We Are Robin 2: Jokers

Comic Info

We Are Robin #8

Reprints We Are Robin #7-12 (February 2016-July 2016).  The Robins have been disbanded and outlawed on the streets of Gotham…which makes things difficult when a gang calling the Jokerz start a crime spree around the city.  Backed into a corner, the Robins might have to reform to stop the threat…save the city without anyone knowing.

Written by Lee Bermejo, We Are Robin Volume 2:  Jokers is a New 52 Batman spin-off title.  Following We Are Robin Volume 1:  The Vigilante Business, the collection features art by Jorge Corona, Rob Haynes, and Carmine Di Giandomenico.  We Are Robin #7 (February 2016) is also featured in Robin War.

We Are Robin was kind of the supposed to be the gritty homemade “Kick-Ass” type of superhero for the DC Universe (plus, the series had great covers).  The characters were basically (with a little side help) making and creating their own means of fighting crime while being “in touch with the youth” in a way different than superhero teams like the Teen Titans.  We Are Robin 2:  Jokers looks at when the criminals try the same thing.

The main story in We Are Robin 2:  Jokers is bookended by two single issue stories.  It doesn’t really do a very good job explaining what was happening in Robin War in this collection, nor does it good at telling what happened in later issues of the Robin War that leads into We Are Robin #8…it feels like the book needed a one page “what came before” and “wrap-up” around issue #7.  The final issue of the story kind of sets up a potential future for the Robins after the cancellation of the series…it also feels less that satisfying.

We Are Robin #9

The bulk of the story is the Jokers storyline.  The Smiley character would have been an interesting foil to the Robins if the series had stuck around longer, and I think a “young Joker” that isn’t someone like a Harley Quinn or Joker’s Daughter would have been a potentially interesting addition to DC…especially if he settled on 1980s extreme-violent Joker.  I also like that it hints to the Batman Beyond gang Jokerz who became a great terrorizing force in that timeline.

I really liked the concept of We Are Robin.  It feels real.  If there were superheroes and superheroes had teen sidekicks, there would be other teens trying to mimic those sidekicks probably with less success than the Robins in this book…which would have made an interesting book itself (I guess the “Dead Robin” storyline kind of touched on that in Gotham Central).  The Robins never feel like they got the chance due to Robin War and the already crowded New 52.  With Duke still having a significant role, maybe more of the robins will fly again.

Related Links:

We Are Robin 1:  The Vigilante Business