It’s been nearly a year since Tim Drake “died,” now it’s time to see what he’s been up to as Mr. Oz interrogates him about why he is the way he is, and why he wants to give that up.
Written by James Tynion IVCover by Barrows, Ferreira, Lucas
Penciled by Eddy Barrows
Inked by Eber Ferreira
Colored by Adriano Lucas
“A LONELY PLACE OF LIVING” part one! It’s the story you’ve demanded: Where in the world (or otherwise) is Tim Drake? Red Robin faces a crossroads…escape the most devious prison ever devised, or find himself abandoned beyond time and space for all eternity! Not much of a choice, right? But when he finds out just who is locked in there with him, Tim’s world will change in ways he never imagined! This is one of the biggest stories of the REBIRTH era, setting the stage for an explosive DETECTIVE COMICS epic!
We are, roughly, 14 months into this whole Rebirth thing and without any new titles on the horizon there hasn’t been much rebirthing as of late. ‘A Lonely Place of Living Chapter 1’ marks the start of “Detective Comics” next big arc, with it writer James Tynion IV and the art team are paying homage to ‘A Lonely Place of Dying’ from this arcs title to the cover of #965. ‘A Lonely Place of Dying’ was story that introduced Timothy Jackson Drake to the Bat-Family. ‘A Lonely Place of Living’ doesn’t really roll of the tongue, a shorter and effective title would have been ‘Robin Rebirth.’ As Tynion begins to investigate the purpose and meaning of Robin and Tim Drake.
While this issue isn’t a one shot, the first chapter of ‘Living’ has all the hallmarks of a good ‘Rebirth’ issue and why this initiative has resonated so well. The most successful Rebirths have centered around a recognition of history, either old “forgotten” ones or composited versions. But, like good history writing, this recognition is used to tell or assert a fundamental quality within the property. Undoubtedly certain readers will be happy with Tynion discarding the new origin Scott Lobdell put in during the New 52 era “Teen Titans.” This issue is better for not just being a retcon issue meant to explain away unloved story beats. By reexamining the origins of Tim Drake, Tynion and the art team are able to show why the character and symbols he dons have resonated.
Another aspect of Rebirth that Tynion is able to replicate is the meta qualities. For all the story implications in “Universe Rebirth” the fact it read as an apology letter from Geoff Johns gave the issue surprising emotional depth. Tynion isn’t going that grand, but beginning an arc that will be interrogating the character of Tim Drake with the interrogation of Tim Drake by Mr. Oz is a bit cheeky. Tim stands in a stasis field that echoes the wobbly rings that held General Zod from Superman II, as Oz questions him, appearing both like his great and powerful literary namesake and kryptonian self from the film. Screens flicker on with the highlights of what Tim has missed in his captivity, this book is just looking back on itself at nearly every turn.
While there is some action here, the majority of this issue is effectively a two hander between the looming Oz and Tim. Interrogations rarely stay in the room, more often they serve as frames for the overall story because two people trapped in a room isn’t very cinematic. ‘Living’ uses the frame device to reassert ‘Dying’ as the origin story of Tim Drake by hitting the highlights of that arc. The art team of Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Adriano Lucas use two separate transition for these flashback highlights and in that difference, one is clearly more effective than the other.
One method is traditional, by using the next panel as the means to flashback to the past. There is a kind of reflexive narrative charm to these moments since they revolve around Tim showing off his photography. But these images are all sharply divided by the panels borders and lack the match cut quality you normally expect for a temporal transition. The disconnect makes sense when considering the overall color pallet Lucas employs, shades of blue for the present and sepia for the past. Those are shades that sit just about opposite one another on the color wheel and without matching imagery to transition with, the shift in colors is harsh.
Continued belowThe more effective transition that was used a couple of times involved some trademark “Detective” spreads. Barrows used wide open panels, that when mixed with Ferreira’s expressive inking and Lucas’s pallet let the present bookend the past and have the image flow together as one. These images better evoke the fluid quality of memory where past and present can flow back and forth on one another.
In reestablishing history, writers are able to produce some grand narratives for this now wide swath of continuity. Tynion in this issue casts a surprisingly large net, tying Tim Drake, the purpose and function of the Robin into the second tenet of Grant Morrison’s Batman run: Batman was never alone. In looking back at ‘A Lonely Place of Dying,’ Ken Godberson III noted how Wolfman and Perez went out of their way to show how smart Tim Drake is. As Drake states this issue, he is the “smartest and most dangerous teenager.” In reexamining that story, Tynion changes the emphasis from how smart Tim is, to his ability to see the big picture. Which is one of the reasons Oz gave for his abduction.
In seeing the big picture, Tim understood the necessity of a Robin for Batman. Batman always has a darkness about him, but with Robin around, it gives Batman a tether to humanity. That tether is partly why sidekicks became a trope in cape comics in the first place, it gave the adult character someone to talk to. While Lego Batman director Chris McKay was talking about the first Robin, he and Tynion are making the same point about Robin, “Robin was there as a window character for little kids like me to understand Batman’s world and see into Batman’s world.” And for more than any other Robin, this rings truest for Tim Drake. He is the fanboy Robin, the one who understands the reasons for Robin and never wants to become Batman.
This consideration of the past is nothing without the present context. Tim Drake understood Batman needed a Robin to act as a support structure, or else he could fall into darkness. Batman’s track record with Robins, however, is spotty. But what if he could never run out of that function? Tynion has done a great job of turning Team Batman into a natural Bat-Family book, but for Tim Drake that team also served a bigger and more personal purpose. He was planning on if not getting out, taking a break. While the specifics force a sort of timey wimey perspective, having Tim realize that there may be a better way (for him) to help the world outside of the domino mask is mature, and the kind of character development you don’t expect out of these types of books. It poses an interesting, unsettling, question in the issues to come. If Tim Drake isn’t Robin and he refuses the cowl, what will he become?
The start of ‘A Lonely Place of Living’ lays out a well-articulated thesis on Robin and Tim Drake, and Tynion sets out to give it a heck of a test with the inclusion of the Batman of Tomorrow aka Tim Drake from the ‘Titans Tomorrow’ storyline. This version of Tim Drake is the opposite of what Tim wants. He became Batman and lost his moral and ethical center by running around Gotham “redeeming” criminals with Joe Chill’s gun. Tynion has done a good job setting up his run to work the long game, from seeding story threads in the interstitial arcs, to using an issue of “Batwoman” with Marguerite Bennett to preview a potential dark future. These dots are separate and normally the type of serial storytelling mechanics I deride, but with the emphasis on Tim Drake’s character you could start to squint and see connections forming.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – The beginning to ‘Living’ reads like the Tim Drake/Robin Rebirth fans would want, but what’s going to come out on the otherside?
