Robin #2
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeRobin (Vol. 2) #1 — the debut issue of the first ongoing solo series ever devoted to the Boy Wonder — marks a turning point not just for Tim Drake but for the entire concept of Robin as a character capable of carrying a title on his own. Launched in the thick of the Knightquest chapter of Batman: Knightfall, it immediately throws a Batman-less Tim Drake into a Gotham where his mentor's replacement has just tried to choke the life out of him, demanding that readers invest in Tim's independence rather than his sidekick status. The issue introduces several characters who would recur throughout Dixon's long run — most notably the hulking Czonk and the car-theft crew known as the Speedboyz — while reaffirming Ariana Dzerchenko as Tim's civilian anchor and seeding the Cluemaster/Electrocutioner prison-break subplot that would define the series' first multi-issue arc. As the launch of what would become DC's second-longest-running series featuring a teenage character, this issue established the template — dual identity tension, street-level Gotham crime, supporting teen cast — that Chuck Dixon would sustain for nearly 100 consecutive issues.
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The ongoing Robin series grew directly out of the commercial and critical success of three Tim Drake miniseries published between 1991 and 1993; by the time the third miniseries wrapped, DC editorial under Batman group editor Denny O'Neil greenlit the ongoing monthly. Writer Chuck Dixon, who had scripted the earlier Robin miniseries and was already a central voice in the Knightfall crossover, remained on the book and would write it through issue #100. Tom Grummett, whose clean, kinetic pencils had become associated with the title, provided both interior art and the cover, inked by Scott Hanna; colorist Adrienne Roy and letterer Tim Harkins completed the creative team. The book was edited by Denny O'Neil with Jordan B. Gorfinkel as assistant editor — the same editorial pairing steering the broader Knightfall saga — which ensured tight continuity with Detective Comics and Batman: Shadow of the Bat as the Knightquest storyline unfolded across multiple titles simultaneously.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First issue of Robin (Vol. 2), the first ongoing solo series ever published for the Robin character, cover-dated November 1993 and on sale October 7, 1993.
- Written by Chuck Dixon with pencils by Tom Grummett, inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Adrienne Roy, and letters by Tim Harkins; edited by Denny O'Neil and Jordan B. Gorfinkel.
- First appearances of Czonk (Titus Czonka), the car-theft gang the Speedboyz (members Cassidy, Gold, Green, Red, and White), and the rural lawman Shotgun Smith (Deputy Sheriff Steven 'Shotgun' Smith).
- Part of the Knightquest: The Crusade crossover arc; the story picks up directly from Detective Comics #668 and continues to Batman: Shadow of the Bat #19.
- Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) appears as the current Batman, dissolving his partnership with Robin after nearly strangling Tim Drake — a key moment underscoring how unhinged the Azrael-Batman had become.
- Cluemaster (Arthur Brown), Cypher (Avery Twombey), and Electrocutioner (Lester Buchinsky) appear at Blackgate Penitentiary, where their therapist Dr. Simpson Flanders is shown being used as an unwitting accomplice in a planned breakout — establishing the ongoing's first villain arc.
- Ariana Dzerchenko (alongside Vari and Natalia Dzerchenko) and supporting GCPD characters Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya all appear, grounding the title in both Tim Drake's personal life and the wider Gotham supporting cast.
- The issue has been reprinted in Robin: Solo (2015) and Batman: Knightquest — The Crusade Vol. 1 (2018), as well as the Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular (2020).
Cast · 21 characters
Full credits
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.