Preferred duration of Dick Grayson's Robin career?

[Micael]

Dick Grasyon immense history works better if Bruce Wayne is also younger, if Bruce starts being Batman at a younger age there's more time for him and Dick to work together and more time to fit all the other robins. Morrison's Batman started on his early 20's and I believe that works the best for all the history the character has. The problem is that some people may feel that the younger Bruce is the more it diminishes the father/son dynamic with Dick Grayson but I always felt that their dynamic was always a mesh between siblings and father/son and it always worked even though Bruce isn't old enough to ever be his father. ´

Now if Batman starts at like 22 and dick starts at 12 they can be almost decade working together and Bruce would still have enough time to fit the other robins and not have him in his 50's.

[Jim Kelly]

Now if Batman starts at like 22 and dick starts at 12 they can be almost decade working together and Bruce would still have enough time to fit the other robins and not have him in his 50's.

In BATMAN 232 (June 1971), Bruce "was not yet old enough to vote." Michael Fleisher's encyclopaedia used this quote to establish that Bruce was not yet 21 when he embarked on his career.

[Micael]

In my personal Headcanon Bruce should always start Batman really young it even works better considering he would young enough for cynicism of life to not dissuade him from his mission. Lets be honest Batman is a child dream made real by a young man's drive and resolution.

[TheRay]

I think canonically you could get away with starting him as Robin at 13, then moving into Nightwing at 19 or 20.

[bat39]

In BATMAN 232 (June 1971), Bruce "was not yet old enough to vote." Michael Fleisher's encyclopaedia used this quote to establish that Bruce was not yet 21 when he embarked on his career.

Interestingly, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 around the time the story was published

We were having a discussion about Bruce and Dick's relative ages on another thread where someone mentioned that societal perceptions and expectations of who is a ''fully capable and independent adult'' have shifted over time. Whereas a 20 year old today would be regarded as a kid, a generation or two ago, 20 year olds were fully-grown adults with all the behavior and responsibilities that carries.

In this context, Bruce being 20 or 21 when he starts out as Batman made perfect sense in 1939 or even in 1969. Today, the age of 25 seems a lot more appropriate. And the movies tend towards an even later age - in the Nolanverse Bruce started out as Batman just before his 30th birthday, I think I've heard it mentioned somewhere that Pattison's Bruce in the upcoming film is around 30 in his second year as Batman, and I'm pretty Michael Keaton wasn't playing a 25 year old in the first Burton movie which was also pretty early in Batman's career.

[Restingvoice]

In BATMAN 232 (June 1971), Bruce "was not yet old enough to vote." Michael Fleisher's encyclopaedia used this quote to establish that Bruce was not yet 21 when he embarked on his career.

Interestingly, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 around the time the story was published

We were having a discussion about Bruce and Dick's relative ages on another thread where someone mentioned that societal perceptions and expectations of who is a ''fully capable and independent adult'' have shifted over time. Whereas a 20 year old today would be regarded as a kid, a generation or two ago, 20 year olds were fully-grown adults with all the behavior and responsibilities that carries.

In this context, Bruce being 20 or 21 when he starts out as Batman made perfect sense in 1939 or even in 1969. Today, the age of 25 seems a lot more appropriate. And the movies tend towards an even later age - in the Nolanverse Bruce started out as Batman just before his 30th birthday, I think I've heard it mentioned somewhere that Pattison's Bruce in the upcoming film is around 30 in his second year as Batman, and I'm pretty Michael Keaton wasn't playing a 25 year old in the first Burton movie which was also pretty early in Batman's career.

Ah that explains it, since the 70s age for Bruce and Dick are 28 and 18, I figured them starting at 22 and 12, with 21 or below as the time Batman was without Robin.

[bat39]

Ah that explains it, since the 70s age for Bruce and Dick are 28 and 18, I figured them starting at 22 and 12, with 21 or below as the time Batman was without Robin.

Actually, Bruce was 29. I dunno if Dick's age was ever explicitly stated...but its generally assumed he went to college when he was around 17-18. I usually go with 17. And I assume that Dick was around 12 when he became Robin, and that Bruce started out as Batman about a year earlier (Pre-Crisis, Batman was solo for a pretty short period of time). Putting all that together, my headcanon is that Bruce was around 22 or 23 when he started out as Batman. Not that the writers necessarily had a consistent age in mind (as this ''old enough to vote'' line signifies).

Moreover, by the time we get the original Wrath story, Bruce was 33 (since the Wayne murders are now said to happen ''25 years ago'' rather than the ''21 years ago'' from the early 70's) and in-universe, I think this is just before COIE. So I think that would make Dick around 21 or thereabouts...which kinda fits. (There's a Secret Origins issue which has Dick turning 20 around the timeof the Crisis, but that's a Post-COIE story and falls into one of those ambiguous periods continuity-wise, so...)

This is how I see the Batman timeline Pre-COIE playing out. I've put the equivalent real-world publication dates in brackets by the side:

Year 1: Bruce is 23; begins his career as Batman (1939)

Year 2: Bruce is 24, Dick is 12; Dick becomes Robin (1940)

Years 2-7: Classic Dynamic Duo era of the Golden Age and Silver Age (1940-69)

Year 7: Bruce is 29, Dick is 17; Dick goes off to college (1969)

Year 9: Bruce is 31, Dick is 19; Dick gives up the Robin mantle to Jason and becomes Nightwing (1983)

Year 11: Bruce is 33, Dick is 21; Batman takes on the Wrath and the Crisis happens (1984-85)

I'm sure you can give or take a year (maybe two) with all of this, but it broadly fits.

Interestingly, if you go by this, it seems almost like time started to speed up in the DCU once Dick went to college!

[Aahz]

@Bat39
Offically golden Age Bruce was born in 1915 (and Dick 1928), Dick was 18 when he went to collage and had his 20th birthday during COIE.

And Jason was 12 when he became Robin.

[MajorHoy]

. . . And Jason was 12 when he became Robin.

Circus-boy Jason (pre-CoIE) or tire-stealing Jason (post-CoIE)?

[Aahz]

Circus-boy Jason (pre-CoIE) or tire-stealing Jason (post-CoIE)?

Pre crisis he was said to be 12 in his origin story.

For Post crisis Jason, there was never a clear starting age stated in in the original comics, but based on the information from the information you can draw from the comics, he must have been between 10 and 12 when he stole the tiers. But like with Dick the sources are of course contradictory.

[TheRay]

Apparently, Nightwing's age was of no consequence in the early comics, so any information on that front would have to be referencing something after the Silver Age.

[bat39]

@Bat39
Offically golden Age Bruce was born in 1915 (and Dick 1928), Dick was 18 when he went to collage and had his 20th birthday during COIE.

And Jason was 12 when he became Robin.

Yeah, I know about this...I'm going by the sliding timescale for Silver Age/Bronze Age Bruce (who also had a lot of the Golden Age stories in his continuity).

I think its safe to assume Dick was 18 when he went to college, though I've also heard 17 thrown around. Since 17 also makes sense, and since it gives a bit more time to the ''college Robin'' era I went with that.

[Restingvoice]

Actually, Bruce was 29. I dunno if Dick's age was ever explicitly stated...but its generally assumed he went to college when he was around 17-18. I usually go with 17. And I assume that Dick was around 12 when he became Robin, and that Bruce started out as Batman about a year earlier (Pre-Crisis, Batman was solo for a pretty short period of time). Putting all that together, my headcanon is that Bruce was around 22 or 23 when he started out as Batman. Not that the writers necessarily had a consistent age in mind (as this ''old enough to vote'' line signifies).

Moreover, by the time we get the original Wrath story, Bruce was 33 (since the Wayne murders are now said to happen ''25 years ago'' rather than the ''21 years ago'' from the early 70's) and in-universe, I think this is just before COIE. So I think that would make Dick around 21 or thereabouts...which kinda fits. (There's a Secret Origins issue which has Dick turning 20 around the timeof the Crisis, but that's a Post-COIE story and falls into one of those ambiguous periods continuity-wise, so...)

This is how I see the Batman timeline Pre-COIE playing out. I've put the equivalent real-world publication dates in brackets by the side:

Year 1: Bruce is 23; begins his career as Batman (1939)

Year 2: Bruce is 24, Dick is 12; Dick becomes Robin (1940)

Years 2-7: Classic Dynamic Duo era of the Golden Age and Silver Age (1940-69)

Year 7: Bruce is 29, Dick is 17; Dick goes off to college (1969)

Year 9: Bruce is 31, Dick is 19; Dick gives up the Robin mantle to Jason and becomes Nightwing (1983)

Year 11: Bruce is 33, Dick is 21; Batman takes on the Wrath and the Crisis happens (1984-85)

I'm sure you can give or take a year (maybe two) with all of this, but it broadly fits.

Interestingly, if you go by this, it seems almost like time started to speed up in the DCU once Dick went to college!

So this is just pre-Crisis right because Dick was still 20 post crisis when he's involved with Starfire's arranged marriage, but I don't know when that event actually took place

[bat39]

So this is just pre-Crisis right because Dick was still 20 post crisis when he's involved with Starfire's arranged marriage, but I don't know when that event actually took place

Yeah, I'm talking pre-Crisis. Though I think this rough chronology mostly holds up post-Crisis too...except that Bruce would be a few years older, and maybe Dick slightly younger when the Crisis happens.

Basically I think Bruce has been Batman for roughly a decade, give or take a year or two, by the time COIE happens...and everything that happened Post-COIE is in the second decade of his career or beyond.

[MajorHoy]

Yeah, I'm talking pre-Crisis. Though I think this rough chronology mostly holds up post-Crisis too...except that Bruce would be a few years older, and maybe Dick slightly younger when the Crisis happens.

Basically I think Bruce has been Batman for roughly a decade, give or take a year or two, by the time COIE happens...and everything that happened Post-COIE is in the second decade of his career or beyond.

For what it's worth, here's what DC published in the Batman Secret Files back in 1997:



And two years later was the Nightwing Secret Files: