From Dick to Damian: A History of Robin, Batman's Superstar Sidekick

[CBR News]

With DC Comics in the midst of "Robin War," here's a look at the history of Batman's colorful counterpart, from Dick Grayson to Damian Wayne.


Full article here.

[MichaelC]

Maybe should have phrased that a bit differently.

[ChaoticScholar]

I'm indifferent. Maybe Carrie Kelly. I like Dick as Nightwing. I don't hate Robin, I'm just..meh.

[joybeans]

Maybe should have phrased that a bit differently.

To be fair, that was how Damian was conceived.

[Joe S. Walker]

What a long crappy trip it's been.

[Flash Gordon]

Dick and Damian should really be the only two Robins in the new continuity. If I had my way Dick would have been Robin for 8 years or so and quit to go do his own thing. We bring in Cass Cain as Black Bat and Damian as Robin II, the new Bat family.

Also Stephanie Brown was far more interesting as Robin than Tim or Jason, and that War Games thing was horrible.

[dropkickjake]

Dick and Damian should really be the only two Robins in the new continuity. If I had my way Dick would have been Robin for 8 years or so and quit to go do his own thing. We bring in Cass Cain as Black Bat and Damian as Robin II, the new Bat family.

Also Stephanie Brown was far more interesting as Robin than Tim or Jason, and that War Games thing was horrible.

I'd throw in Steph rather than cass for some color/upbeat pluckiness to balance out the trio, but I don't hate the idea in general

[Dataweaver]

I'm a 90s fan, myself; so it shouldn't surprise anyone that Tim is my favorite Robin. And the reason why Stephanie's time as Robin was controversial is because the Batman editorial department didn't give her a fair shot: the whole reason she was given the position at all was to set her up for a fall that would lead directly to her death in the abysmal “War Games”.

The New 52 version(s) of Tim Drake have thus far been poorly handled, from being stuck in the poorly-thought-out Teen Titans reboot to being forced to replace Terry McGuinness as Batman Beyond, something neither character's fans were at all wanting. Stephanie, OTOH, has been vastly improved by the excision of all things “War Games”-related from her history.

From what I understand of the We Are Robin crew, they're a street gang whose aim is to clean up the streets of Gotham; they're loaded with enthusiasm but shy on experience, and I think the best outcome of the Robin War would be if one or more of the experienced Robins (e.g., Dick and/or Tim) were to take them under their wings and start training them.

[Old Man Ollie 1962]

My favorite Robin.

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[Rac7d*]

I'm a 90s fan, myself; so it shouldn't surprise anyone that Tim is my favorite Robin. And the reason why Stephanie's time as Robin was controversial is because the Batman editorial department didn't give her a fair shot: the whole reason she was given the position at all was to set her up for a fall that would lead directly to her death in the abysmal “War Games”.

The New 52 version(s) of Tim Drake have thus far been poorly handled, from being stuck in the poorly-thought-out Teen Titans reboot to being forced to replace Terry McGuinness as Batman Beyond, something neither character's fans were at all wanting. Stephanie, OTOH, has been vastly improved by the excision of all things “War Games”-related from her history.

From what I understand of the We Are Robin crew, they're a street gang whose aim is to clean up the streets of Gotham; they're loaded with enthusiasm but shy on experience, and I think the best outcome of the Robin War would be if one or more of the experienced Robins (e.g., Dick and/or Tim) were to take them under their wings and start training them.

But every time one of those kids die whoever trains them becomes responsible, that the issue they are facing, and are probably gonna dance around
I think batgirl is handling it better

[Kingcrimsonprog]

A nice way to amalgamate the robins for ease would be to have had Dick Grayson be the first robin as normal, but he dated Steph Todd the spoiler, who became the second robin who died, and the reason that Damian came into the picture was that he seeded out Batman when he went off the rails following the death (aka, make Damian half Tim in backstory; make Steph half Jason in back story, and make Dick have some of Tim's social life).

[heliophoenix]

Oh I misread the title superstar sidedick...

[joybeans]

A nice way to amalgamate the robins for ease would be to have had Dick Grayson be the first robin as normal, but he dated Steph Todd the spoiler, who became the second robin who died, and the reason that Damian came into the picture was that he seeded out Batman when he went off the rails following the death (aka, make Damian half Tim in backstory; make Steph half Jason in back story, and make Dick have some of Tim's social life).

That would cause this forum to have a meltdown.

[Kurtzberg]

A nice way to amalgamate the robins for ease would be to have had Dick Grayson be the first robin as normal, but he dated Steph Todd the spoiler, who became the second robin who died, and the reason that Damian came into the picture was that he seeded out Batman when he went off the rails following the death (aka, make Damian half Tim in backstory; make Steph half Jason in back story, and make Dick have some of Tim's social life).

Let's stay away from massively rewriting characters origins and amalgamating characters to trim the line, if you want to trim the line there are far cleaner ways.

[Dataweaver]

But every time one of those kids die whoever trains them becomes responsible, that the issue they are facing, and are probably gonna dance around

…and they're let off the hook if they just ignore the We Are Robin crowd? No; “do nothing” is the one thing Batman's protégés can't do. And if you train them, you can at least improve the odds that they won't end up dead.

I think batgirl is handling it better

I'm not aware of Batgirl's involvement in the Robin War, so I can't comment on how she's handling it — but I wouldn't exclude her (or Spoiler, Cassandra, Bluebird, etc.) from the conversation just because they've never (in the current continuity) been called “Robin”.