Makes me wonder if the Batmobile has ever been retconned more advanced in that era, given Jason's post-COIE intro.
I think that's overstating it. He did have some rudimentary skill. And he was obsessed with
Batman and Robin not Dick Grayson. And moreso Batman than Robin in his first few issues, at least. I mean, he basically wanted Dick to give up not only Nightwing, but his entire life (Titans, NY, etc.) and go back to being Robin for Batman's sake. It was an extremely unhealthy and disturbing dynamic. Things got better.
There's also some of that stuff that I deem the victim-blaming
Jackalope89 mentioned with how Tim felt safer when working with Batman than he did when working with Nightwing. He felt like as long he did whatever Batman said, he couldn't be hurt. Normally, I'd have taken that as a naiveté on Tim's part, but with the way Jason was treated in the era, I honestly kinda think we were supposed to take it as a factually correct statement. To drive home that Jason's death was his own fault because he disobeyed. Thankfully, Tim grew past that mindset of Batman-is-always-right. Though he, like the others, still lets Bruce get away with way too much.
I do agree that Tim wasn't a supergenius then - I liked better in '90s. He was a smart kid, no doubt. And he jumped in the fray when needed and got the job done. But when it came to mystery-solving, the vastly more experienced detective (Dick was still allowed to be a detective back then) was right and Tim was wrong. But they didn't make him look stupid in that case, which was good.
When re-reading the old issues, I saw this, and it really grabbed me. Tim is remembered for "Batman needs a Robin" - it's sometimes seen as wise, sometimes noble, sometimes self-sacrificing. Usually perceived as a good thing. In any event, it's become
Tim's line, a famous quote. So I was interested when I saw it a little earlier, in such different context. I have no idea if it appeared earlier than this, but this is the one that stuck with me, and I wondered it was an intentional call back.
batman needs robin.jpg
Here, Bruce says Batman needs a Robin and it's an
excuse. It's misleading and selfish certainly to me an early post-COIE example of the sort of selfishness and poor treatment of others that would become more prominent in Batman as time wore on.