham's written by DC's Vertigo line over the past five years. His take on Robin though is conventional super-hero fare. Even more disappointing is the notion that supposed regular penciller Rick Mays can't maintain a regular scheduled for more than two issues. Perhaps some personal crisis got in the way, and if that's the case, I apologize and understand. But overall, this was a disappointing attempt to rejuvenate the title of the most iconic sidekick in all of fiction.
There's something about Johnny Warren that really struck a chord with Robin and scared him, and he's determined to track down the injured thug before he can hurt anyone else. Little does Robin know that Johnny's doing a lot more than hurting people in another part of Gotham City. The demonic staff Johnny stole has transformed him into a powerful sorceror, but one that must feed on humans, body and soul. Meanwhile, Robin finds time to hang out with his crimefighting girlfriend, the Spoiler, and together, they make some grisly discoveries about the new Johnny Warren.
De La Fuente's art is a far cry from the slick linework of Rick Mays. The fill-in artist's work here reminds me of the sketchy and poorly defined work of Vatche (Spider-Man/Wolverine) Mavlian. De La Fuente doesn't tell the story clearly at all. Johnny Warren doesn't come off as an intimidating figure at all; in fact, he looks borderline silly in some scenes. The artist aims for a gruesome depiction of supernatural violence here, but he falls short of his mark.
This is a fairly typical super-hero/super-villain story. Robin is obsessed with Johnny Warren because that leads him into a forced and all-too convenient conflict with him. What's truly disappointing, though, is the lack of any sense of resolution. The hero thinks he's committed a crime, and the criminal decides that even though he's thirsty for revenge against the hero, it can wait a year or so. Furthermore, the hero is so completely out of league that any measure of success he has in the battle is rather difficult for the reader to accept.
Ultimately, what hurts this story -- and this title -- the most is the poor choice of villain as the source of conflict. This is a book about Robin the Teen Wonder, and it's not the sort of series in which supernatural, cosmic threats work all that well. Robin gets enough of that in other books. Previous writers knew that Robin called for more down-to-earth threats. While I don't want to see Willingham stray into "after-school special" territory either, this sort of villain just doesn't play well in Gotham City.
