Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, DC Comics | Tagged: dc comics, flatline, robin

An Anti-Manga Origin For Flatline In This Week's Robin #3 (Spoilers)

Published Tue, 28 Sep 2021 07:57:11 -0500

Flatline, the teenage sidekick of minor Batman villain Lord Death Man, is a martial artist so skilled that she could rip a person's heart out with her bare hands. Created by Josh Williamson and Gleb Melnikov, she first appeared in Detective Comics #1034 in March this year. Relatively new to her partnership with the regenerative-powered Lord Death Man, he rarely allowed her to act independently. Approached by League of Lazarus, she was offered a place in their tournament to gain immortality, a tournament in which she already killed Damian Wayne once. But in today's Robin #5 by Josh Williamson, the current lead creator for the future of the DC Universe, we get a look back to her past, and what her powers actually are – she absorbs the skills of others. And so being trained by all those folks, made her a good student…

As long as those lessons weren't taught using manga, it seems. So what's the story?

An Origin For DC Comics' Flatline In This Week's Robin #3 (Spoilers)

Lord Death Man first appeared in 1966 in Batman #180 as Death Man, created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff as a Japanese crime lord in Gotham who repeatedly faked his own death. He was revived by Grant Morrison for Batman Inc, as one who kills Japanese superheroes and had his own regenerative powers now. Jettisoned into space, he was later rescued by The Outsiders, with Lord Death Man later being captured by Ra's Al Ghul, using his body to regenerate the Lazarus pits. Might that be how he has gotten a little better and less crazed for Flatline? A bit like DC leeches? Maybe his aversion to Japanese superheroes caused the issues with manga…

ROBIN #6 CVR A GLEB MELNIKOV
(W) Joshua Williamson (A/CA) Gleb Melnikov
Ding ding ding! Let the tournament begin! The most ruthless fighters in the DCU compete for the ultimate prize: eternal life. To win his first round, Damian Wayne faces two times the danger and two times the trouble: it's Ravager and Flatline versus Robin!
Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 09/28/2021

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