80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular: Robin #1

This is was one of the better milestone editions from DC and well worth grabbing for even casual fans of Robin. Read Full Review

It doesn't seem to matter who Robin is, the concept of the character persists because each iteration has become a fan favorite over the years. Despite readers often preferring the Batman as a lone Dark Knight, Robin has earned his place in Batman's mythology. This issue both celebrates the characters and demonstrates the importance of a Robin's place in Batman's life. Read Full Review

"Bat and Mouse" will find father and son clash over ideals as the two reluctantly team up to take down Quietus and his army of robots. Unable to say what they need to say to each other, they let their fists do the talking as their inner monologues speak volumes about the growing rift between them and Damian hides the scope of his latest plan from his father. A good story that should lead to an interesting clash between Batman and Robin. Read Full Review

This special really shows what has made Robin such an enduring character over the last 80 years. Each creative team is firing on all cylinders, giving us their ideal snapshot of a piece of Robin history. Read Full Review

The Robin 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular works perfectly as a loving tribute, as a new collection, and as a lead in to what's to come. The only niggle I have is that I would've liked one more Jason Todd story, showing him as a badass. I would also have liked to have seen Carrie Kelly too, but those are pretty small gripes when everything we did get was so very, very good. Read Full Review

A huge number of stellar stories combined with top-notch art really celebrate the Boy (and Girl) Wonders with an issue more than worth the purchase. Read Full Review

This book avoids the pitfalls of most anthology comics. Not a single story was a bore to get through, nor did I feel like any didn't belong. Even the ones with stories I care less for were delightful from an art standpoint, and none were too long. There was a consistent level of quality among each story with the occasional standout. Your mileage may vary depending on your attachment to the different eras on display here, but not to the degree that they aren't worth it. Read Full Review

The first three stories of this book were completely awful. But it does pick up after those. I am glad I hung in there. For the most part, this is an awesome anniversary issue, and I look forward to the next one DC puts out. Read Full Review

Overall, there isn't a bad story in this oversized special. But there are quite a few that feel very slight and don't leave much of an impression, and as a whole the issue feels more like a time capsule to past runs than an attempt to celebrate the future of Robin. Worth buying for the Seeley/King, Tynion, and Wolfram stories in particular. Read Full Review

The long history of the character is beautifully told through the various stories within the anthology. That being said, I would have liked to see more focus on interactions between the Robins and seen stories focusing on Carrie Kelley and Duke Thomas. Read Full Review

This anthology does a good job of trying to get to the heart of each of these Robins, and it makes for a solid Wednesday read. Read Full Review

In any case, while (like all anniversary issues) I disagree with the importance of some of these stories, you're getting a lot of good content in this issue " the great stuff is fantastic, and it's just a matter of if you think it's worth the price of the overall package. For me, though, I think I needed the reminder of why Robin is so important. Read Full Review

If you've read any over-sized anniversary or celebration type issues you know what to expect out of this spectacular, you have a bunch of short stories, where some are going to be better than others, but my biggest complaint is that we don't actually deal enough with Robin stories and focus more on the characters who have been Robin simply remembering their time as the Boy Wonder and putting those skills to present-day situations.  It's still fun overall, but by the end, I wanted more. Read Full Review

This just goes to prove, even little guys deserve the spotlight sometimes. Read Full Review

The other Robins also get tales, my favorite of which features the Red Hood completing a task he started during his time as Robin in “More Time.” Tim Drake gets a pair of stories in “Extra Credit” and “Boy Wonders” both touching on themes of growing up and learning to grow into his own Robin. Stephanie Brown struggles with becoming the new Robin in “Fitting In” in a nice story featuring the shortest tenured Robin of them all. Damian is seen in “My Best Friend” centering around his friendship with Jonathan Kent and “Bat and Mouse” which ties into current storylines (and is the least interesting of all the tales). For fans. Read Full Review

TheHyruleElf

Mar 18, 2020

Maybe I'm just a huge fan or Robin but I pretty much loved every story. Even the last one which felt pretty dark. But everything else landed for me. It was great to see some classic writers take on Dick Grayson like Wolfman and Dixon and even newer ones like King & Seeley. Judd Winick had a really touching Jason Todd story that hits you right in the feels. The Adam Beechen Tim Drake story was okay, nothing great, but it had a nice theme and message at the end. And I loved seeing Tynion write Tim again. I was a huge fan of his run on Detective Comics. I even liked the Stephanie Brown story, I though it was charming! The Tomasi story reminded me how much I love and miss Super Sons, and the last story was mildy interesting, imo. All in all, th is was a worthy collection of honoring the Robin legacy and I'm really glad DC put it out! more

Grifter

Mar 20, 2020

Loved almost all stories, especially those about Dick

M1sf1r3

Jun 09, 2020

Prelude: Time to read the Robin 80th Anniversary Issue. As such my normal Anthology system will apply. The Good: Really enjoyed "A Little Nudge". It's a classic tale but Woflman makes it work so well here. It's fast but I did enjoy "Aftershocks". "Team Building" was a nice enough story to show off Dick's leadership skills. "The Lesson Plan" was amazing. One of my favourites from this issue. "More Time" was just... it was so great. Winick knows how write Jason beyond the edge we usually get. "Extra Credit" is passable. It fits Tim and it's written well enough but doesn't explore him too much. "Boy Wonders" serves well as a Tim story but also as showing off the other main Robins. "Fitting In" was a nice story and it is so great seeing DC remember that Steph was Robin for a brief bit of time. "My Best Friend" was a great story about Damian and brings back some of that wonderful Super Sons action I've been missing. The Bad: "Bat and Mouse" was the only story I didn't like. It just feels disappointing and wasted potential. Conclusion: Asides from "Bat and Mouse" this was a great Anniversary issue. Loved it throughout. more

Br'er Lapin AKA 20-Ish Ceiln

Jun 05, 2020

Pretty solid celebration of one of my favourite heroes since being a small kid. The standout story to me was Marv Wolfman. I knew he still had it in him! There was a pretty good variety and I like how each Robin had their limelight. Also dug Tom King, Tomasi, Tynion IV, Amy Wolfram, Chuck Dixon (I legit thought he was blacklisted), and Judd Winick.

Liem Duong

Jun 07, 2020

One of my favorite anthologies so far. Robin is one of my all time favorite characters, and these stories reflect why. Most of them are really fun yet heart-felt and done with passion for the character. A few of them such as the Grayson one was whatever, but other than that, this anthology was great. Each of the 5 canon Robins gets a story, but Dick by far gets the most understandably. Dixon, Tomasi, Tynion and Winnick were my favorites. Overall, a fantastic anthology from DC. Really wish I bought this one.

duBEARck

Aug 06, 2021

"A little nudge" - 8.5 "Aftershocks" - 7 "Team building" - 7.5 "The lesson plan" - 8 "More time" - 8.5 "Extra credit" - 8.5 "Boy Wonders" - 9 (I love Tim Drake) "Fitting in" - 8.5 "My best friend" - 8.5 "Bat and mouse" - 8 8.2 -> 8

myconius

Mar 18, 2020

some good stories, some not so good. did not feel this was worth the $10 plus tax i spent on it. it still was much better than Detective Comics 1000. Chuck Dixon and Marv Wolfman were the highlights of the book.

Simon DelMonte

Mar 29, 2020

A great celebration of the characters and the talents that loses points mainly because it reminds up over and over how much DC has wasted both.

Darkseid24

Mar 18, 2020

This Special has some good stories like the one from Wolfman& Chuck Dixon. My favorite was the one about Jason by Judd Winick, because it showed us the relationship between Jason& Bruce. However this Special once again proves, what a joke Stephanie Brown is, but Jason or Damien should have got a second story instead. This is just a waste of space. The Tim Drake story by Beechen wasnt too bad either, we at least saw some Villains in the background. However it’s sad, that we don’t get any story, that shows Robins relationship to The Villains. So it’s pretty onesided. We also don’t get many extras except some basic informations about Robin. Some creativity would have been nice here. The art is great, because we get to see some older artists like Dustin Nguyen, so at least the art felt nostalgic. Overall this Special lacks some love& I hope Joker‘s will be better. more

BigCliff

Sep 04, 2021

I have a lot of problems with this issue but a lot of praise to give this issue. This issue has plenty of great moments. Such as Nightwing's banter & speech during "The Lesson Plan." It shows just how great of a character he is. The complete juxtaposition to batman in every way but honors him simultaneously. He's vibrant, energetic, happy, colorful & more. All of this shines through his costume, personality & speech. My second favorite moment in this issue is "The Boy Wonders" by James Tynion. It's a great issue that showcases the best things about the batsons. It shows their diverse personality, their ideals/beliefs, their thoughts on Batman & how he's represented & even more, it shows how unique their brotherhood really is. I loved it! Here's my problem with this issue. A lot of it doesn't feel like it was meant for me to read. Each issue has a similar art style or writer that's adjacent to a specific run they wrote for a specific robin. It gives glimpses or set up to a story that already exists. For example, "The Lesson Plan" is a moment during The Agent Grayson run & "Boy Wonders" is literal set up for James Tynion run on Detective Comics. It's teasers for new readers to go purchase the other runs. It doesn't feel like a true celebration of the name ROBIN. Instead it hits the cliffnotes essentially. Maybe if i didn't read these runs already, my reaction would be different. more

MKW69

Mar 18, 2020

Downard spiral. Best one was Winnick and Grayson team. Rest of them were a add ons.

Psycamorean

Mar 24, 2020

This was fine. The best story was Red Hood's story. The worst story was the Grayson story.

Spacey Medicine

May 05, 2020

So much Robin. And for what?