#wayne faucher

From Shadowpact #1 - 3 (1991)

I wish I was just a girl who could conjure and control darkness and shadows, is that asking too much???

Nightcrawler #5 -March 2005- Marvel Comics

Ghosts on the Tracks part 1 of 2: And Kurt Hopped the A Train..."

writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

penciler: Darick Robertson

inker: Wayne Faucher

colors: Avalon's Matt Milla

letters: VC's Cory Petit

Deadpool (2019) #1

The saga of No Man's Land finally gets back to the mad men in Gotham sewers and Tim Drake's efforts to stop them.

The comic opens on everyone's favorite villains, Tommy Mangles and Gearhead being flushed down the sewers after the beatings Robin and Nightwing gave them last issue. And I am going to be frank; this duo does nothing of relevance in this story so why are we spending so much page space on them, Chuck!

Now with some actually important characters, the comic cuts to Batman and Robin watching some civilians trade some canned food. Bruce wants to know where this food is coming from, so he assigns Tim to find out! And we get to see the foe that will try to stop Tim on this journey in a separate scene, as Ratcatcher sets his rats to murder/eat some fools that try to steal from the supply catch.

Tim barters with some civilians in exchange for information about who is selling the food. Robin then puts the fear of Batman in the gangsters, learning that the food is coming from a bunker in the sewers. But I feel like I am forgetting to mention something...

That's right, Stephaine is in this story for ongoing Robin plot threads! For the Spoiler interlude, Steph is working out to get rid of her post-pregnancy weight. (Yes, this series gave Spoiler a teenage pregnancy, we do not have enough space to deal with that here.) But when she arrives home, her mom ambushes her with the Spoiler costume. Steph explains that she fights crime as The Spoiler, and her mom takes it decently...

Until she forbids Steph from going out as Spoiler in public ever again. And that some good parenting from Crystal Brown (especially in hindsight), but this is superhero comics, so it doesn't stick forever.

Back to No Man's Land, Robin is wondering in Gotham sewers. And he almost runs into Gearhead and Mangles, but the sidekick doesn't. Good use of space, Chuck. Instead, Tim manages to get to the bunker...

As he sees Ratcatcher giving a Hitler speech to his rats. Unfortunately, the guard rats manage to ambush Tim. Surrounded by the legion of rats, Robin manages to escape when his suit electric defense system shocks the rats.

Robin travels the sewers, finding himself getting ill from some rat bites and chased by an angry Ratcatcher. Tim takes some pills to help fight the infection but afterwards passes out. Also, Tommy Mangles and Gearhead are also lost in the sewers. (Yes, I know that was a random injection, but that is keeping in their role in this tale.)

We then get a dream sequence with Tim's family/supporting cast finding out that he is Robin. This is a heartwarming scene which shows something unique to Tim: the fact that he has someone other than Bruce that he cares about. Tim has a life outside of Bruce, which the other Robins did not have in their time as the sidekick.

Back to reality, Robin is being cared for by a group of teens who were left in Gotham after the quake. They are being led by an old classmate of Tim who is acting like he is a D&D character. They are caring for Robin, treating his injuries...including giving him some ice.

Now, one might be curious of where one gets ice in the post-apocalyptic Gotham. Well as Gearhead and Tommy find out, Mr. Freeze is in the sewers just healing from his injuries. Freeze, well freezes the two after finding out that there is a bunker with food and supplies.

Freeze goes on a journey to find this bunker. But he is not the only one. The teens caring for Robin go looking for the supply room too. Tim tries to stop them, but he is still worn out from his fight with Ratcatcher.

Speaking of Ratcatcher, he meets up with Freeze. The two have a war of words, before Mr. Freeze intimidates Ratcatcher by freezing one of his pets. The pair of villains then go back to the bunker.

The comic then gives a moment of character development by showing Tim's fear of not living up to Bruce's expectations with a dream sequence. This the highlight of the comic. Anyway, after this Tim powers through his injuries to save the teens from the villains that control the bunker.

And not a moment too soon as Freeze and Ratcatcher scare off all the teens, except for Tim's old classmate. But Robin manages to take-down with help of some archery on Ratcatcher, and some physics on Mr. Freeze. And the pretty sweet action sequence.

The comic ends with all villains being captured and put in jail. Batman makes Batgirl watch over the transfer police transfer as he lets Robin rest after the hard day of work.

I got to admit that this is a pretty solid comic. Tommy Mangles and Gearhead are pointless in this, but everyone else is great. Seeing Tim is still trying to prove himself to Batman is a fun dynamic to him. I wish we got to see more of teenage crew that are just chilling in Gotham sewers. And the comic even managed to include an important moment for Steph. Not revolutionary but it is enjoyable read.