Demon or Detective?
"My father is a failure. A boy forever trapped in an alley. Batman has let his ways hold himself, his family, and his city back. Let them fall into ruin. I tried to live and learn from him, but now I have escaped. I am free."
—Damian
Robin is an ongoing comic book series launched in 2021 as part of the DC Infinite Frontier initiative. It is written Joshua Williamson, with art by Gleb Melnikov. It began with a two-part prologue in Batman #106 and Detective Comics #1034's backup stories.
After years of struggling to reconcile his father's morals and his own sense of right and wrong, Damian Wayne has left Batman and returned to his mother, Talia al Ghul. However, he learns that there is dissent in her life as well, as the League of Lazarus, a rogue branch of the League of Assassins, has returned and is starting a tournament that will include the best fighters on the planet. Damian decides to do things his own way, ignoring his mother's invitation to rejoin the League of Assassins and instead begins an investigation into the tournament. First step? Entering it.
The series will crossover with Batman and Deathstroke Inc. for the Shadow War crossover in March 2022. This is followed by leading into the miniseries Batman vs. Robin, also spinning off from the events of Batman/Superman: World's Finest.
Tropes applying to Robin (2021):
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Artemis Crock now sports black hair, whereas all prior versions of her had been blonde or red-haired.
- Adaptational Sympathy: In the Post-Crisis era, Ra's al Ghul already had a Tragic Villain backstory but there wasn't much accounting for how he would choose to work for a fickle Sultan and his evil son, engage in reckless horse races with the Prince that injured bystanders (though Ra's did show deep remorse for that), and looked like a twisted madman who enjoyed playing God as soon as he resurrected the Prince before tragedy ultimately humbled him. In this series, set in the Rebirth era, it's revealed that Ra's was traveling with his ailing mother and Sora to the Sultan's throne because Ra's felt he had no other choice but to become a court physician and gain the resources to save his mother's life. Ultimately, his mother died (though was resurrected much later) before the tragedy that befell Ra's and Sora but it was because Ra's wanted to save her in the first place that his working for a capricious Sultan and an evil Prince is given more rhyme and reason than before.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the Post-Crisis era, King Snake was able to give a good fight to Tim Drake's Robin and while he wasn't quite as good as Batman, he could at least take multiple hits from him and keep going for some length of time. Here, in his first major Rebirth appearance, Damian Wayne takes him out easily in one hit when he decides to get serious.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Damian's confrontation with Mother Soul involves this, as she uses her magic to pull him inside her mind and make one last attempt to convince him to join her cause, but he refuses and manages to defeat her, thus freeing himself.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Damian and Flatline seem to have this. They argue and tease each other a lot, but Flatline calls Damian cute and Rose Wilson tells Damian that he shouldn't fall in love with the first girl to kill him.
- Big Brother Mentor: When the Robins guest star in an issue, Dick reminds Damian that he completely gets what Damian is going through, more than anyone else, having run away from home many times when he was Robin and struggling to find himself. Dick says that, while he, Jason, Tim, and Steph started as Bruce's Robins, Damian started as Dick's, and gives Damian his blessing to go and find his own way.
- Big Damn Kiss: In issue #11, Damian and Flatline finally kiss after bonding a bit after the tournament is over.
- Bookends: The series begins with Damian getting his heart torn out of his chest by Flatline. In the final issue, Damian himself uses to move on her transformed mentor, Lord Death Man.
- Broken Pedestal: Damian has become disillusioned with Bruce, insulting his father to his mother and seemingly being completely honest about it.
- The Bus Came Back:
- The end of the prologue sees the return of Connor Hawke after he was rebooted out of existence in 2011.
- King Snake appears in a cage match with Damian after not being used or even referenced for the entirety of the New 52 and Rebirth.
- After not being used forever, Double Dare makes their return in the first issue. Said issue also features the return of Brutale, Artemis Crock, Nite-Wing, and Batman of Japan, all of whom hadn't been seen in years.
- Issue #6 sees the brief return of one-shot Titans' villain Tengu, who hadn't been seen since 2000.
- Call-Back: When the Robins try to catch Damian, Dick is the one who actually manages it. However, Dick lets Damian leave, recalling how he ran away from home a bunch when he was Robin as well. But, more importantly, he tells Damian that, while everyone else started out as a Robin to Bruce, Damian started as his Robin. For this reason, he gives Damian his blessing to work on his own and find himself, away from the family and lets him go back to Lazarus Island. The image in the background is even a recreation of their debut as Batman & Robin.
- Commonality Connection:
- Damian and Connor bond over both having superhero dads with heavy similarities. Before, the League of Shadows enters and makes Connor fight Damian, anyway.
- Damian and Flatline are both into manga. While she tries to strike up a conversation about it, he ignores her when she immediately makes a joke about having killed him. After the tournament is over, she tries again in a more earnest way, and he explains that it's something that is uniquely his and not associated with being a Wayne or an al Ghul. This little connections leads to them having a Big Damn Kiss.
- Continuity Nod:
- Talia says that Damian failed in his time as Robin because he promised her he'd be a worthy adversary for her. This is a reference to when he disowned his al Ghul heritage in the Batman and Robin phase of Grant Morrison's Batman saga.
- Talia mentions her recent loss of the Lazarus organization from Event Leviathan as another recent hit to her standing.
- The idea of the League of Assassins being splintered was first introduced in Detective Comics (Rebirth) with the League of Shadows (who also make a return) and this comic further expands on the idea of Ra's al Ghul's organization being splintered.
- King Snake mentions fighting other Robins, most likely referring to his role as one of Tim Drake's primary villains.
- Rose Wilson for some reason has Jason Todd's number, and Damian asks what's up with them. This is a reference to Red Hood and the Outlaws where it's mentioned that Jason and Rose used to date.
- When Ra's al Ghul is explaining to Damian why he's on Lazarus Island, he mentions his last defeat at the hand of Batman and his Outsiders in Batman And The Outsiders 2019.
- When "Alfred" asks Damian how his father's journey to being Batman began, Damian recalls the events of "Batman: Year One" and plays them out in his head with him in Bruce's place.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Once Damian learns that those who die get resurrected at least once while on Lazarus Island, he lets loose. He kills five contestants without batting an eye.
- Death Is Cheap: While on Lazarus Island, each person can be killed twice without consequence. However, after their third death, their spirit will become bound to the island.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: When Mother Soul has Damian go through Mental Time Travel, he watches her succumbing to sickness and dying in the arms of a young Ra's al Ghul.
- Dramatic Irony: The reader is completely aware that "The Hawke" is actually Connor Hawke and that he is acting out of character. However, neither Damian nor Rose knows who he is.
- Dysfunctional Family: As usual, the al Ghuls. Mother Soul was imprisoned on Lazarus Island after being seen as too extreme by even Ra's al Ghul, and she has nothing but contempt for her son. Talia joins the fray and is on Ra's side again, but Damian doesn't care for either but sees Mother Soul as the bigger threat. Issue #11 even has Mother Soul raving and screaming that she wishes Ra's was never born.
- Everyone Can See It: Everyone, from Rose Wilson, Respawn to the "ghost" of Alfred, sees something between Damian and Flatline.
- I'm Standing Right Here: When Damian tells Connor that Lord Death-Man is something of a joke that tries to act bigger than he is, Death-Man says off-panel he can hear him. Damian answers he doesn't care he heard it.
- In the Back:
- Respawn manages to kill Rose while she's distracted by skewering her while her back is turned.
- The Lazarus Demon impales Hawke with his arm when he first awakens and Hawke has his back turned to it.
- It's Personal:
- "Alfred" asks Damian if him fighting King Cobra was because the latter is Bane's father since Damian still understandably hates Bane for killing Alfred. Damian says it was just a coincidence, but given that Alfred is just a manifestation of Damian's grief... yeah, probably not.
- Implied to be why Rose Wilson is at the tournament. She has no interest in actually winning the thing, but is after something on Lazarus Island and has a bone to pick with Respawn, who's modeled himself after her father, Deathstroke.
- Kid Sidekick: Flatline is the sidekick to Lord Death Man, a villain of Batman's who can perfectly fake being dead.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": In issue 15 a gang of clowns (who is not associated with the Joker) has this reaction they see that Robin isn't alone, he called for the rest of the Bat-Family.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Alfred is either a hallucination or a genuine ghost. Given the things that Damian is dealing with, and this being the DCU, either option is possible.
- Mental Time Travel: Mother Soul uses her magic to let Damian take a peek into her and the League of Lazarus's origins when Ra's al Ghul first found the Lazarus Pits and made himself immortal.
- One-Winged Angel: Inflicted on Lord Death Man in the final issue.
- The Power of Friendship: In the end, to defeat Mother Soul's true champion, the Lazarus Demon, Damian unites and organized the fighters on the island against them. He, Ravager, Respawn, and Flatline work together to finally behead the thing by all pulling on Respawn's chain.
- Race Lift: Tigress appears to be at least partly Asian, like her counterpart in Young Justice (2010), while previous comic versions had been fully white.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Damian is regularly seen reading a Shoujo manga throughout the series.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Talia opens the entire run with one, telling Damian that he's a failure, broke, has no friends or allies, and has resorted to coming home to mommy.
- Remember the New Guy?: The series retcons yet another League beyond just the League of Assassins. In addition to the League of Shadows from Detective Comics (Rebirth), we now have the League of Lazarus, who has also apparently always existed and splintered off at the beginning of Ra's al Ghul's reign.
- Ret-Gone: Connor Hawke mentions this happening to him, though he doesn't label it this way. Connor mentions being blinded by a white light before waking up in the current universe.
- Rule of Three: Every contestant in the Lazarus tournament has only three chances. They'll be brought Back from the Dead two times, but if they die a third time, it's permanent.
- Sexy Surfacing Shot: When we see Ra's Al Ghul bring Mother Soul Back from the Dead in the past with a Lazarus Pit, we get a dramatic shot of her surfacing, and she noticeably looks much younger and attractive than she was before.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Damian does this whenever Flatline is brought up. However, once the tournament ends and they've bonded, he starts referring to her as his girlfriend... and she's weirded out by it when she finds out.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Damian dons a new costume that distinctly distances itself from the Robin look, being primarily grey. It looks like a combination of what a League of Assassins and Bat-Family member would wear.
- Small Name, Big Ego: While not exactly small name, Damian is relatively inexperienced in fighting compared to most of the people at the tournament. He introduces himself by interrupting their host, Mother Soul, and announcing his heritage as the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul. Nobody is really impressed and Flatline decides to fight him then and there, and actually manages to kill him with relative ease. Thankfully for him, Death Is Cheap on Lazarus Island.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Damian pulls this on Flatline after they discover the giant Lazarus Pit the League of Lazarus is working on.Flatline: Heh, like father, like son. Cute.
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham:
- One of the combatants mentions that she got in because the Secret Society of Supervillains paid off Lady Shiva so she didn't have to fight her. Given Shiva's skillset, it doubles as a reason for keeping her out of the tournament, otherwise, she'd defeat pretty much everyone there.
- Once Damian learns that the tournament hosts are conducting some sort of experiment with a huge Lazarus Pit, Rose tells him to call Batman. He doesn't, since the entire point of this series for him is doing things his own way without his father.
- Take a Third Option: The way Talia talks, it seems she believed that Damian's only options in life were either to be Batman's son or the heir to the al Ghul legacy, namely by either being with the Bat-Family or becoming an assassin. He doesn't rejoin the family or become her assassin; he decides to investigate the League of Lazarus' tournament by himself.
- Take That!: During the Robins' rooftop race, Damian mockingly calls Nightwing "Ric", to which Nightwing responds "That's just mean."
- Talking to the Dead: Damian has a conversation in his head with Alfred, who admonishes him for running away and going off to dangerous parts of the world. Damian says he approved of Bruce doing the same in his Batman training and Alfred says he definitely didn't. It's then that Damian says Alfred isn't even real and decides to not talk to him.
- Tempting Fate: In issue 16 when XXL tells Mara al Ghul that they're the only ones on Lazarus Island and she shouldn't worry about someone freeing Lord Death-Man, meanwhile Mother Soul frees Lord Death-Man
- Tournament Arc: The first major story arc centers around Damian entering and investigating a secret martial artist tournament set up by the League of Lazarus on their island headquarters.
- Victorious Loser: Ra's al-Ghul has lost everything to Batman and the Outsiders but doesn't let it get him down in the least. In a conversation with Damian, he tells his grandson that in order to achieve victory, sometimes you just have to suffer loss.
- Villainous Breakdown: Mother Soul becomes enraged when Damian and the other contestants manage to kill the Lazarus Demon, especially when Damian mocks her with his iconic "TT".
- Wham Shot:
- The first issue ends with a fight between Damian and Flatline. The match is very even until the last page shows that Flatline managed to tear out Damian's heart.
- Issue #11 has Damian holding a vial of Lazarus Serum, and saying he needs to go back to Gotham... and then ends on a shot of Alfred's grave.
- The Worf Effect: The first issue has two instances.
- Damian effortlessly defeats King Snake to establish quickly that he can hold his own.
- It happens again in Damian's fight with Flatline. While the fight is very evenly matched, it ends with her offhandedly killing him, which establishes her credibility. It also doubles as something of a Sacrificial Lamb, since it establishes the stakes of the tournament and that it's a fight to the death situation.
- Worf Had the Flu:
- In Damian's first fight against Flatline, he didn't know that killing was required and that everyone got some "lives" as it were while on the island and resurrected. He says as much to Flatline when they meet again, though she says it wouldn't have made a difference.
- Bronze Tiger's absence from the tournament is explained by his opponent cheating to defeat him, while Lady Shiva was apparently bribed by the League not to attend (presumably because she's previously managed to defeat their preferred champion).
