Originally Posted by
SiegePerilous02
I think that was toyed with here and there in older comics, but not really a thing until Tim came around. I can't say I care for it. Robin's main role was to function as a Watson to Batman's Holmes and give him someone to bounce ideas off of, and to provide guidance for someone who went through a similar tragedy and also simply to have a friend. Robin being a needed morality chain to keep Batman from flying off the handle isn't a remotely good look for Batman. I think Bruce consciously reigns himself in to be a good influence for Dick, but it would still be a small part of their relationship and Bruce would would also independtly mature as he grows older (he is typically only in his early 20s when he starts).
Even when Dick became Nightwing originally, his friction with Bruce comes across as Dick not being a totally reliable narrator and he's as much to blame for the friction in their dynamic as Bruce is, and then they come to terms at Donna's wedding like adults. Instead post-COIE changed it to Bruce firing him and it escalated from there. I think despite the overall boost in popularity for the brand, as a character Batman took some of the hardest hits in the changes around COIE. He changes, and most definitely not for the better. In a realistic scenario, the Batman-Robin dynamic wouldn't be healthy but it's fantasy. Nowadays, even within the fantasy setting of the DCU it comes across poorly, and that's not remotely a good thing to me either.