Tim Drake is really, REALLY good at figuring things out. It is one of the reasons he is one of the top three detectives in the entire DC Universe. Why is this important? Well, when you are a teenaged hero with no superpowers, surrounded by a secret society of assassins who have recently kicked off an assassination tournament with you as the target; figuring out a way out is no small feat.
The villainous Scarab voiced an opinion about Red Robin that I am sure is shared by most in the villain community:
“The only thing I despise more than your ingenuity… is your arrogance.”
I can understand her frustration, she goes to all this trouble to have Red Robin killed, and what does he do? He foils her plans of course and lives. Of course, not everything always goes to plan, in the end even though Tim survived, Scarab still got away.
Tim’s investigation leads him to Russia, where he encounters a would-be assassin. The assassin seems to have Tim’s number, until he is saved by Promise. Only to have her turn on him and use her powers, which she does not fully understand yet, to hero-nap him.
When Tim wakes up, he is chained below the streets of Paris with Promise and her mysterious sister. This mystery woman intends to win the tournament by killing Red Robin, but not before taking the essence of his life allowing his spirit to be honored and live on… through the child she plans for Tim to give her.
Let’s recap that… Tim in chains under Paris, crazy naked mystery woman plans to kill him, but not before she forces him to give her a baby. Ok, Tim is crazy awesome at planning and getting out of traps, but is this one he really wants to “escape”? The end of this book totally reminds me of an old Futurama episode when Fry and Bender were trapped by alien Amazons and their choices were: “Death or Snu Snu (sex)”… of course death was to be carried out by snu snu.
I am really sad this book is ending and will not be counted among the 52 new titles in the DCnU. Tim Drake has proven to be an excellent hero and Red Robin has been a fun read for the past 2 years. Make sure to come back for the completion of the Assassination Tournament next month, and look for Tim in September in the all new Teen Titans #1.
