The Robin origin story begins.
What They Say:
Batman refuses to let Robin investigate after learning the name of the ringleader of an extortion.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the first series moved along we saw a few more episodes that had their basis in the comics. This storyline originally showed up in Detective Comics #38, very early in the run, back in 1940. This episode in particular made out well as it won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (under an hour) and it delved well into some good backstory material for Robin, aka Dick Grayson. Knowing that there were a lot of little kids watching, they had to try and balance the darker stories they were telling with that and it was a real tightrope walk when it comes to dealing with the death of Dick’s parents. There are things you can do in film that you’re hard-pressed to do in animation and when focused on a younger set. Especially thirty years ago when it was still very much an animation is for kids thing.
Robin has been minimally used in the series overall, even fifty episodes in, which is good and bad. As a late-teen at this stage and confirmed in these episodes, we get a good opening piece as he and Batman are dealing with some gangsters that are extorting someone. When they’re caught and dealt with we get one of them saying who they work for, which creates a wedge between Batman and Robin as Batman sends him away. The name Billy Marin has a past for Batman in that it’s an alias used by Tony Zucco, the man responsible for Dick’s parents’ death. Batman does his best to keep Robin out of this investigation as it proceeds but Dick’s gotta be Dick and that has him investigating behind Batman’s back and making the discovery of when Batman last crossed paths with him nine years ago.
What this sets in motion is a pretty lengthy flashback that takes up a good chunk of the episode, focusing on how Zucco was involved in extorting the ringmaster for protection, which in turn lead to Zucco setting up Dick’s parents act to fail in a deadly way. What’s worse is that Dick knows it but can’t get the information to them in time that something of some sort bad is going to happen and he ends up watching them fall to their death with no safety net. We know how this unfolds with Bruce taking him in and seeing a young Gordon on the case as well – even a somewhat younger-looking Bullock of all things. There’s some good stuff between Bruce and the young Dick Grayson at this point in the flashback as Bruce is still learning what it means to be a foster parent and all while dealing with tracking down Zucco and facing him. But the two share that bond of watching their parents die and even if Bruce can’t really bring that out of himself in a good way, he’s able to be someone who can understand for Dick.
In Summary:
The first half works through some of the frustrations Robin has in the present with how Batman keeps him out of the loop and you do understand that after nearly a decade together that it really shouldn’t happen. But, to be fair, Batman is Batman. The flashback side goes into things well enough and it feels like it adapts what I remember of the original comic in a good way while making the necessary tweaks for the medium and the time that’s passed in how it’s told. I like getting the time with the younger Dick here and a touch of time with his parents as well as that was always an area to explore just a bit more. Combine that with the early period of Dick coming to live with Bruce and it’s done without all the kind of flash and craziness that you’d expect from a live-action version. It’s a little more somber and slower here and works well.
Grade: B+
