Robin War #2 Comic Book Recap/Review

Robin War #2 Recap/Review – It all ends here.

Robin War #2 Comic Book Recap

He’s not Robin. His name is Taylor. He has been chased, beaten, arrested, and ordered to go back home. He’s not Robin. He can’t be.

For those who are Robin, there is now one less. Damian Wayne has joined the Court of the Owls. He tells his former companions that it’s over. They have no idea what has happened, what they are facing, or what Damian had to do to save them all. But it doesn’t matter. It’s over. Damian is now the Dark Heir, and these children need to go home and play with their toys. Duke Thomas is unimpressed, but thinks he understands. The Owls did all this just as part of a recruitment effort. But Thomas doesn’t believe Damian. He knows better.

Damian repeats his command, but the Robins stand their ground. Jason Todd says things are just getting started, and a brawl begins.

Deep in the underground Labyrinth of the Court of the Owls, Dick Grayson looks on in disbelief. He demands an explanation for how they got to Damian, and Lincoln March tells him everything. Damian came to them. Of course, he fought them, as he fights everyone. But while he battled the Talons, March told the young man how the Elite Talons were a fail safe plan for the Owls. If they ever, truly lost control over Gotham, they were to be activated. They would destroy what was lost.

They told Damian how the failure to procure a Gray Son meant a failure of the Court to control Gotham. Everything would have to burn… even poor, unprotected Bruce Wayne. So an offer was made, and an offer… was accepted.

Meanwhile, Taylor is playing video games, trying to keep his mind off of what is going on. But he keeps getting messages from the other Robins that were sent home. Something is happening at Gotham Academy. The Robins are facing a battle, and some of the others want to help. But the rest of them are confident the originals can handle this. After all, they are Robin.

Over at the Academy, the battle rages on. Damian is able to knock down both Jason Todd and Tim Drake. He insists he is no longer Robin, and once again demands that the trainees go home. When they refuse, the knocks them out with ease. But Duke Thomas gets up, and says things aren’t over just yet.

Dick Grayson demands that the Owls let Damian go, or he swears he will burn this whole place to the ground. Unafraid, Lincoln March instead makes an offer. He presents Grayson with the Nightwing mask. He taunts him over this, saying that they have been watching Dick for a very long time. He asks if Grayson really thinks it is all a coincidence. Sure, a bat flies at night, but can he think of another creature that does this? <SFX> Anything come to mind?

The cops arrive on the scene, surrounding the deployed Robins. The ones sent home begin to panic. This is going to be a slaughter. They have to do something. This is war. Damian and Duke are locked in a fierce battle, while the Elite Talons savagely attack the cops. The others ask what to do, and Taylor finally speaks out. Rise, or stay down. The choice is always yours, but if you stay down, you are not Robin. So it’s time to decide. Who are you?

They are Robin. Duke then reveals he figured out Damian. He knows that the boy is Batman’s son. The son Bruce no longer remembers, because Batman sacrificed everything he had. And now Damian is doing the same thing. The younger Wayne says that Duke doesn’t know him, but Thomas thinks that Damian doesn’t know himself. Duke understands Damian’s actions. He’d probably do the same thing himself. But there’s a difference between these two. Duke is not Robin. Damian is.

Meanwhile. Grayson has taken to fighting Lincoln, but the Owl is unconcerned. March explains how they can kill Damian thanks to some nanotechnology in his mask. The boy’s life is in the Owl’s hands, but the choice, is, and always has been, Grayson’s.

Taylor knocks over one of the Elite Talons, but the being is quick to recover and tries to attack the young boy. Fortunately, the Talon is kicked down. <SFX> Badly beaten, Duke looks on as the Robins rally, and, joined by the new Batman, the tide begins to turn.

Not long ago, March was disgraced in the eyes of the Owls. A failure to the world, locked up and forgotten, until he thought of this plan. They had the cage built. One of their agents staged a liquor store robbery to turn the public against the Robins. They planned everything, and soon enough, the Gray Son returned. Then they made one of the absurd Robins join the Owls, and when he did, they would trade him for the one they want. A well executed plan that led to this moment. All the Gray Son has to do now is say the words. The Elite Talons will go away. The Robin Laws will go away. And as long as their new Gray Son stays loyal, Damian will live.

Learn who you are, accept who you are, then save who you can. Isn’t that the lesson of every myth in Gotham? An offer is being made. It should be accepted. All Dick Grayson has to do… is say the words.

Later, in the Batcave, the originals recover from a hell of a fight. They demand to know where Dick was during all of this, and Grayson explains how he was getting all the evidence they need to put Councilwoman Noctua in jail. Though nobody will believe her story about the Owls, that will have to be a fight for another day. But the others are not impressed with this. Tim points out that Grayson lied to them and locked them up, and Jason is furious that Grayson now just expects them to jump right back into the fray like nothing happened. Damian says that Punched-In-The-Face Robin and Driven-Into-The-Ground Robin are right, and demands to know why they would ever accept this. Grayson says it is simple – because they did it for Batman. Because Dick did it for Bruce, too… and because now, Grayson does all of this for them.

In the Gotham Cemetary, some of the Robins pay a visit to Travis. They won, but Duke says he can’t do this anymore. They’re eager when they should be scared. They’re scared when they should be eager. They are not Robin.

In a dark alleyway at night, Duke remembers a song. <HUMMING> He knows Damian is watching, and goads the boy out of hiding. Reluctantly, Robin says hello. Duke says it is early in the evening. Damian probably won’t have anybody to kick for a few hours. He asks if Damian wants to go see a movie, and the young Wayne is displeased. He’s Robin! He doesn’t go see movies! And he doesn’t like Duke. But Thomas knows better, and says he does. Damian agrees to go, but make it clear that he is Robin. He doesn’t eat popcorn.

“The High Court of Gotham calls this meeting to order. As you are all aware, we are witnesses today, as we have been witnesses on countless previous days. We come together to see the placing of the mask. We ask now if the subject is willing to accept the covenant. Here. In front of us all. Say the words.”

“I’m not Robin.”

“Welcome, Gray Son of Gotham. Welcome to the Parliament of Owls.”

Robin War #2 Comic Book Review

Hello and welcome to Comic Island! My name is Arden, and this is my recap, and review, of Robin War #2.

And we’re done. That wasn’t too shabby at all, if I do say so myself. This was a well written comic overall and a lot of fun. There’s a lot to like here. I love the scenes showing the other Robins gradually talking themselves back into action. I really liked Damian and Duke’s showdown and how that evolved into them sparking a friendship into this story. And that ending does stick with me. I admit it is pushing Dick’s character to be turning on his friends, but it really feels like he doesn’t have a choice. They have a bomb embedded in Damian’s face, for crying out loud! So it’s an interesting development, and on the whole, Robin War does a lot more good than it does bad.

Now, the Court of the Owls and their plans are a little crazy, but crazy elaborate plans are kind of par for the course with these guys. Regardless, Robin War #2, and pretty much every comic in this story that precedes it, does feel a little disjointed. The art jumps all over the place because of just how many people are involved in this comic, but it all works here fairly well to tell a neat story reflecting Robin as a mantle and what that means, the current situation in Gotham and what that means, and a new direction for Grayson, Duke Thomas, and Damian. On the whole, I liked and would recommend Robin War #2.

It was a good comic worth getting and on the whole I recommend the entire Robin War. It was a fun event, gave us a nice feel of a lot of the other Gotham based titles currently being published by DC, and didn’t drag out too long to the extent I never felt bored or sick of the story. If you’d like to get the complete reading order of Robin War, be sure to check out this reading order that Joey was nice enough to put together on our website. It’s a nice way to get the full scope of this event, and which comics to read when. We have the link in the video description to all our Robin War videos.

Also, now is as good a time as any to mention that I have a Youtube channel of my own. Historically, I don’t use it much, but lately me and my buddy have been having fun posting Let’s Plays and other, non comic book related material. If you’re interested, the link is also in the video description. Just keep in mind that unlike Comic Island, my videos are largely uncensored, so parental discretion is advised.

And that’s all. Thanks for watching this video, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and keep reading comics.