Robin Vol 4 131

"War Games: Act 3, Part 4: Too Many Ghosts"
Robin #131
October 20, 2004
Written by	Bill Willingham
Cover by	Dustin Nguyen
Pencilled by	Thomas Derenick
Inked by	Robert Campanella
Colored by	Guy Major
Lettering by	Pat Brousseau
Edited by	Michael Wright
Previous Issue	Nightwing #98
Next Issue	Batman: Gotham Knights #58

Two Robins — one former and one current — fight for their lives! Tim Drake takes on the devilish duo of the Trickster and Mr. Fun, while Stephanie Brown takes on the mysterious mastermind steering "War Games!"

Summary of Stephness: Tim is happy to be Robin again. He takes inspiration from Spoiler's turn as Robin, trying to shine a light on the shadows of Gotham. He monologues internally: "Steph had a brightening effect on Batman. Alfred swears he even saw Batman crack a joke once, during her training. A small, rudimentary joke, true. But still--for Batman, that has to count as a major breakthrough. I'm not too proud to learn from Steph--even if I do resent her trying to take my place. And I worry about her. I haven't had time during this mess to make sure she's okay--and keeping out of harm's way."

Black Mask is being tedious. Steph tries to stop his tediousness by kicking him in the face. It works. But again, editorial fiat demands that she lose.

Batman is still searching for Spoiler.

Steph achieves an epiphany: "This time I fully realize my life's on the line. I finally understood what Batman couldn't teach me before. This isn't a game!" She takes away his gun and struggles with the possibility of killing him. "But that would mean ignoring everything Batman has taught me. And I've already done too much to betray his trust."

And as a result of this, she gets shot.

I do not understand this at all. What is the point of a character coming to an epiphany that Batman was right, and then being punished by the narrative for coming to that conclusion.

Other Formats/Collected In:
Digital Comic Book
Batman: War Games Vol. 3 TPB
Batman: War Games, Book Two TPB

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