Robin (Tim Drake)

M

Mat

Rising Star
Joined
Jul 20, 2005
Messages
277
Location
The Verse
So my favorite character in DC is a sidekick. So sue me. My favorite Marvel character is Moon Knight, so it should be pretty clear I always bet the black horse. ;)

For those of you who like the Batverse, you should be familiar with Tim, the current Robin and heir-apparent to the Batman throne. Like Bruce, he's a brilliant detective and effective hand-to-hand combatant. But unlike Mr. Wayne Tim seems better at coping with the things the world (or DC writers) throw at him.

But honestly, in the last few years or so things are borderline ridiculous for the boy wonder. During War Games he lost his longtime girlfriend Stephanie Brown (who was very well-written likeable character) and his friend Darla. Then they decide to gear up for Infinite Crisis by killing his father. And then of course IC comes along and, hey, why not kill his best friend Superboy? Add on the latest death of Bart Allen and that makes it:

1 girlfriend
1 friends
2 best friends
1 parent

all in the span of a couple of years. Oh yeah, and they blew up Bludhaven, which he was defending for a time.

Yet somehow Tim hasn't spiralled into darkness. Taking a page out of Nightwing's book, he's managed to forge close relationships with several heroes of the DCU, demonstrating his effective leadership as a member of the Teen Titans while still finding time to have a 'non-relationship' with Wonder Girl.

There's few characters that I care about so much and it's probably strange to like a character like Tim. But the reason I like him so much can probably be summed-up in one scene of the Titans Tomorrow storyline (where the Teen Titans face darker future versions of themselves who've basically become evil vigilantes).

Tim - "You have more experience, you may have learned some new tricks..."
<punches Batman Tim>
Tim - "But we have one thing you don't."

Batman Tim - "What's that, Boy Wonder?"

<As he uppercuts Batman Tim with a staff>

"We're still HEROES."
 
Yeah, I think that's a big part of it. For him, he didn't actually lose both of his parents until he was 16 (or was it 17), so he's had a great deal of time to mature. Bruce lost his parents when he was around 10 I think.

And just because he's lost so many people close to him doesn't mean he doesn't have more family. Nightwing's practically his older brother and even Bruce acts like a human being around him when things are going bad. So he's got a support group, wherewas Bruce only had Alfred.
 
forgive me for sounding retarded...i never followed Robin I or II that closely...but is Robin II the one who was apart of Teen Titans (the comic and/or the cartoon) ? Robin I and II and their link kind of remind me of Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl I/Troia.
 
Well, technically this would be Robin III, since Robin I was Dick Grayson and Robin II was Jason Todd. All three Robins have been leaders of the Teen Titans, but for the purposes of the cartoon that's Tim.

And yeah, Robin I is best friends with the Troia and Robin III is best friends (and possibly more at this point) with Cassie Sandsmark, the current Wondergirl.
 
I think Tim is the really the most well adjusted of the bat family. Hes really the most human and I was glad when he became leader OYL. I think whoever he should be a little more distanced from Dick and Todd
 
Well, if I had it my way they would never have brought Todd back. But I guess it's the typical comic book thing to do. *rolls eyes*

But, yeah, he's very similar to them both in abilities and appearance, so when they all share the same comic pages (as they've done recently in Countdown) it takes away from the characterization of Tim. I wholeheartedly agree with you BK. :)
 
they do have different traits that come out from time to time but it seems the writers never never try to separate them. Dick is a better acrobat, Jason was/is more reckless and extreme in his actions and Tim was always shown as a better detective as most as good if not better then Batman. I think as much as i like him to be he should be leader of the Titans it just moves him closer to being a Dick-clone.
 
Guess that's one of the reasons I read his solo series - he gets his own spotlight away from the other past Robins.
 
It's a decent read right now. The last story arc dealt with Tim tracking down the source of drugs turning neighborhood gangs into violent metahuman thugs. It was well written and made good use of showing Tim's detective abilities. The new arc's a little iffy, though. It's definitely not as well-written as the Sinestro Corps but it's definitely better than Countdown and JLA (except the last one with Roy and Vixen buried alive - that rocked).
 
Really? I thought the Lightning Saga was lackluster at best. We should probably start doing a comic book, book club. *laughs*

"Okay, if you read issue 87 of Nightwing, I'll read..."

"Wolverine Origins"

"Do you really hate me that much?" :D j/k
 
Wolverine Origins dear god no. theres a book i wish i could buy just to burn the issue once a month.

Lightning sage wasn't for everyone but it was a well crafted read. especially if like me you don't know the pre-crisis history of the DCU
 
Hmm...maybe I just expected more. The Justice League has such a colorful cast of characters I expect every issue to be full of great characterization.

And even Wolverine Origins isn't as bad as Frank Miller's All Star Batman and Robin. Dear God is that bad. It's like someone took the sound of fingernails scraping over chalkboard and physically manifested it into comic form. :/
 
actually All Star Batman for me is so bad its good. (kinda like "Showgirls" ;)) Watching Wonder Woman push a guy out of her way and and call him "Sperm Bank" totally worth the cringe inducing dialog.

and then theres this
http://iamthebatman.ytmnd.com/
 
*laughs*
So I've heard. I stopped reading after the first one just because it seemed less like Showgirls (no stellar pool sex scenes) and more like North (cruel torture). :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top