Last time, Tim Drake decide to go off on his own to become a better superhero, starting with studying under a Tibetan martial arts master in Paris – only to run afoul of a street gang.

Robin (1991) #2

Written by Chuck Dixon
Penciled by Tom Lyle
Inks by Bob Smith
Lettered by Tim Harkins
Colors by Adrianne Roy
Edited by Denny O’Neil and Dan Raspler

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We open on Robin & Clyde contending with a sea of foes and barely managing to tread water. That said, they do fare well enough for the Ghost Dragons to decide to leave, and the woman who was trying to pick up Tim saying something to the rest of the gang in French and Chinese – two languages that Robin doesn’t speak. Robin tries to chase after, but Clyde is having a rough go of it, so Robin uses the healing parts of his recent martial arts training to help Clyde recover, as Lady Shiva leaves – the show over.

Elsewhere, the Ghost Dragons report to a Sir Edmund. He demands an explanation, and the woman – the gang’s #2, explains what happened. Edmund tells them to find Rawlins & “The Boy” (the gang didn’t call him Robin), and kill them.

We then cut to a trio of gruff looking men in a room, discussing Sir Edmund – real name Sir Edmund Dorrance, who is actually “King Snake”. King Snake is not only a skilled martial artist — he’s also a notorious heroin kingpin. Among these figures is Henri Ducard, who is ultimately hired to kill Dorrance, and is also pointed in the direction of Rawlins & Robin.

Clyde and Tim are checked into a fairly nice hotel, and Tim has patched Clyde up – and dug through his pockets. He’s found that Rawlins is a DEA agent off the books on a personal case after the Ghost Dragons killed someone close to him. In other words, he’s Tubbs from the pilot of Miami Vice.

As they discuss their next move, Lady Shiva comes in the window, warning that the Ghost Dragons are on their way. The Dragons shoot through the door and bust in, only to find that Shiva, Robin, and Clyde have moved out to the ledge. Lady Shiva heads for the roof, while Robin and Clyde swing across the street to the next building – and then the cops show up forcing the Ghost Dragons to bail, with Lady Shiva following in her Ferrari.

Billy, the Ghost Dragon’s leader, is reprimanded for his failure, and the girl, Lynx, is now put in charge by Sir Dorrance and re-tasked to what was apparently an earlier objective: find a Nazi lab, retrieve a weapon contained there, and deliver it to Hong Kong. Through all of this, Lady Shiva is watching and listening from a bridge abutment.

In a farmhouse outside of Paris, Clyde and Tim are holed up. Tim has done further digging on Clyde’s history – which he’s unhappy with, but Tim convinces him that he’s got his back. Clyde expands on his backstory – his wife and children were murdered by the Ghost Dragons. Clyde gives Tim some training, before Lady Shiva shows up and says she’ll take over as the issue ends.

This chapter gives us some more information about our big bad – King Snake – and lets us know that Tim still has a lot to learn, but we don’t quite know what King Snake’s game is yet.