Duke Thomas: The Signal Appreciation 2020

[lemonpeace]

Am I the only one surprised by how much news there seems to have with Duke in recent days/weeks ? I'm starting to wonder if some of the people being laid-off weren't obstructing his use.

I mean, suddenly he appears in the Bat-books as cameos and even in a big event like Death Metal, Snyder speaks of plans about him and Tony Patrick is called back (and he did a great job with just three issues).

I'm not begrudging Bryan Hill, I know he could have done better by Duke, but at least he kept the Signal somewhat relevant when it was most needed, IMHO. And the artist chose to share a piece of Duke's art, not of Robin King or another character. That's great to see, really.

if we're going to go down this line of thinking, and as much as I hate to single him out because he was the go-to scapegoat for everything bad at DC, but if that were the case it would have to be Didio or someone in his camp wouldn't it? I mean the lay-offs are pretty fresh, I think anyone who had it out for Duke would've still been around to block him by the time they would've been doing Robin King and the early planning phase of whatever Snyder has in store for Duke. we saw 5G get scrapped and Tynion's run extended when Didio left, I can see Snyder deciding to double down on Duke around the same time if Didio's camp were the ones obstructing him.

I think either it's just weird timing or it's possible that after Didio's departure, and after Milestone was settled, while they were gearing up for the lay offs someone higher up wanted to start gearing up for a diversity push. Other History of DC, Milestone revival and reprints, John Ridley's Fox family Batman story all lined up plus Naomi season 2 is still on the Horizon seem to be coordinated. so they must've decided to greenlight another Duke push since Duke has a small, devoted and growing base, plus Snyder (the DC architect right now) CLEARLY wants Duke to take off. Snyder was probably campaigning for him behind the scenes plus he is on Jim Lee's radar; Lee was the one who confirmed Duke was supposed to connect to the Immortal Men series down the line.

[DragonPiece]

I wonder if the writer working with Snyder on the new book is tony patrick, since he's writing the upcoming Robin King special.

[lemonpeace]

I wonder if the writer working with Snyder on the new book is tony patrick, since he's writing the upcoming Robin King special.

that would make the most sense, maybe the Robin King special is supposed to spin-off into another Duke title of some form.

[Korath]

that would make the most sense, maybe the Robin King special is supposed to spin-off into another Duke title of some form.

Hopefully it would. Metal and Death Metal would indeed resonate with Gnomon's statement about Batman stealing a destiny which isn't his own or something like that (I need to read BatS again).

[lemonpeace]

It occurs to me that Duke, with his eye powers, should effectively have the sharingan; I demand DC let's Duke realizes his potential as an anime protagonist!

[Frontier]

It occurs to me that Duke, with his eye powers, should effectively have the sharingan; I demand DC let's Duke realizes his potential as an anime protagonist!

Voiced by Zeno Robinson .

[Westbats]

that would make the most sense, maybe the Robin King special is supposed to spin-off into another Duke title of some form.

I wonder if this is how DC will create mini-series moving forward, considering the changes the company recently made.

[lemonpeace]

Voiced by Zeno Robinson .

it's decided! DC, you have 24 hours to surprise

I wonder if this is how DC will create mini-series moving forward, considering the changes the company recently made.

I hope not. I hope DC calms down with the event launching pad approach. I rather they take titles like Action and Detective comics and use them as showcases to launch other characters and series from. or they can do like Naomi and just release new character stories. I like a good event but I've tired how regularly DC does them, and using them to launch characters seems to be not too effective. I mean Duke was supposed to spin out of Metal last time, and that didn't do him much good.

[Westbats]

I hope not. I hope DC calms down with the event launching pad approach. I rather they take titles like Action and Detective comics and use them as showcases to launch other characters and series from. or they can do like Naomi and just release new character stories. I like a good event but I've tired how regularly DC does them, and using them to launch characters seems to be not too effective. I mean Duke was supposed to spin out of Metal last time, and that didn't do him much good.

The only reason I'm considering it a possibility is that Punchline is also getting a one-shot special, and Harper is a part of it. If Robin King is DC setting up a new status quo for Duke's mini/on-going, it could be possible that's the plan for Punchline and Harper as well.

[Korath]

Hey Leamonpeace. I was perusing the Signal wiki and I suddenly wondered... are we sure Gnomon is truly his biological father ? I'm not sure it was quite as clear cut as that when the mini-finished.

[lemonpeace]

Hey Leamonpeace. I was perusing the Signal wiki and I suddenly wondered... are we sure Gnomon is truly his biological father ? I'm not sure it was quite as clear cut as that when the mini-finished.

All the evidence points to it being the truth. the strongest piece being Duke's physiological connections to Gnomon: Both manipulating sunlight, both affecting 8th metal, Gnomon being able to share Duke's vision and, most pointedly, Duke's ability to sense when Gnomon is telling the truth. Then we add Elaine's mysterious past into the equation and the common connection she and Gnomon have with immortality and nth metal, it points to Gnomon being his biological father likely being the truth. Admittedly, Gnomon does appear to have some degree of telepathic abilities so he may be using that to trick Duke, but there appears to be no indication for that being the case unless they retcon it to be more obvious later.

[Rebeca Armus]

Hi guys ;3

I participate of Damian Wayne appreciation, but I draw strips about Batfamily, so I want to know Duke's charms, like funny/cute things. Like a favorite song, food, animal, ordinary things.
I read Robin wars, but he doesn't show up as a civil person too much, the only normal thing I remenber was Duke being a little scary of high places.
I would like a recommendation of what is the comics where Duke has more focus than any other character, but more as Duke than Signal.
Sorry for my English >u<)/

*my strips are in @Rebeca_armus IG

[Korath]

No problem for your English, Rebecca !

Welcome here !

Sadly, he hasn't appeared much, beyond New 52's Batman as Duke. We don't know too much about him and what he likes. As far as I can tell, since he's from the Narrows, he's from a very destitute neighborhood. I'm not even sure we knows what he likes to do on days off

[Restingvoice]

Hi guys ;3

I participate of Damian Wayne appreciation, but I draw strips about Batfamily, so I want to know Duke's charms, like funny/cute things. Like a favorite song, food, animal, ordinary things.
I read Robin wars, but he doesn't show up as a civil person too much, the only normal thing I remenber was Duke being a little scary of high places.
I would like a recommendation of what is the comics where Duke has more focus than any other character, but more as Duke than Signal.
Sorry for my English >u<)/

*my strips are in @Rebeca_armus IG

Have you read We Are Robin? It was the story before and after Robin War so he's not yet The Signal

[J. D. Guy]

Hi guys ;3

I participate of Damian Wayne appreciation, but I draw strips about Batfamily, so I want to know Duke's charms, like funny/cute things. Like a favorite song, food, animal, ordinary things.
I read Robin wars, but he doesn't show up as a civil person too much, the only normal thing I remenber was Duke being a little scary of high places.
I would like a recommendation of what is the comics where Duke has more focus than any other character, but more as Duke than Signal.
Sorry for my English >u<)/

*my strips are in @Rebeca_armus IG

As Restingvoice mentioned, Duke is the lead of the We Are Robin series, and we learn a lot about his personal self there.

As well, we learned details about Duke here and there, some visual inference and some in supplimentary materials.

For example, his debut in Zero Year showed his room. We can see that among other things, Duke is into pen-and-paper RPGs/tabletop RPGs. We Are Robin's lead-in hype included a character bio that notes that Duke's drive and motivation is internal, rather than external like some people's are. This was in reference to his athletics and academics. As well, while he doesn't get the space to showcase and explore this side of himself, he is said to be into "geeky" hobbies. Duke also has writing talent, in prose and especially in poetry, though he is noted to keep that latter side of himself to himself.

His inquisitive and empathetic nature, which we do get to see of Duke and which is one of his defining traits, leads into the possible speculation that he may have gone in his mother's footsteps and become a social worker like she was prior to the Endgame storyline. This last part is my own introspection of Duke's character, though it's based on what we learn of Duke and his mom in Snyder's All-Star Batman backups and the Batman and The Signal mini.