Reviews

Robin: Wanted by Wayne Faucher, Karl Kerschl, Adam Beechen, Freddie E. Williams II

tshepiso's review

1.0

Any fan of Cassandra Cain knows that Robin: Wanted is an infamously hated story arc that's said to have derailed her character for over a decade. Despite knowing the deep disdain Cass fans had for this story, which sees her become the ludicrously evil leader of the League of Assassins, I still wasn't fully prepared for just how bad it was. If you've read Cass's Batgirl run its clear that this turn was out of left field. But piecing through interviews from the time its interesting to parse what problems in this story were misguided editorial mandate and what stemmed from poor writing by Adam Beechen.  

The first problem with Robin: Wanted is its framing. The decision to tell a story about Batgirl going rogue in a four issue arc in a Robin book is baffling. It indicates that DC editorial saw Cass as a secondary character that could be radically changed and discarded in a side book rather than a significant character in her own right whose relationship with the wider bat-family would require in-depth exploration if she went so far off the rails. And because the story is from Tim's perspective we lack crucial pieces of information about why Cass making choices that could better contextualize her switch. Further we don't see how other characters she was much closer to than Tim, like Batman and Oracle who became her pseudo-parental figures to Cass, respond to her turn. All of this makes the story feel half written and poorly conceptualized but none of the blame there lies with Adam Beechen who had no control over these aspects of the story. 

The bigger problem with Wanted was how poorly executed the concept was. I think my most controversial take might be that there's a version of Wanted that could have worked. The question of what set of circumstances could lead Cass to killing again is interesting. And aspects of the answer provided in this story could have been told well. But unfortunately pretty much everything about how they chose to tell it was uncompelling at best and utterly nonsensical at worst.

The explanation for Cass turning evil and joining the League of Assassins is her learning dad had a secret daughter. This somehow caused Cass to have a mental break and abandon all of her core values. No attempt Beechen makes to explain this turn makes even a lick of sense. The idea that Cass was somehow fuelled, motivated, or kept sane by the idea that David Cain solely loved her is deeply incongruous with her character. And honestly finding out you have a secret sister turning you evil would be a dumb writing for any character. From this point Cass just devolves into a mustache-twirling dragon lady. Her reasoning continues to make no sense and none of how the story resolves itself is remotely satisfying. 

I could keep going on about every little thing I hated in Wanted but I honestly don't think its worth it. At the end of the day this story exists the way it does because DC editorial wanted Cassandra gone and Adam Beechen didn't care to write her turn to villainy in a way that was true to any aspect of her character. And I've reached a point were belabouring every single way it fails doesn't bring me much satisfaction.

nickpalmieri's review

3.0

Robin #148-153.

Beechen and Williams are very good storytellers. They both have a knack for character and seem to be on exactly the same page regarding the tone of the book. The stories zip by, combining all the best elements of Robin: the detective stuff, the teen slice-of-life stuff, the adventure stuff. Even the representation of a teenager soldiering on and remaining positive in the face of grief plays very well here. The last two issues, where Tim and Boomerang Jr team up to find a nuke in an abandoned villain lair, were a madcap mystery adventure with ordinary teen scenes mixed in and a well-done emotional arc, so it was basically my ideal Robin story.

My issues with the book come from the direction taken with Cassandra and Cain. I'm sure it was editorially mandated (as has been undoubtedly true for many of the worst elements of this series). But god, this character twist makes no damn sense. I thought it might link up with the last issues of the Batgirl series that ended just before this, but having just read those, the whole thing makes LESS sense. Big moments are at odds with what just happened in that book, not to mention how illogical the character turn is.

Funnily enough, when I first read this book (probably over a decade ago), I had no idea who Cain or Cassandra or Shiva or Nyssa were, so I was confused. And yet, now that I'm intimately familiar with all those characters, I'm equally baffled.

I'm glad this plot thread exits the series after that opening arc (it gets retconned in "Teen Titans: Titans East" and the character seeks redemption in "Batgirl: Redemption"). Otherwise, these creators have made the type of Robin comic I want to read and I'm almost certain I'll love the next volume.