Newsarama 10 Greatest Robins Poll

[millernumber1]

Before I read the list I knew they would put Jason last. Dick is obviously going to be no.1, no arguments there but all these elseworld Robins I never even heard of over Jason. Oh well seems they never even bothered to read his actual time as Robin before making the list. Oh well. Glad Stephanie was on there; since they usually forget about her short spell.

How did you know they'd put Jason last? I thought it was kinda dumb, even though he's probably my least favorite Robin (least favorite on the in-canon ones, I mean).

How can you forget this?

Batman- War Games - Book One-164.jpg

Carrie's story had a way bigger impact than any individual story the other Robins had. Tim had an ongoing, but not one issue was a bigger deal than TDKR. Dick outranks her only because he was the first Robin, made it into most of the other media adaptations, and made the identity iconic. She arguably should be higher than Tim and maybe even Damian.

Agree completely that the power of Carrie's story is why she's so important, though she's not actually that important to the story itself. (I liked her in the film version better than the comic, actually.) I don't know about putting her at number 2 or 3, but how many Robins have pose so iconic that you can recognize it no matter who is in those poses?

if even a few people want you dead that not a good sign, I actually dont like that they left it up to fan vote, it was enough for it to go through and that still too much

Plenty of people want Tim, Steph, and Damian dead. I agree that the poll was a bad idea. They should have just committed to one or the other. But it makes for great ad copy.

[Aioros22]

if people want you dead then you must not have a good reception

How is 1990 going?

[KC93]

@millernumber1 I've read similar lists before relating to bat characters, he's usually put at or near the bottom

[The Whovian]

Wow, they have a very low opinion of Jason don't they? Anyway, I think it's a bad list. IMO, Tim is the best Robin ever. I would put Damian next, then Dick.

[MajorHoy]

Wow, they have a very low opinion of Jason don't they? Anyway, I think it's a bad list. IMO, Tim is the best Robin ever. I would put Damian next, then Dick.

When exactly did you start reading?

[yohyoi]

Dick is no doubt the best Robin and arguably one of DC's best heroes. No other kid hero has the amount of legacy and growth Dick pioneered and perfected. Tim is only "best Robin" in the literary sense; but he does not have the same cultural and real world impact as Dick did. Remove Tim Drake, Robin will live. Remove Dick Grayson, the mantle lost its meaning.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Well naturally (the subjective bit). And I'm sure there has been conflict between Bruce and Tim, but it probably wouldn't be that interesting to me because I find Tim terribly uninteresting in general.



Having one Robin at a time isn't a problem, it's having like 4-6 in the history. That's ridiculous and makes the identity seem like less of a big deal. It dilutes the brand and comes off as being an internship for teens to train with Batman before they graduate. I'd rather it just be Dick's identity that he passes to ONE other person (preferably Damian) and call it a day. When he passed it on to Jason in pre-Crisis it was a huge deal. 5 Robins later, it's like, who cares? Everybody gets to be Robin.

But obviously, that's never going to happen in the near future, if at all.





I think it's also possible that a lot of those callers hated the very idea of Robin in general. Dick might very well have survived the poll because he was generally more liked than Jason at the time, but I have no doubt that Dick would have received a fair number of "kill the annoying, campy little idiot and let Batman be a loner" votes.

But there is no shame in embracing the fact that Jason wasn't that great as a Robin. It's not as if it's a great deterrent to his character. He gets to be Red Hood, and he's far more popular in that identity than he EVER was as Robin, and it matters less than the fact that he died and came back.

That's an argument for Tim. He made people like the idea of Robin again.

[Lady Nightwing]

@millernumber1 I've read similar lists before relating to bat characters, he's usually put at or near the bottom

I'm not a huge fan of Jason by any means but this surprised me. Even if you just considered Jason's death and the impact it had on the Batman comics it should put him ahead of barely known entities like Robin the toy wonder and Bruce Jr.

[SiegePerilous02]

That's an argument for Tim. He made people like the idea of Robin again.

Maybe. Though around the same time, Dick was showing up in BTAS wearing a very similar costume (said costume eliminating like half the complaints about Robin), and was well received. So it wasn't just Tim doing that.

[KrustyKid]

I agree with the number one pick, Dick hands down. Jason is far too low that it's actually laughable. Damian at two? Not so much. As Batman's partner I found Tim, Carrie, and Jason all worked better with Bruce.

Now if we're talking Batman/Dick and Damian, then we're looking at a whole different animal.

[The Whovian]

When exactly did you start reading?

I bought some DC comics here and there but grew up a Marvel Fanatic. When COIE came out in 1985, I bought it off the racks and loved it. I started reading everything Batman and a bunch of other titles, but to me, Dick wasn't Robin, he was Nightwing. It wasn't until Tim Drake broke onto the scene that I was captivated by Robin. Jason never did it for me. Tim has been and will always be my favorite Robin.

[millernumber1]

@millernumber1 I've read similar lists before relating to bat characters, he's usually put at or near the bottom

Huh. Usually it's Steph (in my experience), if they remember her at all. Helena often beats her, which really irritates me. That's probably why I wasn't as annoyed by this one. Even if putting Jason below ALL the AU Robins was just wrong.

That's an argument for Tim. He made people like the idea of Robin again.

Yes. And except for a few years at the start of the n52, we never really have a sense of Damian as Bruce's Robin, and during those years, he was not the kind of Robin who I think really crystallizes the best parts of the Batman and Robin duo. A lot of that is Snyder's refusal to write him and the lack of a Robin title which paired Damian and Batman consistently in the way that Tim's Robin series did, but it's still really damaged the connection between the two.

[oasis1313]

I bought some DC comics here and there but grew up a Marvel Fanatic. When COIE came out in 1985, I bought it off the racks and loved it. I started reading everything Batman and a bunch of other titles, but to me, Dick wasn't Robin, he was Nightwing. It wasn't until Tim Drake broke onto the scene that I was captivated by Robin. Jason never did it for me. Tim has been and will always be my favorite Robin.

It's interesting how peoples' tastes are so different. I love Dick, Jason, and Damian--but I'd rather take strychnine than read anything with Tim in it. Whoever compiled that list is obviously a Tim fan.

[millernumber1]

It's interesting how peoples' tastes are so different. I love Dick, Jason, and Damian--but I'd rather take strychnine than read anything with Tim in it. Whoever compiled that list is obviously a Tim fan.

A Tim fan who put him lower than Damian.

Um. I think they're an anti-Jason normie Dick and Damian fan.

[oasis1313]

A Tim fan who put him lower than Damian.

Um. I think they're an anti-Jason normie Dick and Damian fan.

I was thinking about another list that's out there somewhere, sorry.