The Future's So Dark, I Gotta Wear Shades

  Robin Eternal #1 

                                                          

                           

        The idea here is that you don't need to read all of the Future State books. Each book is a standalone or so they say and while these events seem to spin out of Dark Knight's Death Metal the real book you should have read before attempting any of the Bat related titles is The Joker War. All of these titles are a byproduct of that so if you haven't read that, well, you may be a little lost. Lucky for you there's a new app called DC Infinite but sadly, the Joker War isn't there yet. I would urge you to stop reading this and hunt them down  so this makes all sense. The Magistrate exists because of the events in the Joker War and how Death Metal ties in has yet to be explained. It's interesting how the folks at DC say one thing but when you actually start the books, you really do kind of need to read them all to get the whole story. 

       Am I mad? Not really because let's be honest if you're a Batman fan, you're already reading these so you can see how they're all connected. Bruce Wayne has been killed by the magistrate and masks are now illegal. This is explained in every book just in case you haven't read any other Future State titles. Each of the Bat Family is now on their own hiding from these people who are now in the business of hunting the heroes. The future here is bleak and depressing and the artwork on the Bat titles is a direct reflection of this new society. Robin Eternal is a two part piece of the Future State event and it's not bad at all. Meghan Fitzmartin is a decent writer who has only two issues to present something memorable. 

      The good news is she does well with the first issue and Robin is a character we know and thankfully not completely changed like other characters (I'm looking at you Batman). The goal here of course is to go up against the magistrate and the convoy that contains a drug called Lazarus Resin a regenerative super drug to make its forces immortal. We know how this is going to turn out, and where this is all heading. The fact is, Robin Eternal is a solid entry that  doesn't have a lot of time to build backstory which could be a deal breaker for those who haven't read The Joker War. The thing is, we all get to see what happens to Gotham when Bruce Wayne dies. Will Gotham survive, but in Robin Eternal the question is, will Robin and his friends be able to stop the convoy. It's a two issue book which means not a lot of back story, and not a lot of character development which normally could be a bad way to start a book, but that's not the case here. 

       I may not be a huge Robin fan or the right person to even review this book, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Future State so far has been a little uneven and the books I thought I wouldn't like I did. If this were a new Robin series I'd immediatley add it to my pull. It's all about action here and sometimes, that's all you really need. Why wasn't this given three or four issues? That's a question I would love to ask those fine foiks at DC and I bet they wouldn't even tell me. I guess it's all about timing and how Batman is the flagship so his books get more attention. Robin Eternal is a sold book and one that is shackled to a too short run. If you can. you should pick this one up. 5/5