The Robin Archives, Vol. 2 by Jim Mooney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This second archive of Robin solo stories includes adventures from Star Spangled Comics #86-#105.

These are not as good as those in Volume 1. Part of the problem is actually Batman who effectively took over the strip #88-#95 in hopes of saving it from low circulation numbers. In Issue #96, Robin ceased being the cover feature and these went back to being stories featuring just Robin.

Some of the highlights include:

-A story where criminals make a counterfeit of Batman's utility belt (#89)
-A powerful boy inventor who accidentally discovers a way find Robin's Secret Identity (#96)
-Another bout between Robin and the Clock King (Called the Clock in this story) (#97)
-Robin encounters a wanna be second Boy Wonder (#98)
-Robin takes a wild killer dog under his wings and helps his go straight #100)

The lowlights are quite a few. We have some just goofy stories such as Robin running for Batman as a birthday present (#91), the attempted introduction of a wheel based criminal (#99), and the Underworld's attempt to rig school popularity contests (#101).

The worst story was probably #103 where introduces Roberta, the Girl Wonder and Robin lets her fight crime and allows her to over the, "She's a girl!" against fighting crime but then comes up with something even more stupid, and executes a plan to end her career that's one of the most jerky things done in comics.

Still, if you're fan of the Golden Age Boy Wonder, this is a worthwhile read even if the stories have lost a step.



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