Boy Wonder #3 Review | Batman News

Juni Ba Boy prodigy is one of those miniseries that has unexpectedly become one of my favorite reads this year. While it takes a few pages to get used to the intentionally childish art style and parabolic storytelling, Ba has crafted a delightful exploration of the Bat-family in DC’s prestigious Black Label format. Unfortunately, the third issue fails to capture the same quality as the second installment in the series.

Tim Drake is introduced as the star Robin of this new series, but unlike Jason Todd and Dick Grayson, his backstory isn’t explored at all. This is disappointing, because it means Tim ends up being a hero without vulnerability. Ba’s knack for deeply analyzing what makes a character tick is lost here.

Instead, the focus is on the evil plot that is causing members of Gotham’s underclass to disappear. It’s not even a spoiler to say that Ra’s al Ghul is obviously the culprit and we’re moving on to Damian having to confront his own past. This series has been enjoyable so far because of the interesting character exploration that has driven the generic plot. Without that exploration, the reader is left with a very average Robin story about the young prodigy investigating a mystery.

What’s here is fun. While we unfortunately don’t get to see Tim Drake’s fascinating origins revealed by Ba (which I would have loved since he’s my favorite Robin), we at least get a few fun scenes.

For starters, there’s an interesting social critique here where the net worth of several evil billionaires is exposed at a “charity gala” hosted by the Penguin. Damian is disgusted by this image of horrible people pretending that their plundering of the lower and middle classes is actually a philanthropic success.

I’m not sure Ba really thinks through the implications of this criticism, because a few pages after throwing rocks at these billionaires, the comic abruptly stops to admire Wayne’s fancy (and expensive) technology that allows Robin to fight crime. Is the message supposed to be that being a billionaire is okay, but there are good billionaires and bad billionaires? I know it’s not a writer’s responsibility to bring up political themes in their work, but if they’re going to introduce them, they should follow through. It seems like Ba wanted to criticize extreme wealth in this issue without considering what that means in a comic about a family of crime fighters backed by a billionaire’s fortune.

The issue ends with Tim and Damian fighting the Demon. I love that Ba went with the 2009 Red Robin look for Drake’s costume. It’s not my favorite outfit by far, but it gives off a fun vibe that’s almost knowingly silly. It fits well into this wonderful world Ba is building (complete with a warm color palette from Chris O’Halloran). Aditya Bidikar’s lettering also fits the action of this issue quite well, contrasting the heavy lettering with the occasional medieval flourish when appropriate. It makes the encounters with Ra’s minions more menacing.

Recommended if…

• If you’ve read the first two issues, you might as well stick with it.
• You are a Tim Drake fan.
• You like Ba’s art style.

Generally…

I wish this issue had explored Tim’s origins like the last two did for Dick and Jason. Instead, we’re set up for the penultimate chapter of this story with a fairly standard mystery plot punctuated by some awkward social commentary. I still have high hopes for this comic, and I understand the writers’ occasional need to advance the plot at the expense of character exploration. It would be nice if Tim Drake were brought into the spotlight later on so we get a more fleshed-out picture of the main cast of Robins.

Rating: 6/10

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