Robin Annual #7 (2007)

I've had this book in my collection for probably a decade and it wasn't until 2 days ago I learned that it was a Halloween themed comic! The database I use for organizing my collection has been lacking in updating its new releases; thus I've been rushing to create my own personal log just in case the website shuts down. That new inventory is how I came to learn that this annual was holiday themed.

There are 2 stories inside. The first book is set at Halloween. A serial killer is targeting the members of a Gotham City family. Due to the surgical skill of the murderer along with the way the entrails have been removed, the media have dubbed this fiend as 'The Great Pumpkin.' (Thanks a lot Detective Harvey Big Mouth!) Working solo, the Tim Drake Robin has tasked himself with finding the killer before the whole family meets a grisly end. 

The back-up story, featuring the Damian Wayne Robin, is set in Japan during the Obon Festival: also called the Festival of Ghosts. Obon is held on July 15th. But that doesn't mean that this eerie ghost tale isn't appropriate for the build up to All Hallow's Eve. Setting up the 'Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul' storyline, after being drugged by a crazed elderly man, Damian wakes up in a cemetery, facing a horde of ghosts. 

I really liked the opening story. It's a good crime thriller in the vein (pardon the pun) of Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs. The villain is great though I am mighty disappointed to learn that after 15 years of their first appearance, the killer has never returned to print even though writer Keith Champagne (Stranger Things) really sets up a return.

I was also a fan of the artwork by Derec Donovan (Nick Fury's Howling Commandos). It had an animated quality. Not quite like the 1990s animated Batman series. But close enough to find it really visually appealing. 

I also liked the artwork of the secondary story by Jason Pearson (Body Bags). But that was about all of this story I liked. Pearson crafts the ghosts in this story to look like traditional Japanese spirits and demons. That sort of touch I greatly admired. But how often is it that I want the bad guys to win???

See, this story involves Damian Wayne during his infancy in the DC Universe having debuted as a teen just a year earlier. Well man, is this version of the son of Batman a total a-hole! Sure, in the current day, Damian is arrogant, rude and spoiled rotten. But in this story, I want to hurt him personally. He's that insufferable. 

The overall issue was rather good with one of the main characters being a huge dick (and I'm not talking Grayson!). The coolest thing about everything else is that I've got a new Halloween book in my collection that I didn't have to pay for! 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.