January Detective Comics Event: Shadows of the Bat

[Fergus]

A lot of writers claim to be Tim Drake fans. Dixon has also gone on record saying his favorite robin is Tim drake and same for Tim Seeley who said the same. I think the main problem is that Tim Drake and Dick grasyon are too similar of characters that if they push Tim more, it negates the need for Dick to be part of the batfamily. So Becuase Dick is the one with the solo, he gets the push more. But if they wanted, DC could probably switch out Tim and Dick and give Tim a bigger push and all of these writers could write Tim more but at the expense of Dick being a bigger character

That is the down side of borrowing so much from an existing character.

Since leaving Robin, Tim has had the Solo. DC has given him a bigger push [while trying to bury Dick]

Writers have written Tim at the expense of other characters including Dick but it has not worked.

It's become blatantly obvious that Robin has been carrying Tim Drake. tim borrows from so0 many characters existing characters[Dick, Carrie and Babs] and in the long run it's ended up hurting him.

Tim trying to fill a role made for Dick Grayson isn't the answer.

Finding a distinct role for Tim is the answer. He was made to be Robin [Specifically a Grayson like Robin with some of Carrie throw in] but robin and market trends has evolved.

Damian Wayne's popularity is indicative of that evolution. Tim needs to find a new path/role.


Tim is currently filling in for Robin now some are asking for Tim to fill in for Nightwing. That sentence sums up the problem with Tim drake.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Tim would've been a good addition for Arkham order. He could help Dr. Joy round up the escaped patients or be another obstacle like Azrael.

Right now Tim needs a new niche/hook. Him being an everyman/pov worked in the beginning but its something he outgrew over the years.

[skyvolt2000]

It wasn't for lack of trying. Both Bendis and Tynion are huge Tim fans. Taylor is a huge Tim fan. It wasn't like he was forced on writers and they wrote him halfheartedly.
When even his greatest fans are struggling to make Tim shine or stand out, the character is in a bigger problem than just lazy writing.

You can only do what EDITORS allow you to do.

You can only do what management and owners of said characters allow you to.

It's not like we have NOT seen this before.

New 52 Static and Rebirth/DCU Cyborg had the same editor. Both had writers who were fans and had written BOTH before. Both had writers quit due to him.
Yet same editor did Batwing, Batgirl (Stephanie Brown), Batman & Robin & Aquaman & The Others. No issues.

If the editor does not give a bleep about the character then it should be no shocked that you see the messes that we see.

[dietrich]

You can only do what EDITORS allow you to do.

You can only do what management and owners of said characters allow you to.

It's not like we have NOT seen this before.

New 52 Static and Rebirth/DCU Cyborg had the same editor. Both had writers who were fans and had written BOTH before. Both had writers quit due to him.
Yet same editor did Batwing, Batgirl (Stephanie Brown), Batman & Robin & Aquaman & The Others. No issues.

If the editor does not give a bleep about the character then it should be no shocked that you see the messes that we see.

What has any that got to do with Tim or what lal said?

DC DID TRY WITH TIM. IT WASN'T FOR LACK OF TRYING.

The bat editor had nothing against Tim. They didn't exile him from the batbooks or ship him off to the superman editorial like they did Damian.

They didn't green light a book and hire a writer with the instructions to force him down a dark path that leads to him losing Robin?

In Glass' own words the mandate was to take Damian 2 steps back.

At some point people have to accept that there was never any big conspiracy against Tim Drake and that Dc has never actually treated him badly. Dc has kept trying with Tim.

they made some poor choices [like they have done with EVERY character] but they've kept trying.

[thwhtGuardian]

Is anyone actually liking this event?

I really enjoyed Tamaki's earlier story on 'tec but the pacing here is so horrible that I just don't care what or who caused the issue with the tower. It's completely unreadable for me which is sad because she is a great writer.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Is anyone actually liking this event?

I really enjoyed Tamaki's earlier story on 'tec but the pacing here is so horrible that I just don't care what or who caused the issue with the tower. It's completely unreadable for me which is sad because she is a great writer.

It has its moments.

[MajorHoy]

Is anyone actually liking this event?

It has its moments.

But is it worth the money?

And when does it finally wrap-up?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

But is it worth the money?

And when does it finally wrap-up?

Unless you are a fan of Tamaki's run, its probably not worth picking up in single issues. So don't bother picking it up or just trade wait it.

To answer the latter question, it's a 12 week event starting from #1047. You got two months left .

[Uncanny Mutie]

TEC might go back at being a team book again.

PLEASE, no......

[Rac7d*]

TEC might go back at being a team book again.

Tim’s knights again?

[ayanestar]

I disagree. Tim's main problem is that he has almost no traits to differentiate himself from Dick, while Dick does have traits that differentiate him from Tim.
Dick is the more experienced, the more well known, better connected to the entire DCU characters, the leader. The mentor.
Tim can't push Dick out of the batfamily because Dick was the first and is one of the pillars of the family. Dick is the closest to all the Robins, to Babs, to Bruce. He's Tim and Damian's mentor. He's the one who has has seen it all and experienced it all. Who lead the batfamily, the Titans, outsiders, JL, was Batman. He did it all.
Tim, on the other hand, is still a teen.
Dick isn't in this event because he has a solo. He's in this event and has a solo because he's one of DC's most successful and well loved characters. Tim's problem is that as long as he won't have clear characterizations to set him apart from Dick or the other Robins, he won't be able to really shine.

The problem is that writers have been borrowing characteristics from Dick (and other characters like Babs) since the moment Tim was created, so of course you end up with similarities. Tim always had this issue or rather Dick always had this issue because he is the first Robin so while trying to give the new Robins something to differentiate them, they end up taking away characteristics from him like for example making Tim the best detective. This however only gets Tim so far because being the best detective in the Bat Family does nothing for you to stand out, they are literally all detectives, that's kinda their thing being trained by Batman and as you have said, Dick has other traits that differentiate him from Tim and so do the other Robins, while Tim seems to be stuck with being the guy that says smart stuff and does tech stuff to save everybody when actually every other Bat character could get the job done. This gets especially ridiculous when you have several characters like Dick, Babs, Damian, Jason and Batman himself present in events. Now you also have Duke running around, who has interesting powers and a far more interesting personality than Tim, he is also around the same age as Tim if I remember correctly so even the "teenager of the Bat Family" role is kinda taken. Tim can count himself lucky DC never made Duke an official Robin.

I haven't really caught up with a lot of characters yet, but as far as I can tell the only thing Tim has going on for himself right now is his sexuality, and even with that DC are afraid to embrace it and give it a go. They announced it in an anthology series and have giving him a random dude as a love interest that no one knows. If they were serious about it, they would have just gone with Conner and made them official lol. They are a popular ship for a reason, so might as well try to profit off of that until you figure out what do you with him but that might be an unpopular opinion.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Nvm. I lost my train of thought.

[millernumber1]

Don't understand what all the yelling about Tim is about. He's not even in this story.

But is it worth the money?

And when does it finally wrap-up?

It is definitely worth checking out! At this stage, I might recommend the trades, though. I'm really loving it.

Is anyone actually liking this event?

I really enjoyed Tamaki's earlier story on 'tec but the pacing here is so horrible that I just don't care what or who caused the issue with the tower. It's completely unreadable for me which is sad because she is a great writer.

Absolutely! It's a very tense, Die-Hard-structured Batfamily story with a really nicely written sense of tension, really strong art so far by Reis and Raynor, and really cool backups. It is slower paced than the monthly schedule, but that's kind of the point of a weekly title - it gives you ability to explore the details and setups and payoff structure, rather than trying to pack more of a punch per issue. I got back into DC Comics with Batman Eternal, so I really grew to like the weekly format.

[dietrich]

I don't think it's worth the money since not a fan of Tamaki's writing.
The line up hooked me so mostly here for the characters advertised.

[dietrich]

Don't understand what all the yelling about Tim is about. He's not even in this story.

Hence all the yelling.

"WHY ISN'T TIM NOT IN THE STORY"

"TIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED IN PLACE OF DICK WHO ALREADY HAS A SOLO"

and so forth. It's aggravating.