Cover Thursday 08/28/2014

Damian Wayne

The fourth main Robin has a different style of upbringing and a very similar name.

Batman only has two real considerations for a love interest, they being Catwoman and Talia Al’Ghul. As complicated as the former can be, Bruce may have a child with the latter.

Which takes nothing away from Damian, seeing as how Talia raised him and he was trained by the league of assassins. The young Wayne is no slouch when it comes to combat. Being more ruthless than his father at times, assassins tend to kill people.

And then add in the punk kid mentality and Damian can can be either a little jerk, or smugly clever.

For instance, in one of the first dozen issues of Batman and Robin, Damian was kidnapped and tied to a chair by Professor Pyg, and instead of being stereotypical sidekick scared and like, holy gee how am i going to get out of this. Damian just looked around and said something to the effect of, when I get out of this I’m going to start by punching you right in the face. I got a kick out of that scene.

Also, having Damian team-up with Supergirl at one point lead to some funny results if my mind serves me right.

Unfortunately, Damian is currently dead in the comics. Though Batman is on a journey to try and either find him or bring him back, I don’t know what’s going to happen. DC Comics is advertising some sort of return of Robin, but there is no guarantee that Damian is the one coming back. If it isn’t, there will be a part where I think that’s a little disappointing.

Cover Thursday 8/21/14

Batman, getting judgy.

Tim Drake

The third and might be the most important Robin.

Current comic continuity might say otherwise, but it also says Batman went through the first two Robins and Tim, and had Damian Wayne as Robin in less than five years. So continuity be damned.

Unlike the previous Robins where Bruce Wayne eventually revealed himself as Batman. Tim Drake figured it all out. Then had enough balls to confront Batman about it. Few other people can make the claim they solved who Batman was, Tim might be the only one who wasn’t allowed to have a driver’s license yet.

Tim argued to Bruce about how Batman needs a Robin and after Jason died Batman became more violent, ruthless and acted less like the super sleuth Tim knew he was. Without Drake, Bruce was sliding down a slope no one knew where would lead. The world doesn’t need more violence, it needs a detective.

This was the Robin that put The Dynamic Duo back together. Although Tim wasn’t a force physically like the previous two Robins, he grew into that, and what he lacked in physicality he more than made up for with his brain.

Then, as Robins do, Tim grew up. Currently he goes by Red Robin, and if you don’t make a big deal out of certain continuity things, it makes sense, and Tim is still my favorite Robin.

Cover Thursday 08/14/2014

Jason Todd

Once caught trying to steal tires off the Batmobile, Jason Todd was the second and most ill-tempered Robin.

Not a serendipitous meeting as between Bruce and Dick, but not any less fateful. This new Robin had a lot of emotions running through him, and sometimes Batman didn’t know how to handle them.

Jason’s hole Robin personality echoed from Batman’s hard-hitting and street wise smarts. I don’t think Bruce ever got to completely put all his trust into his second sidekick as he did Dick.

Which is where things go real raw for Batman. Jason Todd died, as Robin, in Robin clothes, beaten to death by The Joker.

Comics are the only place where if someone dies it’s not such a big deal, because they can always come back. For decades this was the case with Jason Todd. His name was on a short list of character you do not bring back from the dead.

However with comics things change and the dead Robin returned, as a kind of bad guy, angry at Batman for not killing The Joker for what happened to him. I don’t blame Jason for feeling that way, the one man who had taken him in a protected him, ultimately did little when his biggest adversary destroyed protegé.

Despite death as a child, Jason grew up, he went under the name Red Hood and dispensed his own side of justice, using guns and seedy criminal activity. Despite using some less than savory methods for Batman’s taste, Jason is still an ally of The Bat.

Being Robin is a hard job for any twelve-year-old, only special people can fulfill. Regardless of Jason Todd having some glimpse of having that, he just fell a bit short.

Cover Thursday 08/07/14

Dick Grayson

The once circus performer Dick Grayson was the first Robin, and maybe even the first kid sidekick.

It almost seems Bruce didn’t pick him, it was being at the right place at the most tragic time that did. Similar to how that night after the theater young Bruce’s parents were murdered in front of him, Dick’s parent were taken away from him during a trapeze accident one night in front of a crowd of people. It’s almost destiny that the one person who would know that exact feeling was sitting in the audience.

What makes the original Robin so good, is that he is a reflection of the athleticism and classroom smart parts of Batman. Dick was an acrobatic circus performer, and a college student, becoming an educated human being. It was a good fit for the Dynamic Duo, until Dick got older.

Then out of the shadow of The Bat, Dick broke out moved to another city and became Nightwing. This allowed Grayson to be his own man, and take what his time as Robin taught him and what disagreements he had with Batman’s philosophies and shine on his own.
Dick is the closest person to Bruce, aside from Alfred. Which makes Batman’s whole persona change, because the first Robin knows his tactics, and it makes it a little easier for Batman to say what’s going down rather than hide more. Which Bruce still does, he just confides more in Dick.

Like in Hush, before Bruce goes off and reveals to Catwoman who Batman is he asks Dick for advice. Nightwing’s response was that he should and he should probably shower. Batman takes the advice, tells Selina his big secret, and then regrets not taking the second part of Dick’s help.

The original Robin is my second favorite Batman sidekick, but I also like him better as Nightwing myself.