- Story & cover by Lee Bemerjo
- Art by Jorge Corona
The Robin War is over. From the rubble a new force rises, one that is attacking Duke and his Robins one by one. This new movement laughs at hope and justice. They believe in anger. They believe in fear. They believe in chaos. They are…JOKERS.
Pickup your copy of ‘We Are Robin’ #8 at Comixology now!
I’m reeling with the knowledge that ‘We Are Robin’ is not appearing on the current roster of DC Comics due to be published under the ‘Rebirth’ initiative (more on that here). Eight months in to the series it’s beginning to carve out its own niche within the DC Universe so it would be a shame to see it end prematurely.
The ‘Robin War’ arc has turned out to be a little of a disappointment, it’s cross-over potential squandered on the notion of promoting titles within other titles to push sales, its end twist being the only highpoint of the arc itself. I’m generally not impressed with how the character of Robin has had his 75th anniversary celebrated but let us enjoy the ‘We Are Robin’ ride whilst it lasts.
#8 is seemingly capitalising on another aspect of the DC Universe that has become more prominent in recent months: the tying together of the present day and ‘Beyond’ timelines. I could be jumping to conclusions but between the what appears to be the beginning for forming the game that will become ‘The Jokerz’ there is also a gang who appear in the Andrea section who speak in a distinctly ‘The Dark Knight Return’ style.
Generally I find it’s always the greatly overlooked titles that end up knitting the universe together. It’s a shame but it seems to be part of the bread and butter of comic publishing.
‘We Are Robin’ #8 it’s a bit of a time jumper of a story following several of the Robin’s in a directly post-Robin War setting. Their small stories are intercut with the release of a prisoner who happens to have a real thing for Joker.
Duke is once again at the forefront of the story. He’s become a solid leading character for ‘We Are Robin’ and if the title is truly coming to an end its great to see him have some closure in the search for his parents here.
Over the course of the past eight issues Bejermo has really learnt to balance the ensemble side of ‘We Are Robin’ and that’s really evident here in #8 where very little interaction takes place between the Robin’s yet the main cast are all still fully visible.
The gritty, urban art style has also become a defining feature of the series. #8 again features art by Jorge Corona who brings a distinctly dark style to the series which really does set it apart from other current DC Comics. This issue is again overwhelmed by reds and browns, other colours existing only as accents in clothing or in decorations within the locales.
I’m intrigued to see where the Jokers story leads with issue #9 but can’t help but feel ‘We Are Robin’ is going to grow old before its time.
3 stars
