Robin Annual 2021

Robin Annual 2021

DC Comics 2021

Written by Joshua Williamson

Pencilled by Roger Cruz

Inked by Victor Olazaba

Coloured by Luis Guerrero

Lettered by ALW’s Troy Peteri

TALE OF THE TAPE! The League of Lazarus has introduced Robin to a wide range of some of the youngest, deadliest fighters on the planet-from XXL and his hype squad to Respawn and his Deathstroke fandom-and these killers mean business. But no fighter has made an impact on Damian Wayne like Flatline, the former sidekick of Lord Death Man and one of the most elite combatants in the tournament. But who is Flatline? Uncover the secret origin of all the breakout fighter stars of Robin in this oversize special that puts the K.O. in comic book! Plus: Atlantean fighters join the tournament? C’mon, Mother Soul, never order the fish-always order the steak

There are times I still cannot believe I am reading this series and this Annual but Joshua is so darn good at what he does that I am thoroughly enjoying a character I’ve never ever liked before. Still with some interesting new characters and their origins now on display I like how we see Damian react to the fact that his father even has these files to begin with. It doesn’t seem like much but it does pack a nice little punch and makes the reader laugh and with Damian that’s saying something.

I’m very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a marvellous job with their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more we see how all this connects to the main series.

I very much appreciate the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow. I am also liking that these layers open up new avenues to be explored. Between the origin of Flatline and what Hawke has been up to there’s some really interesting threads to be explored now. What this does is it adds some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

There are some truly exquisite moments within the artwork here and there are some very Young Justice moments, personally that sketch memory moment is one of my favourite images, in this issue. The linework is clean, crisp and strong so that along with the varying weights and techniques that we see the detail within the work shines brightly. Also I’m really digging this version of his costume and how it looks in various scenarios. I do wish we’d see more backgrounds in use, however, seeing the composition within the panels and how they bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is marvellously rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a superb eye for how colour works.

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I think the format for this book, Teen Beat, Tiger Beat or whatever those types of magazines are called, works really well here and it has that really well thought out and executed feel to it. For the age of the characters it really has this perfect throwback, for me anyway, nostalgia to it. With some splendid writing and great characterisation alongside these extremely solid interiors this is a great issue of a great series.