Robin: Search for a Hero

{{Dc Database:Storyline Template
 * Title                   = Search for a Hero
 * Image                   = Robin v.4 178.jpg
 * OfficialName            = Search for a Hero
 * Aliases                 =


 * Universe                = New Earth
 * Locations               = Gotham City


 * Heroes                   = "Red" Robin
 * Villains                = Anarky, The General, Jaeger, Jason Todd, Lady Shiva, Lynx, Marcus Wise, The Penguin, Roman Cavallo, Scarab
 * Others                  = Alfred Pennyworth, Jamie Harper, Jason Bard, Junkyard Jake, Ragman, Sebastian Ives, Spoiler, Zoanne Wilkins


 * Titles                  = Robin
 * Collected               = Robin: Search for a Hero
 * Creators                = Fabian Nicieza; Freddie E. Williams II
 * First                   = Robin Vol 4 #177
 * Last                    = Robin Vol 4 #183


 * Quotation               = Before he... left... Batman told me I had to make Tim better. And that's what I've been trying to do... but... I just don't know... I don't know... if making him a better Robin will make him a worse person.
 * Speaker                 = Spoiler
 * QuoteSource             = Robin Vol 4 180


 * HistoryText             = Search for a Hero is a Robin storyline written by Fabian Nicieza with illustrations by Freddie E. Williams II. It's the final arc on the Robin series, following Nicieza's R.I.P. crossover Scattered Pieces. This leads into Battle for the Cowl, and Tim Drake begins his new solo series Red Robin in The Grail. Nicieza's next work on the character is his arc The Hit List.

Synopsis
Robin struggles to protect the city in Batman's absence. Jason Todd returns and begins enlisting gangs to start a gang-war, including the Blackgaters and the Sprang Bridge Soldiers. Robin confronts Todd, but someone in a Red Robin costume stops Todd from executing him. Spoiler continues testing Robin according to Batman's wishes, and she hires the assassin Scarab to kill him. Robin begins mapping scenarios, and discovers that the city will devolve into chaos without Batman. Alfred suggests that Tim retires, but he secretly considers what it would take for him to replace Batman. When Robin protects a young boy named Junkyard Jake, Ragman intervenes. Stephanie's return creates trouble for Tim's relationship with Zoanne. Jamie Harper teams up with Jason Bard and has corrupt superiors Marcus Wise and Roman Cavallo arrested for inciting gang violence. Spoiler is shown to be in league with the false Red Robin, actually Robin's old enemy the General. The General tries to shoot Spoiler in the head, but she dodges and gets hit in the shoulder. Robin tries to fight Scarab and Jaeger while rioters tear the city apart. This includes cops outraged by the arrests of Cavallo and Wise. He patrols in the Batmobile to make criminals think Batman is still active. While Robin is fighting Lynx, Scarab and Red Robin arrive to kill him. Robin easily takes Red Robin down, and reveals that he is the General. Jaeger is arrested. It's shown that the General has doubled Spoiler's fee to hire Scarab, and is working with Anarky as his mastermind. Robin uses fear gas to disperse a riot, and Stephanie worries that by making him a more effective hero she's making him a worse person. Robin tracks down the warehouse where Spoiler was meeting the General, but Anarky traps him inside and blows it up. General begins terrorizing the city as Anarky. It's revealed that Lonnie Machin, the original Anarky, has been paralyzed and forced into helping the General. He now operates online as MoneySpider. Cavallo and Wise are released from custody. Tim Drake survives the explosion, but has horrible burns all over his head. In the Batcave, he continues running simulations to map the chaos patterns and control them. Anarky's attacks reach a climax with the gang violence, and Tim appears in the Red Robin costume. Tim as Red Robin battles the General as Anarky, while Gordon and Spoiler teach the gangs to work with the cops. Spoiler takes down Lynx, and the city works together to quell the disaster. Tim has Harper bring the General's family to talk to him, and the General accidentally kills his younger siblings. He blames this on Robin, and Robin blames himself. Gordon confronts Red Robin on his actions, but he stands by them. In the aftermath, Tim confronts Stephanie about her attempts to "test" him and tells her not to be Spoiler anymore. The Wayne Foundation opens community outreach centers across the city, working to make gang members help their communities. Jason goes to Blackgate as a "John Doe," but Tim helps him escape to give him another chance. Bard blackmails Cavallo and Wise, making them work for Robin now. Tim returns to his original costume, and Gordon begins shining a Robin Signal in the sky.

Robin Dies at Dawn!
Lady Shiva arrives in Gotham and challenges Robin to a fight to the death, which he must accept. Tim prepares for dying, and tries to make peace with those in his life. The Bat-Signal is restored from the "Robin Signal" as Tim believes Gotham must think Batman is alive. Jason Todd enters the Batcave to view Bruce Wayne's video will. Jamie Harper and Jason Bard go on a date. Tim breaks up with Zoanne over the phone, calls his best friend Ives, and tries to reconcile with Stephanie but she doesn't pick up. He worries about becoming closed off and obsessive like Batman, but that might be the only way to match the mania of his villains. Robin finally confronts Shiva, and she breaks three of his ribs in the first strike. However, he reveals that he poisoned her food earlier in the day. Her heart rate rises in the fight, and she's instantly paralyzed. Nightwing congratulates him, and Robin looks forward optimistically to the future of Gotham.

Origins and Omens
Robin travels to Haiti when the Obeah Man finally gets out of prison. He plans on taking revenge against Obeah for killing his birth mother. Obeah has already killed again and is practicing voodoo rituals. The hallucinogen he uses causes Robin to see his parents, Jack and Janet Drake. They taunt Tim and ask him why he couldn't save them. Robin easily overcomes this and takes Obeah down. He returns with him to Gotham, where extradition lawyers will make sure he's in jail for the rest of his life. Scar looks over Tim's future in the Book of the Black. She sees Bat-Devil pointing a gun, Tim fighting Dick, Damian Wayne at Ra's al Ghul's side, and the return of Anarky.


 * Issues                  =
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens
 * -- Last Rites, Origins and Omens


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 * Notes                   =
 * Spoiler is still working in her quest to make Tim a better Robin as she did in Batman R.I.P..
 * Trivia                  =
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 * Links                   =