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[QUOTE=Aahz;2057329]And Tim was iirc allready 15 when he joined Young Justice and 16 when he became a Titan, and was in Highschool during the majority of his run, so him starting as Robin at 15 wouldn't cause such big problem.[/QUOTE]
Tim was 13 when he became Robin (1990), 14 at the start of his ongoing series (1993), 15 at the time Young Justice started (1998), 16 at the time of the Teen Titans relaunch (2003) and 17 when he was Red Robin (2009). If the new 52 didn't happen, we would probably have an 18-year-old Tim Drake now.
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If we're talking strictly headcannon, I'd say Dick became Robin when he was 13/14, became Nightwing shortly before he turned 19, was already operating in Bludhaven by the time he was 22 and by the time he became Batman he was 25, the same age Bruce was when he became Batman (as per Batman: Year One). I find the idea that Bruce would have an 8/9-year-old fighting crime by his side kinda bizarre. When I was younger I kind of assumed Dick became Robin when he was 14 (don't know where I got that from), so yeah, I prefer 13/14 as his starting age. 14 should really be the cut-off point. If Dick is 15 or older when he becomes Robin like in the Post-Flashpoint continuity, it gets harder to buy the whole father/son dynamic between him and Bruce.
As far as what's in the comics themselves, there are a few Peter Tomasi stories from before Flashpoint that seemed to imply that Dick became Robin when he was 12 and turned 13 in between issues 1 and 2 of the Robin: Year One mini-series. I like that rationale. Obviously other writers usually go with different ages for when Dick lost his parents/became Robin (Mark Waid and Devin Grayson usually go with 8; Marv Wolfman, 8 or 9; Dan Mishkin wrote an issue of Secret Origins where it's stated Dick was almost 11 when he finished his training; Jim Starlin went with 13 during his run; most modern writers seem to go with 12/13).
Once you look at a few different Pre-Flashpoint stories, we get a clearer picture of the situation. The 321 Days story arc by Marv Wolfman, Jamal Igle and John Bosco seems to imply that Dick went off to college not long after he turned 17. So I guess Dick graduated early or skipped a year of middle/high school or something? According to the same story arc, the New Teen Titans got together about ten months (or 321 days) later. The consensus seems to be that he became Nightwing when he was 19. He then turned 20 right around the time when Crisis happened.
After that, you kinda have to deduce his age based on other characters. Whoever wrote this page makes a pretty compelling case for why Dick would've been 25 by the time Flashpoint happened: [url]http://www.titanstower.com/titans-age-theories-pre-dcnu/[/url]
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We're now in the Superman Reborn timeline, where an extra decade has been added after the wedding of Loss and Clark, which in turn occurred after Doomsday and the Reign of the Supermen. If we figure that Dick hadn't been Robin for very long back then (possibly even predating the formation of the original Teen Titans) — say, he was 13 or 14 by the time Jon Kent was conceived — then he'd be in his mid-20s now. That's… surprisingly workable.
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I think if you go by the pre flashpoint comics what makes the most sense is imo something like:
- age 12: his parents die and he is taken in by Bruce
- age 13: he becomes Robin
- age 15 or 16: he joins the Teen Titans
- age 18: he leaves Wayne Manor to go to Collage
- age 19: he becomes Nightwing and Jason (age 12) becomes Robin
- age 20: Crisis on Inifinite Earth
- age 21: Killing Joke, Death in the Family, Tim (age 13) becomes Robin
- age 22: Prodigal
- age 23: he moves to Blüdhaven
- age 26: he Becomes Batman with Damian (age 10) as Robin
(the last are a last three only really work with a lot of timeline compression)
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I voted 10+. I like him being taken in very early and being practically raised by Bruce. I also like the idea of the first few years being training only: training in the cave, Bruce talking him through cases, and him running the comms. I think he'd become Nightwing between ages 18-20.
I think its important to the character for him to have been doing this practically his whole life. I also think Batman in his mid 30s even early 40s is fine. His appeal isn't about being young, his appeal is about being a freaking expert. That is something that comes with age.
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Dick being 8 or 9 is important to be a reflection of Bruce's own tragedy. Any other age can work but being that young makes it more poignant.
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[QUOTE=byrd156;4100340]Dick being 8 or 9 is important to be a reflection of Bruce's own tragedy. Any other age can work but being that young makes it more poignant.[/QUOTE]The thing is, that there is afaik no comic where you actually see Dick being Robin at such a young age.
The the age of 8 is only ever mentioned in dialogue, in all comics that show Dick at the beginning of his career as Robin and that give any clear indication about his age he is older.
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[QUOTE=Aahz;4100358]The thing is, that there is afaik no comic where you actually see Dick being Robin at such a young age.
The the age of 8 is only ever mentioned in dialogue, in all comics that show Dick at the beginning of his career as Robin and that give any clear indication about his age he is older.[/QUOTE]
When we’re those comics written that showed and stated him to be older?
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[QUOTE=Aahz;4100358]The thing is, that there is afaik no comic where you actually see Dick being Robin at such a young age.
The the age of 8 is only ever mentioned in dialogue, in all comics that show Dick at the beginning of his career as Robin and that give any clear indication about his age he is older.[/QUOTE]
Dark Victory he looks that age. Also dialogue is where half the story is so why doesn't that count? Do you read comics by only looking at the pictures?
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I think Dick should have been taken in at about the same age that Bruce was when he was orphaned. Why would he relate to him otherwise?
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[QUOTE=byrd156;4100379] Also dialogue is where half the story is so why doesn't that count? Do you read comics by only looking at the pictures?[/QUOTE]Because it is dialogue in comics were Dick is already an adult, and comics that are actually set at during time Dick started as Robin, count imo much more than some dialogue from story that is set much later on the timeline.
[QUOTE=byrd156;4100379] Dark Victory he looks that age. [/QUOTE]Look is not really a good indicator, kid and teen characters are sometimes drawn absurdly tiny. There are some panels in dark Victory were Dick in drawn with the height of a toddler. And the story itself makes no indication about his age.
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[QUOTE=Aahz;4100426]Because it is dialogue in comics were Dick is already an adult, and comics that are actually set at during time Dick started as Robin, count imo much more than some dialogue from story that is set much later on the timeline.
Look is not really a good indicator, kid and teen characters are sometimes drawn absurdly tiny. There are some panels in dark Victory were Dick in drawn with the height of a toddler. And the story itself makes no indication about his age.[/QUOTE]
so which stories do make explicit mention of age in his origin?
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[QUOTE=Aahz;4100426]Because it is dialogue in comics were Dick is already an adult, and comics that are actually set at during time Dick started as Robin, count imo much more than some dialogue from story that is set much later on the timeline.
Look is not really a good indicator, kid and teen characters are sometimes drawn absurdly tiny. There are some panels in dark Victory were Dick in drawn with the height of a toddler. And the story itself makes no indication about his age.[/QUOTE]
Comics are on a perpetual ever-sliding time scale. I don't know what you want, the timeline will always change and the devil is in the details. Dick's been many different ages during different decades. There isn't much consistency, that's why this thread is a thing. I like Dick starting young because it adds more to his and Bruce's story/character. If you don't, cool.
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I prefer Dick being 10 when he became Robin. I like how it mirrors when Damian became Robin. Plus Dick is supposed to be the "Boy Wonder" and that doesn't work as well if he became Robin when he was a teenager I think. The "Teen Wonder" doesn't have the same ring to it.