Tim Drake: Robin #9

Comic Watch

Since the start of Tim Drake: Robin, issue #9 is hands down the best issue by the creative team. This story is probably one of the more underrated stories, and it's nice to see Tim Drake and his friends get the care they receive from Fitzmartin, Cizmesija, Loughridge, and Reed.

AIPT

In the penultimate issue for the series, Tim Drake: Robin is ending with the same villain it kicked things off with back in Batman: Urban Legends. That’s right, the Chaos Monsters are back and causing more problems. Not only that, but Kate Kane has now somehow been implicated in this disaster. Meghan Fitzmartin and Nikola Čižmešija work together to create an ominous mystery to end the series. From beginning to end, Tim Drake: Robin has been a mystery series. Unlike the first arc, which walked you through the mystery of helping Tim solve the case, this one is a mystery even to the readers. Tim Drake: Robin #9 is a dark and riveting addition to the series. Whatever is going on with Batwoman can’t be good, and hopefully, it wraps up successfully in the final issue. There are a lot of possibilities of what the final issue may have in store for readers, and they’ll be left with quite the terrifying cliffhanger that makes dire stakes even more dire. There is an overarching theme in the series of Tim feeling too spread thin, and this only compounds that. Altogether, this is another solid issue that brings more action and mystery to Tim Drake’s ever-chaotic life.(...)

Geek Dad

The penultimate issue of this short-lived series sends Tim Drake down the rabbit hole to discover exactly what happened to Batwoman. The older vigilante crashed onto Tim’s boat, covered with blood and missing a chunk of time in her memory. While they were trying to trace her movement—and who the blood belonged to—Batwoman was attacked by a disturbed man who claimed she was a child-killer and held her hostage. While they’re able to fend him off, this only makes Batwoman more unstable. When Tim detects a connection to the chaos demons they’ve been fighting, he decides to see what Bernard knows about this. Bernard doesn’t know Tim is Robin, of course, so this leads to a hilariously awkward conversation. At least, hilariously awkward until Bernard starts breaking down from the trauma he experienced at the hands of the pain cult—and Batwoman reacts… badly. I’ll give this book credit for one thing—it’s actually doing a decent job of showing how the trauma of living through some bizarre superhero stuff would affect a civilian. Bernard’s breakdown is compellingly dark, but Batwoman’s reaction makes her look more unstable than anything, and I was totally on Tim’s side when he decided she needed to be removed from the situation by force. Things are naturally going downhill between the two heroes, leaving Tim to investigate on his own. After some more strange secret identity antics, Tim investigates a new lead—and discovers something genuinely disturbing in the cliffhanger. The visuals here are pretty great, but this feels oddly static in terms of plot for a penultimate issue. The cancellation of this series really came out of nowhere, even more so than with Batgirls, and I don’t think this final arc feels like it’s actually wrapping anything up.

ComicBook.com

If this series had been even a quarter as good as this issue, it might not have been cancelled. Tim Drake: Robin #9 is easily the best of the run, with an intriguing, well-paced story that packs the right amount of tension and strong characterization, good art that honors the characters and the story equally, and a tone that just fits. My only real concern is that with this being the penultimate issue, Fitzmartin has set up a lot of things that might not get fully delivered on, but this is a strong issue overall.

Get Your Comic On

The penultimate issue of Tim Drake: Robin is packed with suspense and conflict. With Tim torn between Bernard and Batwoman, Meghan Fitzmartin is ensuring that the book goes out the way it came in, focussed on its titular hero and his mission to balance a real life with his crime fighting. I’m not ready for it to end, but I’m ready to see what comes next.

Dark Knight News

With this being the build-up to the final issue, I was expecting Tim Drake: Robin #9 to have a little more plot and a little less character confrontation. However, while we don’t get any more clues to this intriguing puzzle, those relationship complications have led to raised stakes. Let’s see how Tim gets out of this one.

Batman-News

The art is really noticeable in this issue because we’ve become so used to seeing nothing but mediocrities being the pinnacle of what this series has to offer. While the issue does improve a bit with regards to Tim’s love interest, there’s just nothing I could see the final issue delivering that could make the multiple issue story of this final arc worth it for me. I wish the final issues could have been more like an anthology but I guess Fitzmartin had no idea her series would get canceled and probably had this story in mind.