Duke Thomas: We are Robin, The Signal, Final Knight Appreciation 2021

[J. D. Guy]

The jacket is nice enough, but I've never been a "civvie spandex" type of guy for my superheroes.

[lemonpeace]

The jacket is nice enough, but I've never been a "civvie spandex" type of guy for my superheroes.

I guess I can understand it not being one's taste, I never minded casual costumes. I think with it's a cute nod to his We are Robin design and with the sword plus his public identity (so no mask or helmet) it gives him a real anime feel; which, again, I can understand may not be everyone's cup of tea in superhero fiction. all he needs is a cool stylish hairdo, show off a couple signature special moves with his sword and his powers, and the Shonen ritual will be complete!

[lemonpeace]

fan theory about Duke's sword at the end of Outsiders: Future State. so writer of Soul of The Dragon revealed that the Soulbreaker in that movie is actually the fabled twin of the Soultaker that Katana has; which Iiirc is the first time they've actually named the twin sword.


so I guess we can call Katana's the Soultaker, and Duke's the Soulbreaker.

[DragonPiece]

did we ever get it confirmed if Duke will show up in the outsider stories in infinite frontier?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

The jacket is nice enough, but I've never been a "civvie spandex" type of guy for my superheroes.

I'm the opposite, I tend to have a soft spot for them.

fan theory about Duke's sword at the end of Outsiders: Future State. so writer of Soul of The Dragon revealed that the Soulbreaker in that movie is actually the fabled twin of the Soultaker that Katana has; which Iiirc is the first time they've actually named the twin sword.


so I guess we can call Katana's the Soultaker, and Duke's the Soulbreaker.

It would be cool if we get an arc showcasing how he got the sword.

[lemonpeace]

I'm the opposite, I tend to have a soft spot for them.


It would be cool if we get an arc showcasing how he got the sword.

well, the Outsiders story is essentially a pilot culminating in him getting the sword. they should do an arc where we find out how Katana broke the Soultaker. then we see a mission with her and Duke together, where she's training Duke in swordsmanship while on a ronin samurai style quest to acquire the Soulbreaker.

[lemonpeace]

did we ever get it confirmed if Duke will show up in the outsider stories in infinite frontier?

there hasn't been any mention of him I don't think, I believe the story is focused on Katana releasing Maseo from the Soultaker. there is Future State: Gotham coming up where it's gonna be Red Hood vs The Batfamily, Williamson said it will be pulling from ALL of the bat-books in Future Stae so we're likely to see Duke there.

[Hypestyle]

how long has the mentorship been going on with Black Lightning?

[lemonpeace]

how long has the mentorship been going on with Black Lightning?

I guess since the start of Outsiders, Batman chose BL to lead the Outsiders specifically with Jeff mentoring Duke and Cass in mind. however, in the actual Outsiders series we almost never see Black Lightning mentoring either of them. Katana and Shiva were the ones we see overseeing their training sessions, and Lady Shiva actually takes Duke and Cass under her wing for a while. Duke took more to Shiva's mentorship than Cass, Cass was more weary of Shiva and appeared to be going with it so she can have Duke's back.

[lemonpeace]

[lemonpeace]

now that Milestone is actually really happening, and with the Omniverse opening up multiverse crossover more, hopefully we can get this team-up:


obviously with updated looks but ideal with their cool anime designs (Duke's future state look and Static's Nikolas Draper-Ivy redesign)

[lemonpeace]

on thing I will always appreciate about Outsiders was it establishing Duke and Cassandra's relationship. I would love to see a series with them together. I saw someone on Twitter pitched Bronze Tiger and Lady Shiva co-mentoring Duke and Cass, kinda like a four man team dynamic, I would really love that.

[Mr. White]

Wasn't Duke, well Signal, designed to be a daylight operative? Thought that was the whole shtick.
Has this been changed?
Don't think I've seen much of this since his costume debut.

[lemonpeace]

Wasn't Duke, well Signal, designed to be a daylight operative? Thought that was the whole shtick.
Has this been changed?
Don't think I've seen much of this since his costume debut.

well after his series got short-changed Duke hasn't really had too many stories focusing on him and his particular niche, so we don't really see him play to this "shtick" often. however, i think that may be a blessing in disguise because the daylight/daytime motif really works best as a thematic element rather than hard line rule of operation. if he were boiled down to "the guy who's out during the day while everyone else is sleep" then his role in the Batfamily will be undercut anytime someone heroes in the day, which is often; especially for the bigger ones who appear to go wherever and whenever they're needed. using the daylight as a symbol for what he represents, a symbolic counterpoint, sidesteps that issue.

[Korath]

I feel like FS Outsiders made some great use of Duke being the Daytime hero, with him being the one member of the Batfamily to actually reveal his identity, you know ?