Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez taking over Batman after issue 125

[millernumber1]

This is a pleasant surprise indeed! Where the heck does that leave Williamson?

Still writing a ton of books including the summer's biggest event (out of like a dozen events going on, but still, a Crisis has more name recognition). I'm sure he's fine.

[Zaresh]

The way Tim will be forever stuck as Robin because DC has no idea what to do with him lol but good for him, maybe it can lead to something bigger.
I don't think I have ever read anything by Zdarsky, but I heard good things about his writing.

Missed this comment previously.
Check his story in Batman Urban Legends then. He wrote Bruce and Jason in ther for a 6 isuss story. A really good story, that one.
Or his Spiderman: A life story. It's great.
Or Daredevil.

[Shadowcat]

I assume Williamson will still be writing Damian's book.

He’s been on the Damien book since the relaunch.

[Lal]

I'm happy that a great creative team is taking over Batman and that Tim will have a role in this run!

That being said, I'm slightly concerned that Tim is relegated to being a Robin and a sidekick again when Damian seems to be his own independent hero.
Just looking at different artists' takes on the two Robins, and I wonder if DC are cementing Tim as the one who can't move on from Robin, despite trying to move on time and again, while his younger brother seems to be the one who moved on and does his own thing?

Edit - Thinking of it, it seems like we'll actually have 2 books of Batman teaming up with Robin on a regular basis -
There's Worlds' finest by Waid, set in the past with Dick, and the main Batman book, set in the present with Tim. That's actually kind of cool.

batman 125.jpg
shadow war.jpg

[bat39]

It actually makes sense to me that Tim is the one who can't ''move past'' being Robin and returns to the role permanently.

Dick became Nightwing - that transition is now an iconic part of his character. Jason is known as the Robin who died and came back as Red Hood - which again defines his character today.

Damian, more than being Robin, is defined by being Batman's son (and also an heir to Ra's al Ghul). Robin is just a role he took to become part of his dad's world, but it doesn't really define him.

Now Tim on the other hand is someone who entered the Bat-family because he believed that Batman needs Robin, and is pretty dedicated to the concept of Robin. He pretty much took up the Red Robin mantle only because Dick chose Damian to be Robin. He isn't particularly interested in another costumed identity other than Robin. So honestly, if someone gets to stay Robin forever, it should be Tim.

Admittedly this might be my 90's/2000's nostalgia talking but still

[Claude]

Zdarsky's a great writer, Jiminez is a great artist, and a return to "Batman and Robin" is a great direction.

(I'm quite persuaded by Bat39 above's view that Tim = "Robin", Damian = "Son Of Batman" is a viable status quo.)

But the idea of the book "going dark" and focusing on the stress on Bruce's relationships feels quite Business As Usual in a way I was enjoying Williamson going against.

[Lal]

It actually makes sense to me that Tim is the one who can't ''move past'' being Robin and returns to the role permanently.

Dick became Nightwing - that transition is now an iconic part of his character. Jason is known as the Robin who died and came back as Red Hood - which again defines his character today.

Damian, more than being Robin, is defined by being Batman's son (and also an heir to Ra's al Ghul). Robin is just a role he took to become part of his dad's world, but it doesn't really define him.

Now Tim on the other hand is someone who entered the Bat-family because he believed that Batman needs Robin, and is pretty dedicated to the concept of Robin. He pretty much took up the Red Robin mantle only because Dick chose Damian to be Robin. He isn't particularly interested in another costumed identity other than Robin. So honestly, if someone gets to stay Robin forever, it should be Tim.

Admittedly this might be my 90's/2000's nostalgia talking but still

I completely agree that Nightwing and Red Hood are better in their adult identities, and Damian (in the real world) doesn't really need to be Robin. He has the "son of Batman and heir to the demon" thing. He could probably be called by any moniker and work very well. (That being said, I really hope Damian won't declare himself as the new Ra's at the end of the shadow war and try to reform the leagues).

The problem is that Robin is viewed as a kid's mantle, being a sidekick. That's the reason Dick moved on. When each of his brothers is his own hero, Tim being stuck as the forever sidekick and not his own hero (and being the 3rd Robin and the substitute Robin for Damian when he isn't around really isn't his own hero), doesn't present him in the best of lights.

[Astralabius]

The problem is that Robin is viewed as a kid's mantle, being a sidekick. That's the reason Dick moved on. When each of his brothers is his own hero, Tim being stuck as the forever sidekick and not his own hero (and being the 3rd Robin and the substitute Robin for Damian when he isn't around really isn't his own hero), doesn't present him in the best of lights.

Exactly. As someone who has no nostalgia for the 90s Tim not being able to move on from Robin just makes him really lame. He looks like a young adult cosplaying as a child because he doesn't want to grow up.

[Felipe Silveira]

Dick took a while to stop being Robin, only entering adulthood. This image that Robin is a child identity happens if you only know her from the Golden and Silver Age and Damian's stories.

[Lal]

Dick took a while to stop being Robin, only entering adulthood. This image that Robin is a child identity happens if you only know her from the Golden and Silver Age and Damian's stories.

Robin is viewed as a kid or teenager mantle both by the general public and in the DCU. He's viewed as a kid / sidekick / junior league. Nobody needs to read older comics to know that. That's literally Robin's public image.

[bat39]

I completely agree that Nightwing and Red Hood are better in their adult identities, and Damian (in the real world) doesn't really need to be Robin. He has the "son of Batman and heir to the demon" thing. He could probably be called by any moniker and work very well. (That being said, I really hope Damian won't declare himself as the new Ra's at the end of the shadow war and try to reform the leagues).

The problem is that Robin is viewed as a kid's mantle, being a sidekick. That's the reason Dick moved on. When each of his brothers is his own hero, Tim being stuck as the forever sidekick and not his own hero (and being the 3rd Robin and the substitute Robin for Damian when he isn't around really isn't his own hero), doesn't present him in the best of lights.

Robin is viewed as a kid or teenager mantle both by the general public and in the DCU. He's viewed as a kid / sidekick / junior league. Nobody needs to read older comics to know that. That's literally Robin's public image.

Well, Dick was a college-aged Robin for a fair bit of real-world time in the comics. Ditto with BTAS. Chris O'Donell's turn as Robin in the Schumacher movies may not be so loved today, but he was a very prominent live-action take on Robin who also seemed to be college-aged. Brandon Thwaites straight-up played Robin as an adult police detective in Titans.

I'm guessing that Tim is probably not a lot older than 21 (and knowing DC, they probably intend him to still be in his late teens). I think he's in the same age range now as Dick was in BTAS, so I think he can very much still be Robin - albeit an experienced Robin who's closer to being Batman's 'equal' rather than a mere sidekick.

[Lal]

Well, Dick was a college-aged Robin for a fair bit of real-world time in the comics. Ditto with BTAS. Chris O'Donell's turn as Robin in the Schumacher movies may not be so loved today, but he was a very prominent live-action take on Robin who also seemed to be college-aged. Brandon Thwaites straight-up played Robin as an adult police detective in Titans.

I'm guessing that Tim is probably not a lot older than 21 (and knowing DC, they probably intend him to still be in his late teens). I think he's in the same age range now as Dick was in BTAS, so I think he can very much still be Robin - albeit an experienced Robin who's closer to being Batman's 'equal' rather than a mere sidekick.

And these adaptations of Robin that you mentioned were either unsuccessful or dealt exactly with the fact that Robin is always Batman's junior partner, never his equal, and that to be his own man Robin must spread his wings and fly away.
As Zadarsky said he's going to "highlight the 'Batman & Robin' aspect of the characters", it sounds unlikely that Tim will be portrayed as Batman's equal. Robin isn't Batman's equal, it's regarded as a training wheels mantle, and that's exactly the reason characters graduate from it.
I'm happy Tim is used again, but right now it seems that they relegated him to be a sidekick when his 14 years old brother is his own hero. That's... problematic for Tim.

[Claude]

.
As Zadarsky said he's going to "highlight the 'Batman & Robin' aspect of the characters", it sounds unlikely that Tim will be portrayed as Batman's equal. Robin isn't Batman's equal, it's regarded as a training wheels mantle, and that's exactly the reason characters graduate from it.
.

In fairness, "Red Robin" wasn't Batman's equal either!

I'm game - they've stumbled with Tim post-Robin for at least ten years now, and Damian is a great character but should never have been Bruce's Robin.

So a return to a temperamentally different Dynamic Duo will be a thrill - along with Tim getting things to do *as* Tim/Robin rather than as part of a larger Bat Family.

I do wonder though, between this and a late teens Dick Grayson in "Batman and Superman" whether there's Reeves-y/Battinson-y synergy reasons for DC to be relaxing their hesitancy to do a proper Batman And Robin...

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm curious if it would have any connection to the Knight miniseries he's doing currently.

Other than that I'm not feeling the story description. Plus Tim being Robin has zero appeal. So I'm just gonna skip it.

[Frontier]

It actually makes sense to me that Tim is the one who can't ''move past'' being Robin and returns to the role permanently.

Dick became Nightwing - that transition is now an iconic part of his character. Jason is known as the Robin who died and came back as Red Hood - which again defines his character today.

Damian, more than being Robin, is defined by being Batman's son (and also an heir to Ra's al Ghul). Robin is just a role he took to become part of his dad's world, but it doesn't really define him.

Now Tim on the other hand is someone who entered the Bat-family because he believed that Batman needs Robin, and is pretty dedicated to the concept of Robin. He pretty much took up the Red Robin mantle only because Dick chose Damian to be Robin. He isn't particularly interested in another costumed identity other than Robin. So honestly, if someone gets to stay Robin forever, it should be Tim.

Admittedly this might be my 90's/2000's nostalgia talking but still

Even Morrison acted like Tim was still Batman's partner in initial stages of Batman Inc. and Tynion wrote Tim as willing to drop everything to be there for Bruce like a proper Robin. Although at the same time that does kind of lend itself to the idea that Tim has a hard time moving on, even though he was one of the best Robin's as a Robin.

I'm game - they've stumbled with Tim post-Robin for at least ten years now, and Damian is a great character but should never have been Bruce's Robin.

But then we wouldn't have gotten New 52 Batman and Robin out of it.

I'm not sure if Damian needs to be Robin so much as I feel like it's still his time to just be the main Robin without giving up the mantle yet. His being Batman's son is exactly why his Robin is so relevant now.

I'm curious if it would have any connection to the Knight miniseries he's doing currently.

I could see characters he introduced in that book showing up.