Robin: Teenage Wasteland

{{DC Database:Storyline Template
 * Title                  = Teenage Wasteland
 * Image                  = Robin Teenage Wasteland TP.jpg
 * OfficialName           = Teenage Wasteland
 * Aliases                =


 * Universe               = New Earth
 * Locations              = Gotham City


 * Heroes                 = Batman, Robin
 * Villains               = Batgirl, Judgment Beast, Jitter, Lords of the Avenues, Uriah
 * Others                 = Dodge, Jamie Harper, Killa Nilla, Klarion, Zoanne Wilkins


 * Titles                 = Robin
 * Collected              = Robin: Teenage Wasteland
 * Creators               = Adam Beechen; Frazer Irving; Freddie E. Williams II
 * First                  = Robin Vol 2 #154
 * Last                   = Robin Vol 2 #162


 * Quotation              = Kids these days, I swear.
 * Speaker                = Robin
 * QuoteSource            = Robin Vol 2 155


 * HistoryText            = Teenage Wasteland is a Robin storyline written by Adam Beechen and illustrated by Freddie E. Williams II. It's Beechen's second volume in his run on Robin, following Wanted and leading into The Big Leagues.

Synopsis
Robin attempts to take down a crew of kidnappers targeting rich children, but Dodge continues to interfere. He decides to go undercover and allow himself to be captured, taken in public with fellow classmate Jared Walton. Although Robin believes he can take the kidnappers down from inside, Dodge appears again and causes trouble trying to be a vigilante. Robin is barely able to save the children while preventing Dodge from getting himself killed. He finally takes down the leader Torrance, but Jared is shot in the arm and Dodge falls into a coma when his teleportation belt is damaged. Batman insists that it isn't Robin's fault, but Tim refuses to accept that.

Zoanne Wilkins kisses Tim when she sees him again, although she is furious that he did not contact her when he was okay. Robin visits the comatose Dodge in the hospital, where Dodge's family insist they don't blame him for what happened. On the way home, Robin spots a suicidal teenager about to jump off a roof. He sits with the young man and they talk about their problems into the dawn. Tim convinces him there are people in his life he could talk to. When they part ways, Tim takes advantage of this to talk through his recent tragedies with Dick.

When Robin rescues a stray cat, he starts to believe the mangy cat is connected to a series of grisly murders. Back at school he apologizes to Zoanne, and successfully asks her out on a date. The cat leads him down an alleyway where he's attacked by a huge monster. Klarion the Witch-Boy appears and reveals the cat was his animal familiar, Teekl. Klarion explains that he is tracking another Limbo Town resident Uriah, who is creating a Judgment Beast by combining familiars and needs to steal Teekl. They track Uriah and fail to stop him, but they defeat the beast through magic and quick-thinking.

Tim and Zoanne go on their first date together to the Top of Gotham restaurant. Batman wants Robin to help him take down a new villain named Jitter, but Tim refuses to run out on his date. Batman and Jitter eventually crash into the restaurant, forcing Tim to intervene anyway without his costume. Despite this interruption, the date is successful and Tim kisses Zoanne goodnight.

Dodge goes missing from the hospital and it's assumed that he absorbed his belt's teleportation powers. Jamie Harper enlists Robin to protect a reporter, who is being threatened by the metahuman street gang Lords of the Avenues. Robin stashes her with Killa 'Nilla while he investigates the Lords, who are rapidly deteriorating thanks to an experimental chemical compound. The super-thugs nearly beat him to death. Tim traces the drugs back to the company that produces them, and steals their files. Zoanne breaks up with him, as she believes he is not ready for a relationship. Dodge steals the metahuman drugs and sells them to Cassandra Cain, revealing that he now has a vendetta against Robin. When Robin returns to the Lords, he finds them dying and a black ops unit has been sent to wipe them out. Robin takes the killers down, but is unable to save the Lords. He realizes they have nothing, and he angrily confronts the head of the pharmaceutical corporation. This man is killed by a sniper. When the story breaks thanks to a snitch, Tim learns that the Lords were once good-hearted city kids simply trying to defend their block. It's revealed that the unknown assassin was Cassandra Cain.


 * Issues                 =
 * -- Ransom Demands
 * -- Teenage Wasteland
 * -- The High Dive
 * -- Things That Go Bump in the Night
 * -- Strange Brew
 * -- First Date
 * -- Freedom of the Press
 * -- Little White Lies
 * -- Paid in Full

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 * Notes                  =
 * Trivia                 =
 * The title of this storyline is a clear reference to the song  by.
 * RecommendedReading     =
 * Links                  =