Preferred duration of Dick Grayson's Robin career?

[Dataweaver]

He is actually allready 14 now.

12, then.

And if they stick with him becoming Robin at age 10, and keep the realtive ages somewhat consistent, that would age up basically all characters that were usually around Tims age into arround 20 and every one that is typically arround Dicks age to close to 30.

And that's part of why they shouldn't stick with him becoming Robin at age 10.

And there is also a pretty hard limit on how old Damian can be, if they don't have him artificially aged or have Bruce met Talia before he becomes Batman.
I mean even his pre flashpoint age works only with a retcon since originally, Batman didn't met Ras and Talia untill Dick was allready in college.

True enough. That said, that's a retcon I could live with. It's not like having Bruce's first encounter with the al Ghuls take place earlier in his career would hurt anything else. Not “before Bruce became Batman”, of course; there needs to be enough time for Batman to establish a reputation.

Meaning that Damian could have (based on the ages of the other Robins) been maybe been something like 5 or 6 when he met bruce the first time.

Let's see: according to Batman Year 3, Tim was around 4 or 5 when Dick first became Robin. In A Lonely Place of Dying, Tim was around, oh, 13 or so. So that's 9 years from Dick becoming Robin to Tim starting his training (which, incidentally, puts the duration of Dick's time as Robin in the 7 to 8 year range, depending on how long Jason was Robin). I don't think that Tim began his Robin career until he was 14 or so; there was about a year of training before Tim actually donned the mantle in his first miniseries. By the time his ongoing series launched, he was 15: old enough to be given a provisional driver's license as an exception to the usual age requirement (so, younger than 16, but not much younger). By the time he became Red Robin, he was… 20, I think? There was enough time in there for Stephanie to get pregnant and carry the baby to term, followed immediately by a one-year No Man's Land (she gave birth between the Cataclysm and the start of No Man's Land) and another “One Year Later” time skip after Infinite Crisis; so Tim's time as Robin needs to be in the 5 year range. If Damian was 12 when he became Robin (which coincided with Tim becoming Red Robin), then he was born when Tim was around 8; that would require his conception to be around Year 5 or 6, when Dick had been Robin for two or three years.

If Dick was between 18 and 21 when he became Nightwing, then he was between 10 and 14 when he became Robin. I think 12 or 13 is likely. That puts him about ten years older than Tim. And if Tim is around 20, that puts Dick around 30. If Dick became Robin in Year 3 and Bruce was 20 in Year 1, then Bruce is 8 to 10 years older than Dick, meaning that he's now pushing 40.

Of course, that's if we had a single, consistent timeline for everything. We don't.

[TheRay]

There is a timeline where he starts at every age, so you don't have to get too bogged down in the details.

[Dataweaver]

There is a timeline where he starts at every age, so you don't have to get too bogged down in the details.

Quoted for truth.

[bat39]

He is actually allready 14 now.

And if they stick with him becoming Robin at age 10, and keep the realtive ages somewhat consistent, that would age up basically all characters that were usually around Tims age into arround 20 and every one that is typically arround Dicks age to close to 30.

And there is also a pretty hard limit on how old Damian can be, if they don't have him artificially aged or have Bruce met Talia before he becomes Batman.
I mean even his pre flashpoint age works only with a retcon since originally, Batman didn't met Ras and Talia untill Dick was allready in collage.
Meaning that Damian could have (based on the ages of the other Robins) been maybe been something like 5 or 6 when he met bruce the first time.

Damian's age is a problem if you try to squeeze everything into a 10 year timeline, or even a 15 year one for that matter. If you're ready to acknowledge the fact that Bruce is in his forties (even if he may have the body and looks of a 30-something), and if you're ready to acknowledge that Dick is in his early thirties, and Tim in his early twenties...then Damian being 14 works.

Anyway, the one time it absolutely made zero sense was in the New 52, where Bruce became Batman six years ago, while Damian is 10 and turns 11. And Morrison's Batman Inc flashbacks showed that he was conceived during Bruce's career as Batman. Snyder even appeared on a podcast once (don't remember which one) and made a joke about broken chronology!

[Aahz]

Damian's age is a problem if you try to squeeze everything into a 10 year timeline, or even a 15 year one for that matter. If you're ready to acknowledge the fact that Bruce is in his forties (even if he may have the body and looks of a 30-something), and if you're ready to acknowledge that Dick is in his early thirties, and Tim in his early twenties...then Damian being 14 works.

Problem with that is that with Damian and how he is still written, I really don't see why it is necessary to age him up to 14. I haven't read his newest series, but if I look how he was written before future state he didn't seemed any older than in the beginning of the new 52, and the same goes for Dick, Tim and basically any character of their generations.

It would be a different thing if DC had really a plan for letting the characters grow up and develop, but at the moment Damian being 14 just creates an inconsistent timeline.

[Dataweaver]

Problem with that is that with Damian and how he is still written, I really don't see why it is necessary to age him up to 14. I haven't read his newest series, but if I look how he was written before future state he didn't seemed any older than in the beginning of the new 52, and the same goes for Dick, Tim and basically any character of their generations.

It would be a different thing if DC had really a plan for letting the characters grow up and develop, but at the moment Damian being 14 just creates an inconsistent timeline.

No more inconsistent than any of the issues that other Robins have to face; see my recent post about Tim. If I really got into the technicalities of his timeline, I can guarantee that it wouldn't even be self-consistent; there are too many time-skips in there that is you don't gloss over them, Tim ends up being in his mid-20s before becoming Red Robin. Never mind that he's effectively been regressed to 17 or so.

All that said, I have no problem with Damian being regressed back to 10; I also don't see what the need was to make him older. My point is that if you do make him older, you should keep his starting age in line with his current age to avoid adding “phantom years” to his timeline.

[Aahz]

Let's see: according to Batman Year 3, Tim was around 4 or 5 when Dick first became Robin. In A Lonely Place of Dying, Tim was around, oh, 13 or so. So that's 9 years from Dick becoming Robin to Tim starting his training (which, incidentally, puts the duration of Dick's time as Robin in the 7 to 8 year range, depending on how long Jason was Robin). I don't think that Tim began his Robin career until he was 14 or so; there was about a year of training before Tim actually donned the mantle in his first miniseries. By the time his ongoing series launched, he was 15: old enough to be given a provisional driver's license as an exception to the usual age requirement (so, younger than 16, but not much younger). By the time he became Red Robin, he was… 20, I think? There was enough time in there for Stephanie to get pregnant and carry the baby to term, followed immediately by a one-year No Man's Land (she gave birth between the Cataclysm and the start of No Man's Land) and another “One Year Later” time skip after Infinite Crisis; so Tim's time as Robin needs to be in the 5 year range. If Damian was 12 when he became Robin (which coincided with Tim becoming Red Robin), then he was born when Tim was around 8; that would require his conception to be around Year 5 or 6, when Dick had been Robin for two or three years.

If Dick was between 18 and 21 when he became Nightwing, then he was between 10 and 14 when he became Robin. I think 12 or 13 is likely. That puts him about ten years older than Tim. And if Tim is around 20, that puts Dick around 30. If Dick became Robin in Year 3 and Bruce was 20 in Year 1, then Bruce is 8 to 10 years older than Dick, meaning that he's now pushing 40.

If you go by the comics from the 80s Tim was 13 in a Lonley Place of Dying and Dick was about 21 at the time making him only 8 years older.

When it comes to how long Tim was Robin the question is if you go by the time that is said to be passing in the stories, than Tim would have been iirc in his early 20 by the time Damian cam around. Imo it makes more sense to go by the age that tim was supposed to be when it happend (simply because his age has far more impact on the stories than how much time passes) and by that Tim was only 17, meaning he was only 4 years had passed since a Lonley place of dying.

With Dick being Robin for about 7 years, 2 years for Jason and 4 for Tim, that would put Diamians (with becoming robin at age 10) birth 3 years into Dicks career as Robin. Add in 9 month for the pregnancy, and that Batman had several encounters with Thalia and Ras before that happend, and Batman would have really had to encounter Ras and Talia the first time at the beginning of Dick's career as Robin (instead of in his last year). Yeah that kind of works even if it is just barely.

If you have Damian at age 12 when he becomes Robin, either need to strech out the career of one of the other Robins, or you would need to start to retcon the older appearances of Ras and Talia more than to just shift them to an earlier point 5-6 earlier in the time line, since the plot of the first story was iirc that Ras Kidnapped Dick.

[Aahz]

No more inconsistent than any of the issues that other Robins have to face; see my recent post about Tim. If I really got into the technicalities of his timeline, I can guarantee that it wouldn't even be self-consistent; there are too many time-skips in there that is you don't gloss over them, Tim ends up being in his mid-20s before becoming Red Robin. Never mind that he's effectively been regressed to 17 or so.

But with Tim it was at least consistent in that regard that everyone else in the DCU aged iirc at about the same rate. And that you didn't ran into the problem that Tim's generation was suddenly only 2-3 younger than Dick's.

That's not the case with Damian.

[TheRay]

I think it's probably most interesting if he starts at the younger side, but the other heroes can't throw it back in his face the older they start, so they both provide good context.

[Primal Slayer]

I'd say about 3 years is good though really depends on when he starts Robin. If he starts at the usual 12 years old then Id say through the beginning of college. If he starts at 16 then 3 years, 2 years full time, part time when he starts college and tries to give it up but comes back and decides to transition to Nightwing.

[adrikito]

Dick was adopted with 8 or 10 years??

I would like have him independent with 14 years.. Creating the first TT after separate from Batman.

[bat39]

Dick was adopted with 8 or 10 years??

I would like have him independent with 14 years.. Creating the first TT after separate from Batman.

There's never been a consistent answer for that.

A lot of people like the idea of it being 8 or 10, because those are typically the ages at which Bruce lost his parents so they like that parallel between him and Dick. Then again, Bruce did not go on to immediately put on a colorful costume and start fighting criminals

I think 12 is what became the norm Post-COIE and its the youngest we can get without straining creduility too much. Also, for what its worth, the Earth Two stories from the 70's and 80's established the Golden Age Dick as being 12 when he became Robin so there's that.

[Aahz]

A lot of people like the idea of it being 8 or 10, because those are typically the ages at which Bruce lost his parents so they like that parallel between him and Dick.

Hoenstly it makes to me more sense to incrase Bruce age when he lost his parents to 12 to achive that. Because in his case it doesn't really matter much.
Also they did that in the Gotham TV series and it worked fine.

I think 12 is what became the norm Post-COIE and its the youngest we can get without straining creduility too much. Also, for what its worth, the Earth Two stories from the 70's and 80's established the Golden Age Dick as being 12 when he became Robin so there's that.

Also 12 is way more in line with how Dick is actually portrait in comics that are set at the beginning on his career as Robin than 8, especially with the ones published in the last 3-4 decades, with the original Golden Age stories it is harder to tell but 8 seems imo to young even for those. There are pretty early stories where you had him go undercover as newspaper boy or steward on a yacht I kind of doubt that even back in the 40s they would hired an 8 year old for jobs like that.

[The World]

Starts at 10-12 and is out on his own around 18 making way for Jason to start.

[bat39]

Hoenstly it makes to me more sense to incrase Bruce age when he lost his parents to 12 to achive that. Because in his case it doesn't really matter much.
Also they did that in the Gotham TV series and it worked fine.

Well, it currently stands at 10, as of the New 52. I'm actually okay with 12 as well, but that should be the upper limit. Any older than that, and it spoils the iconic image of a child standing over his murdered parents' bodies. Not to mention, the idea of Batman's war on crime being a manifestation of a child's promise.

Also 12 is way more in line with how Dick is actually portrait in comics that are set at the beginning on his career as Robin than 8, especially with the ones published in the last 3-4 decades, with the original Golden Age stories it is harder to tell but 8 seems imo to young even for those. There are pretty early stories where you had him go undercover as newspaper boy or steward on a yacht I kind of doubt that even back in the 40s they would hired an 8 year old for jobs like that.

Agreed completely. Dick went undercover as a newspaper boy in his very first story in fact, as part of the plan to take down Zucco, and was a ship's steward in the first Catwoman story which was published not long after. I suppose there might have been 8 year old newspaper boys, but I somehow doubt it...and certainly not ship's stewards.

''Robin's Reckoning'', the BTAS two-parter that deals with the origin in flashbacks, does lean towards the idea of Dick being younger than 12. He mentions at one point in the present-day story that he's wanted revenge against Zucco for ''half his life'', and Dick in the present-day is likely around 18-19...maybe 20 at most. So it would seem he's around 9-10 in the flashbacks (and he looks around that age). Then again, the flashbacks show the aftermath of the Grayson's murders and Bruce taking in Dick and revealing his identity to him...its possible that it was a year or two later that he actually became Robin.