Pick A Direction: Tim Drake

[CPSparkles]

Speaking of the RR name, I've always wondered why the writers and editorial let it happen at all considering the restaurant is the first thing people are going to think of. I get that it's a throwback to Jason, it keeps Tim as a Robin even if he's not "the" Robin, etc. But surely they knew it would sound stupid?? Have any of the people involved in that decision explained what they were thinking?

What about a scenario where Tim puts down the vigilante tights for a bit to go to college and try to do the civilian thing. But people in the super community keep coming to him with mysteries and asking for sleuthing help. At first it's just friends from his generation, but he develops a reputation and suddenly people like Plastic Man and Shazam show up with their sci-fi magical locked room murders. They don't know he's Tim or RR, they just know him as The Consultant.

Design-wise, his "costume" would be either a full face mask with a strong design (V for Vendetta, Japanese festival masks, Court of Owls, etc.), or a big scarf that covers his lower face, and the rest is regular clothes, whatever he's wearing that day. A casual but striking look. Supporting cast would be Steph, his parents, and new characters he meets at school. Rotating roster of guest characters, heroes and villains. There's also an ongoing mystery at his university, like a grown up Gotham Academy.

Did they not k ow about the restaurant? did the person who invented the original RR not know about the restaurant or was the character created before the restaurant/ I guess they expected fans to be more mature about it.

I had little issues with the name aside from it was Robin who isn't Robin. I think Tim could have built something from RR if DC put the effort in.

[scary harpy]

I like it.

maybe you could give him Dissociative Identity disorder and focus on how he would cope?

Thanks.

The disorder would be up to the writer...and I am no writer.

This idea is interesting. I don't want this to happen in main continuity, it would make an interesting elseworlds.

Also why not call him the Creeper? What you described fits the persona. (In BTAS continuity the Creeper came to be via the same process that made the joker, as you had described.)

Elseworlds would be fine.

I fairly certain the fans of the Creeper would hunt us down.

[WonderNight]

That all Robins are Bruce's kids.

How did he come off as hating Jack?

I Know im about to make some people mad but I dont see tim as bruces son. Tim was raised be a loving father from when he was first born and has only known bruce for 3/4 years. I think tim would view bruce as a uncle not a father. I mean did tim not have any relationship with a older male family Member before meeting bruce just 3/4 years ago?

[shadowsgirl]

I Know im about to make some people mad but I dont see tim as bruces son. Tim was raised be a loving father from when he was first born and has only known bruce for 3/4 years. I think tim would view bruce as a uncle not a father. I mean did tim not have any relationship with a older male family Member before meeting bruce just 3/4 years ago?

Loving father? What a joke. Tim grew up in boarding schools. His parents traveled the world all the time. Tim saw them like once or twice a year. Until Jack Drake was paralyzed, he didn't care about his son at all. They were really shitty parents. Tim was already 14, when his father started to show some interest towards him.

[CPSparkles]

Loving father? What a joke. Tim grew up in boarding schools. His parents traveled the world all the time. Tim saw them like once or twice a year. Until Jack Drake was paralyzed, he didn't care about his son at all. They were really shitty parents. Tim was already 14, when his father started to show some interest towards him.

I Know im about to make some people mad but I dont see tim as bruces son. Tim was raised be a loving father from when he was first born and has only known bruce for 3/4 years. I think tim would view bruce as a uncle not a father. I mean did tim not have any relationship with a older male family Member before meeting bruce just 3/4 years ago?

@shadowgirl I believe poster Wondernight is talking abut current Tim though.

In the context of the bats and comics Pre crisis Tim had loving parents. They weren't hands-on but they weren't abusive.
Sending your kids to boarding school does not equal neglect. I went t boarding from age 11 and my parents were / still are fantastic. Granted I went home more than twice a year.

I viewed Tim as a lonely kid who would have benefited from more time with his folks but t say they weren't loving parents is not completely true.

I think because Tim's folks were alive his relationship with Bruce was more professional. In the end it did develop to a place where Bruce felt responsible for his care but we never got to see that develop because Bruce died and then Tim's parents were brought back.

Current Tim has very loving and supportive folks.
@WonderNight well in your defence Tim isn't Bruce's son currently

[shadowsgirl]

I'm sorry, but you can't convince me. In my eyes, they were really awful parents. Here are some examples:

[shadowsgirl]

[shadowsgirl]

[shadowsgirl]

[shadowsgirl]

[CPSparkles]

I'm sorry, but you can't convince me. In my eyes, they were really awful parents. Here are some examples:

Don't need examples read the books.

Kids sulk especially only kids who can get lonely. Poor naive Tim "at least Bruce cares or me" If only you could see the future mate.
Boarding schools, High expectations none of that = bad parents. That just means regular parent. most normal people grow up going from Breakfast club to school to After school club to bed barely seeing their folks aide from weekend, A good deal in countries with the British school system go off to boarding school from an early age and see parents on visiting days. This is not unusual.

If Jason Todd changed his name I would understand. He had shitty parents. Tim did not.

Well all of this is irrelevant anyway since all of this was erased years ago. Like Tim Wayne this never happened so pointless to waste time debating it.

PS.

I'm not trying to convince you. You are welcome to your opinion just like everyone else here.

[dropkickjake]

I'll confess that my immediate reaction, as a fan of the Red Robin solo, was to just say "rehire Fabian Nicieza for the book and tell him to pick up where he left off," but I'm not quite that blind to issues with the character by that point, so...

...

Most story arcs pose a conflict where Tim's objective is not to capture a villain or solve a crime, but instead to compromise and wound a major operation so that the cops can start taking it down. So usually, the appeal is seeing how he's doing that. And when things go wrong, he has to start using his wits at a heightened rate and deal with unexpected consequences.

This was a good read. I enjoyed the Red Robin solo as well. I think having Tim be so similar to Bruce (the workaholic who ends up distancing himself from those closest to him) worked really well in the Batman Reborn era while Bruce was lost in time and not a part of the Batfamily any more.

[dropkickjake]

Please don't make him a Spy that's Dick's thing. Tim would suck miserably at being a Spy. Agent 37 is all the spy we want and need. While we are at it lets make him Spoiler.

I hope now fans can appreciate DC's position. Not so easy to come up with ideas that aren't stolen, rip offs or cop outs.
I don't have a problem with him going back to YJ and becoming Robin. They need to rebuild his history which right now is pretty much blank or full of holes. 16 year old Tim can't open an agency or become a spy out of nowhere.He can't work with Detective Chimp if he is new to the hero community.

I think Bendis has the right idea. Tim right now doesn't need exciting direction he needs a foundation that makes sense.

I'm not opposed to Bendis bring back YJ at all. However, I think in both threads people have had fairly unique ideas for the Robins. Retread in stories is inevitable on some level, but giving the four robins unique directions is just a matter of understanding them as characters. I'm honestly convinced that some writers don't. I think some writers are disinterested in the Robins and only end up writing their books because they don't have a big enough name as an author to pull the book they actually want. Then, it seems like they just write the story they want to with a former Robin shoehorned into the lead role rather than starting with the character and building from there. Not saying they all do this, but it feels like it happens more often than we'd like.

[uchihafanboy]

I'm sorry, but you can't convince me. In my eyes, they were really awful parents. Here are some examples:

Damn you went in, didn't know Tim drake had terrible parents like that. Reminds me of Remy Buxaplenty.

[Arctic Cyclist]

Don't need examples read the books.

Kids sulk especially only kids who can get lonely. Poor naive Tim "at least Bruce cares or me" If only you could see the future mate.
Boarding schools, High expectations none of that = bad parents. That just means regular parent. most normal people grow up going from Breakfast club to school to After school club to bed barely seeing their folks aide from weekend, A good deal in countries with the British school system go off to boarding school from an early age and see parents on visiting days. This is not unusual.

If Jason Todd changed his name I would understand. He had shitty parents. Tim did not.

Well all of this is irrelevant anyway since all of this was erased years ago. Like Tim Wayne this never happened so pointless to waste time debating it.

PS.

I'm not trying to convince you. You are welcome to your opinion just like everyone else here.

I agree. For all the examples of Tim's parents being crappy as their marriage dissolved, there were flashbacks to his childhood of him regularly being around them, going on trips with them, and being held. Jack's someone who's not neurotypical. If you start looking at him as a person who struggles with depression (which, holy cow, that man spends weeks hanging out in the dark listening to music and crying in canon), within the context of that and the 90s, he's about average as a parent.

It's just that people aren't free range anymore, and people born after 2000 don't realize how relatively normal the Drakes were.