By Mark Rodriguez
Batman The Brave and the Bold was the first new Batman cartoon after the DC Animated Universe finally ended. This time the show took Batman back to his campier days but also had him team up with several DC heroes. The show got a comic series and when I saw the cover for this one, where they brought in all the different Robins from different continuities in an issue, I had to pick it up. I guess you can say, Batman saw the Robinverse.
The issue opens up with Nightwing and Speedy fighting the Royal Flush gang. Speedy asks Dick why he's going as Nightwing instead of Robin. Dick tells him he wants to go past the sidekick role and he should do the same. Suddenly the Phantom Stranger shows up and tells Dick he is needed. They both vanish leaving Speedy to wrap things up with the bad guys.
Nightwing is taken to the Bat Cave where the Phantom Stranger holds up a dying Batman, along with all the other Robins, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne and Carrie Kelly. If they don't act quickly, Batman will die by dawn.
Tim wonders where the other Robins came from. Jason asks which one of the 'phoney Robins' was responsible for injuring Batman. Steph points out that maybe they're not phonies. Damian says girls can't be Robin and Carrie talks back. Dick is surprised, never knowing there were so many Robins. He calms them down and reminds them that Batman needs help. The Phantom Stranger tells everyone that whenever Batman needs help, he turns to Robin, but this time one Robin isn't enough, which is why he pulled all Robins from the past, present and future to help him out.
Steph asks what happened, and Damian asked if Joker or Two-Face were behind it. The Phantom Stranger told them Batman was fighting a criminal in Crime Alley that was about to gun down a kid and his parents, similar to what happened to him long ago. As Batman kicked the man down, his gun fell to the ground and fired off a few rounds. Batman lept into the way, taking the shots that would have killed the innocent family.
The Phantom Stranger put Batman in stasis, but his magic spell will only last until dawn. It is up to the Robins to do something. Steph says Batman needs a doctor, and Carrie says if the Phantom couldn't do anything to save Batman, a doctor wouldn't do much better. Jason wants to set off to save Batman on his own, despite Tim telling him they have to stick together. Nightwing reminds them of the lessons Batman taught them and that they have to work together. Jason asks why Nightwing is in charge, and Damian tells him to listen to him or he'll make 'his future happen sooner'.
Nightwing suggests taking the Robins to a Lazarus Pit that he knows of. Dick leads them inside a cave and leaves Tim and Steph outside to watch over Batman. Once they step inside, the run into Rah's Al Ghul's League of Assassins. Damian tells them to stop, but at this time no one recognizes him as the son of Talia Al Ghul, so they ignore him and start to attack. The Robins throwdown and Dick notes the difference between the others. Jason fights with rage, Damian fights with trained precision and Carrie uses a slingshot and attitude.
Dick is also worried about Tim and Steph. He mentions Steph is headstrong and Tim looks like a good detective. Outside, Tim and Steph run into Rah's Al Ghul. They run back inside and help the rest of the team take down the League of Assassins.
Rah's tell his men to stop and Nightwing asks what his game is. Rah's says Tim and Steph explained the situation to him. He feels Batman is a noble foe that does not deserve and ignoble end. He sends his men to place Batman into the Lazarus Pit. Batman soon springs to life, and everyone is happy. Rah's warns that the Lazarus Pit does review people, but it also drives them insane. Nightwing says maybe that happens when Rah's uses it, but he is no Batman.
Batman thanks Nightwing and says he knew he could count on him. Steph hugs him, which confuses him. Batman then asks all the other Robins if he knows them, and Carrie says she figures he will. The Phantom Stranger watches this through his crystal ball and is glad everything worked out. Madame Xanadu reminds him that if the Robins have failed, there are always Batgirls to help out as well.
This was a fun story, especially at a time when the New 52 was still somewhat new and characters like Steph and Cass were wiped from existence before being re-introduced, so it was nice to see them again. Even though the comic was short, all the Robins got to show off a bit of their personalities and differences. I appreciate the extra detail of Carrie saying 'the Phantom Stranger don't shiv'. Loved how they remembered the slang used during the Dark Knight Returns era. And of course, Damian was the annoying little snot he always is.
It was kinda bland that of all the things that could have nearly killed Batman that would require a Robin multiverse crossover was just him getting shot by mistake while fighting regular thugs. It is a single issue story though, so there probably wasn't enough time to involve the Joker or someone else. Not to rain too much on the parade because I did enjoy the story, but couldn't Nightwing have just taken Batman and the Phantom Stranger to the Lazarus Pit on their own without reality-shattering shenanigans?
Either way, the story was fun, and the best parts was seeing all the Robins interact. Too bad the Batgirls only got one panel at the end. Imagine Batgirl-Steph talking to herself as Robin-Steph. So far she's the only one to have ever been both a Robin and Batgirl.
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