Bermejo Expands Robin Concept Beyond "Teenage White Kids Who All Look the Same"

[Harpsikord]

Ha! That's so true! Most of the Robins look exactly the same.

Dick Grayson is caucasion with black hair.
Jason Todd is caucasion with black hair.
Tim Drake is caucasion with black hair.
Damian Wayne is caucasion with black hair.

They do look all the same!! LOL!

TBH what he said is kind of offensive, but whatever. Also to counter your arguments, let's look at pre-reboot Robins:

Dick Grayson is romanii with black hair.
Jason Todd is caucasian with red hair.
Tim Drake is caucasian with black hair.
Stephanie Brown is caucasian with blonde hair. Is female.
Damian Wayne is biracial.
Carrie Kelley is caucasian with red hair. Female. Freckles. Unconventional appearance.

... TOTALLY all "teenage white kids who all look the same."

[Double 0]

C'mon, lets not act like this came out of nowhere.

[Harpsikord]

I wasn't saying it didn't come out of nowhere-- I'm saying that there was a time that it was factually incorrect.

[teddyeatsyourface]

Wait, it's offensive to recognize that all the major robins are or have been consistently drawn as blue-eyed, black haired, white kids? What a load of B.S. the Robin fandom has been complaining about the very same thing since Tim appeared but NOW it's offensive because someone in the DC office says the same thing as the fandom?

like really???

[Aioros22]

C'mon, lets not act like this came out of nowhere

Wait, it's offensive to recognize that all the major robins are or have been consistently drawn as blue-eyed, black haired, white kids? What a load of B.S. the Robin fandom has been complaining about the very same thing since Tim appeared but NOW it's offensive because someone in the DC office says the same thing as the fandom?

like really???

Offensive? No, it`s simply pointing out the obvious and it doesn`t tell me much about how the new Robin will be used as a character other than "not being white like them rest". As a initial hook on the title it doesn`t attrack me that much. It doesn`t attract me the notion that to sell a title you hamfist a bunch of whites as being the same thing and it won`t attract me if we end up with 3 black Robins in the future and someone tries to give the impression that the prior characters were all the same, using the same note.

It`s the least interesting bit too me. I want a character I can either root for, or feel to have some connection, or see the merit in them. I never lived in the streets but I`ve been in tight places with pretty much no money in my pocket, so I can relate somewhat to Jason`s thougher stage. I`ve no issue as a reader to see Bermejo tackle race as background for the new character, because historically speaking it brings themes no writer should be ashamed or shy away from writting. If it tells a good story, bring it. Moore said it best, there`s nothing you shouldn`t write about. So to me, that isn`t it.

But as the main hook of the book? This isn`t 1960. I rather the new Robin be an interesting character who happens to be black than having the most interesting thing about him being black. That`s a bit stereotyping to me and I don`t think that makes anyone a winner.

Does that make much sense?

[Double 0]

Offensive? No, it`s simply pointing out the obvious and it doesn`t tell me much about how the new Robin will be used as a character other than "not being white like them rest". As a initial hook on the title it doesn`t attrack me that much. It doesn`t attract me the notion that to sell a title you hamfist a bunch of whites as being the same thing and it won`t attract me if we end up with 3 black Robins in the future and someone tries to give the impression that the prior characters were all the same, using the same note.

It`s the least interesting bit too me. I want a character I can either root for, or feel to have some connection, or see the merit in them. I never lived in the streets but I`ve been in tight places with pretty much no money in my pocket, so I can relate somewhat to Jason`s thougher stage. I`ve no issue as a reader to see Bermejo tackle race as background for the new character, because historically speaking it brings themes no writer should be ashamed or shy away from writting. If it tells a good story, bring it. Moore said it best, there`s nothing you shouldn`t write about. So to me, that isn`t it.

But as the main hook of the book? This isn`t 1960 people. I rather the new Robin be an interesting character who happens to be black than having the most interesting thing about him being black. That`s a bit stereotyping to me.

Does that make much sense?

Nope. "Happens to be black" has never made sense to me.

[Aioros22]

Alright. How about "I rather the new Robin be an interesting character who is black than having the most interesting thing about him being black"?

[teddyeatsyourface]

I wonder how many people actually read the interview and how many just looked at the click-bait article title before posting.

We Are Robin focuses on Duke Thomas, an African-American kid who's played an important role recently in the main Batman series, as he's indoctrinated into this new Robin movement to protect and serve Gotham.

When the series opens, it really doesn't have an identity, Bermejo says, but the group knows its mission statement. "It's one thing to put a hashtag on your Twitter account as a teenager and feel like you're part of something. It's a whole other thing when the (stuff) hits the fan and you have to stand up for what you believe in."

Duke is the reader's way into this street-smart world — he's had interactions with the Dark Knight before so he isn't a complete rookie — and Bermejo is focusing on him and other newbies rather than the folks who've been Robin previously such as Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson and most recently Damian Wayne, Batman's son.

"I'm not going to rule anything out at this point," Bermejo says, "but what I'm trying to with this series is not address so much the Robins that have come before but the new generation of teenagers out there, really from various backgrounds."

Until Convergence is over that's as much detail as we're going to get about the new series for the time being. It's a pretty interesting set-up and it does reflect a bit on the current generations willingness to protest, stand up for/against that which is considered unjust.

Having a "superhero movement" among teens mirror the RL social justice movement of current teens is risky, but I think you have to take risks in order to make a good or even great story.

[Aioros22]

Personally that`s the most interesting thing. Touching upon the new world of instant connection and mass media appeal is intriguing. But that`s the "movement" at large he`s talking about in that spec of the interview. I like that.

Wording the prior Robin as all of the same cloth because they`re mostly white isn`t as interesting. It sounds dismissive and not all that correct. As it is, I`m not against Bermejo tackling race diversity one bit. Duke is black and the struggles are different. Use it. It`s common sense.

But you gotta bring meat to the bones. If Jason was only a street kid that wouldn`t make him half as interesting.

[teddyeatsyourface]

You know, it's not as if the writer is saying the character is only worthwhile because of his/her skin color. So where does the fanbase come up with the notion that it is exactly that way? There's a difference between creating a new superhero who is a minority and celebrating that fact, and creating a minority character to gain "points" from that community and then have the character be useless.

In recent years, we've mostly been exposed to the former rather the latter yet everytime there is a character or new character that is a minority, the fanbase comes up with all these comments about how they would rather have "an interesting character who happens to be _____" or "why does ______ have to be a big deal? Why can't s/he be an interesting character?" Like, one doesn't negate the other. And just because the creative team wants to celebrate a character's minority that doesn't mean that that's all there is to the character.

[Double 0]

Alright. How about "I rather the new Robin be an interesting character who is black than having the most interesting thing about him being black"?

Still not flying. Explain.

[Harpsikord]

Still not flying. Explain.

I don't know how much clearer Aioros22 can be. It's effectively the same as "Oh, this character is going to be Robin. He's gay." Or, "This character is going to be Robin. He's [insert minority here]." What Aioros22 is trying to say is that his ethnicity shouldn't be the most interesting thing about him. It should be part of him, but not all that he's about.

Also, what was offensive was the fact that the author insinuated that all 'white kids' looked the same. Not that all Robin's looked the same.

[teddyeatsyourface]

No, he was definitely talking about/referring to the robins who all looked the same. Everything he said was in relation to the Robins. So I'm pretty sure he doesn't believe that all white kids look the same.

[Jeff Brady]

I don't know how much clearer Aioros22 can be. It's effectively the same as "Oh, this character is going to be Robin. He's gay." Or, "This character is going to be Robin. He's [insert minority here]." What Aioros22 is trying to say is that his ethnicity shouldn't be the most interesting thing about him. It should be part of him, but not all that he's about.

Also, what was offensive was the fact that the author insinuated that all 'white kids' looked the same. Not that all Robin's looked the same.

No, he only declared that all of the male Robins look the same.

The fact that you need him to say #notallwhitepeople is telling.

[Claude]

I wasn't saying it didn't come out of nowhere-- I'm saying that there was a time that it was factually incorrect.

That time was not when he gave the interview, or when he's launching the title.