Tim Drake's First Love Interest: Ariana Dzerchenko

[Timothy Hunter]

She appeared in the first 66 issues of the Robin ongoing unti she was never seen or mentioned again

. Which I think is a damm shame because while I do think that Stephanie Brown on her own is a good character, but is rather annoying and petty when she's paired up with Tim Drake.

If you were a fan of the character, how would you bring her back into the fold in the comics?

[Mutant God]

A sleeper agent that KGBeast has in his back pocket for a future assassination plot

[km_sus]

I'm quite surprised that people still remember Ariana. To be honest I always liked her, even if most of her relationship with Tim was filled with drama - in my mind she was always the opposite of Stephanie. I'd like to think Dixon was going for a Betty and Veronica situation, but I'm pretty sure that Tim and Stephanie were always meant to be put together and Ariana was just there to drum up the melodrama until we were all sick of it.

In the end she went where all of Tim's supporting cast goes: into the ether. Ives, Dana, Callie, Zoanne, Shotgun - they're all supporting characters that have been lost to the wayside. That's one of the things I disliked the most about the Robin series as time went on. Dixon himself traded the old cast for the new Brentwood cast after No Man's Land, Jon Lewis ditched the Brentwood cast, Willingham introduced his own characters like Bernard and Darla, Beechen switched Tim to a new school and we ended up at the end of 183 issues with almost none of Tim's supporting cast intact. The only one who makes it all the way through from the mini series to Red Robin is Ives, if you can believe it.

If I were in charge of a new Red Robin series or a similar ongoing, I would just bring all of the cast back, no muss no fuss. One of the greatest strengths of Tim's time as Robin was his supporting cast. Tim Drake Robin is the most Peter Parker like character in the Bat mythos. Unlike Bruce, who doesn't have to answer to anyone, Tim has responsibilities and people checking up on him. An admirable thing about Tim was how much he valued his secret identity. When Bruce tells Stephanie who Robin is, Tim freaks out at Batman. Even to someone he's known for over 80 issues, he still tears Batman a new one for releasing his secret. That's why Tim was inspiring at such a young age: because he had a deep rooted responsibility to protect the people in his life and keep the two halves of himself separate for everyone's safety. It was interesting, but ultimately saddening that this was eroded away through the years.

But yeah, I'd just bring her back as is. Maybe's she's just running a deli in Gotham somewhere. She wanted to work in fashion, but she never got there. Maybe a story about how not everyone can achieve their dreams/goals? She doesn't need to be brought back as a romantic interest, but just a supporting character that brings accountability to Tim's other half of life.

[Digifiend]

That's a good idea. If she's running a restaurant, it could be somewhere Tim and Steph use as a hangout when off duty.

[Pohzee]

That's a good idea. If she's running a restaurant, it could be somewhere Tim and Steph use as a hangout when off duty.

Could it be a Red Robin?

[Batman1970]

Umm...Really?

[Timothy Hunter]

I'm quite surprised that people still remember Ariana. To be honest I always liked her, even if most of her relationship with Tim was filled with drama - in my mind she was always the opposite of Stephanie. I'd like to think Dixon was going for a Betty and Veronica situation, but I'm pretty sure that Tim and Stephanie were always meant to be put together and Ariana was just there to drum up the melodrama until we were all sick of it.

In the end she went where all of Tim's supporting cast goes: into the ether. Ives, Dana, Callie, Zoanne, Shotgun - they're all supporting characters that have been lost to the wayside. That's one of the things I disliked the most about the Robin series as time went on. Dixon himself traded the old cast for the new Brentwood cast after No Man's Land, Jon Lewis ditched the Brentwood cast, Willingham introduced his own characters like Bernard and Darla, Beechen switched Tim to a new school and we ended up at the end of 183 issues with almost none of Tim's supporting cast intact. The only one who makes it all the way through from the mini series to Red Robin is Ives, if you can believe it.

If I were in charge of a new Red Robin series or a similar ongoing, I would just bring all of the cast back, no muss no fuss. One of the greatest strengths of Tim's time as Robin was his supporting cast. Tim Drake Robin is the most Peter Parker like character in the Bat mythos. Unlike Bruce, who doesn't have to answer to anyone, Tim has responsibilities and people checking up on him. An admirable thing about Tim was how much he valued his secret identity. When Bruce tells Stephanie who Robin is, Tim freaks out at Batman. Even to someone he's known for over 80 issues, he still tears Batman a new one for releasing his secret. That's why Tim was inspiring at such a young age: because he had a deep rooted responsibility to protect the people in his life and keep the two halves of himself separate for everyone's safety. It was interesting, but ultimately saddening that this was eroded away through the years.

But yeah, I'd just bring her back as is. Maybe's she's just running a deli in Gotham somewhere. She wanted to work in fashion, but she never got there. Maybe a story about how not everyone can achieve their dreams/goals? She doesn't need to be brought back as a romantic interest, but just a supporting character that brings accountability to Tim's other half of life.

You're right on the ball. I thought that the 187 issues of Tim Drake's first ongoing was very consistent (aside from Jon Lewis and that Cassandra Cain fiasco) but nothing beats Tim's initial cast of supporting characters. I want to know what Shotgun Smith was up to!