Duke Thomas: We Are Robin, Signal Appreciation 2018

[oasis1313]

Actually, Harper Row, Bluebird, DID get beaten up really, really badly by Orphan in the first and second issues of Batman and Robin Eternal - so much so that she had to be taken to the Cave and magic healing tech had to stitch her up.

I think it's a pretty standard hero thing - overcoming horrific injury. (Reminds me of Bette Kane in the n52 Batwoman run, too. Great stuff!)

Clearly, Harper wasn't beaten up badly enough. She survived.

[lemonpeace]

I don't think he will, because thankfully Scott Snyder, his creator, has so much pull at DC. Plus other big writers like tom king and geoff johns have interest in him as well, so I think his relevance is secured. Though I don't see him ever getting to the popularity of miles morales, I think he will at least appear in team books/bat family meetups for the next few years.

Geoff John's expressed interest in Duke? When did that happen?

[Korath]

Honestly, I'm not worried for Duke while Hill is on 'Tec. I just can't see him truly fridging him. He expressed interest in writing him before on Twitter and ditto for Cass. I think we'll be fine on that front, Duke will rebound and overcome this situation. At least that's what I believe will happen.

[DragonPiece]

Geoff John's expressed interest in Duke? When did that happen?

Geoff helped advise Scott on Signal's direction in Rebirth and told Snyder about the idea of giving him the powers if I remember right.

[millernumber1]

Clearly, Harper wasn't beaten up badly enough. She survived.

I don't share this attitude. Harper may not be my favorite, but I liked her story pretty well, and she's several people's favorites.

[lemonpeace]

Geoff helped advise Scott on Signal's direction in Rebirth and told Snyder about the idea of giving him the powers if I remember right.

Wow, that's pretty cool. It's amazing that it appears the only creators with any interest in Duke, are the ones who are too big and too busy to work on him lol

[Aioros22]

Actually, Harper Row, Bluebird, DID get beaten up really, really badly by Orphan in the first and second issues of Batman and Robin Eternal - so much so that she had to be taken to the Cave and magic healing tech had to stitch her up.

I think it's a pretty standard hero thing - overcoming horrific injury. (Reminds me of Bette Kane in the n52 Batwoman run, too. Great stuff!)

Well, there you go.

[Katana500]

I like the idea of Duke and Cass being friends they can both learn things for each other. Was nice to see that Cass was concerned

[leo619]

I'm probably not getting the memo correctly. Duke "fridging" = DC not caring for diversity?

What happened to Duke has already happened to every single bat character. Exception maybe for bluebirdwhateverher name is.

It's not the element by itself, it's the combination of this with how DC treats it's minority characters is to why DC diversity push has widely been considered as half a**,

Actually, Harper Row, Bluebird, DID get beaten up really, really badly by Orphan in the first and second issues of Batman and Robin Eternal - so much so that she had to be taken to the Cave and magic healing tech had to stitch her up.

I think it's a pretty standard hero thing - overcoming horrific injury. (Reminds me of Bette Kane in the n52 Batwoman run, too. Great stuff!)

It's usually set for when the hero has his own book or when the hero is already well established within the bat family. For example the blue bird incident happened 4 years since she debuted. The signal has been the signal for what, less than a year? The purpose behind it is as you said, the hero is meant to overcome the injury but more importantly save the day afterwards. I don't see that happening with Duke. He'll recover after a bit. But saving the day? Not really...

[leo619]

I'm probably not getting the memo correctly. Duke "fridging" = DC not caring for diversity?

What happened to Duke has already happened to every single bat character. Exception maybe for bluebirdwhateverher name is.

Actually, Harper Row, Bluebird, DID get beaten up really, really badly by Orphan in the first and second issues of Batman and Robin Eternal - so much so that she had to be taken to the Cave and magic healing tech had to stitch her up.

I think it's a pretty standard hero thing - overcoming horrific injury. (Reminds me of Bette Kane in the n52 Batwoman run, too. Great stuff!)

I like the idea of Duke and Cass being friends they can both learn things for each other. Was nice to see that Cass was concerned

Completely agree, I also think they share a lot in common. I don't recall Duke being close to anyone outside of Batman himself.

[millernumber1]

It's usually set for when the hero has his own book or when the hero is already well established within the bat family. For example the blue bird incident happened 4 years since she debuted. The signal has been the signal for what, less than a year? The purpose behind it is as you said, the hero is meant to overcome the injury but more importantly save the day afterwards. I don't see that happening with Duke. He'll recover after a bit. But saving the day? Not really...

Duke's been an important hero, the lead of a book for a year, since 2015. Harper had only really shown up in a couple issues of Batman and then been one of an ensemble cast in Batman Eternal, and when she got beaten up by Orphan in 2015, she'd only been Bluebird since Batman Eternal in 2014.

I think he'll definitely help save the day in a significant way. I can't see Hill saying "Duke's going to be a big focus" and then sideline him for the whole arc.

Completely agree, I also think they share a lot in common. I don't recall Duke being close to anyone outside of Batman himself.

He likes Gotham Girl, Riko, and Izzy. And there's that maybe canon short story in the New Talent Showcase where he's training with Jason and Selina. And in Robin War he's pretty friendly with Damian. I'd say he's relatively close to a lot of people.

[leo619]

Duke's been an important hero, the lead of a book for a year, since 2015. Harper had only really shown up in a couple issues of Batman and then been one of an ensemble cast in Batman Eternal, and when she got beaten up by Orphan in 2015, she'd only been Bluebird since Batman Eternal in 2014.

I think he'll definitely help save the day in a significant way. I can't see Hill saying "Duke's going to be a big focus" and then sideline him for the whole arc.

Technically Duke was part of an ensemble cast as well, specifically we are robin. Just like Harper. But we will see, as mentioned before, the only way overcoming a injury is actually important to the character themselves is if they are the driving arc to solve that issue. Otherwise, it ends up as nothing more than fridging. So we will see what comes from this. However with DC's track record, I'm personally skeptical.

He likes Gotham Girl, Riko, and Izzy. And there's that maybe canon short story in the New Talent Showcase where he's training with Jason and Selina. And in Robin War he's pretty friendly with Damian. I'd say he's relatively close to a lot of people.

Sorry, I meant to be more specific. When I meant close to someone, I was primarily referring to the bat family per say. So Dick, Jason, Babs, Steph, Damian, those are the main ones per say. Then you have what feels like the extended family in Steph, Cass, Gotham Girl, etc.

[millernumber1]

Technically Duke was part of an ensemble cast as well, specifically we are robin. Just like Harper. But we will see, as mentioned before, the only way overcoming a injury is actually important to the character themselves is if they are the driving arc to solve that issue. Otherwise, it ends up as nothing more than fridging. So we will see what comes from this. However with DC's track record, I'm personally skeptical.

Sorry, I meant to be more specific. When I meant close to someone, I was primarily referring to the bat family per say. So Dick, Jason, Babs, Steph, Damian, those are the main ones per say. Then you have what feels like the extended family in Steph, Cass, Gotham Girl, etc.

DC's track record is pretty sketchy in a lot of ways, but I think Hill would know it's bad storytelling.

But out of the first group of Batfamily you list, Duke's been shown to bond with Dick (Robin War), Jason (New Talent Showcase), and Damian.

[Askia]

DC's track record is pretty sketchy in a lot of ways, but I think Hill would know it's bad storytelling.

But out of the first group of Batfamily you list, Duke's been shown to bond with Dick (Robin War), Jason (New Talent Showcase), and Damian.

Is Duke shown to be actually close to them or was it just a bonding moment?

I'm still doing some back reading in DC, could you point me to where Duke and Damian interact. Also, is the New Talent Showcase considered cannon?

[skyvolt2000]

Duke's been an important hero, the lead of a book for a year, since 2015. Harper had only really shown up in a couple issues of Batman and then been one of an ensemble cast in Batman Eternal, and when she got beaten up by Orphan in 2015, she'd only been Bluebird since Batman Eternal in 2014.

I think he'll definitely help save the day in a significant way. I can't see Hill saying "Duke's going to be a big focus" and then sideline him for the whole arc.

He likes Gotham Girl, Riko, and Izzy. And there's that maybe canon short story in the New Talent Showcase where he's training with Jason and Selina. And in Robin War he's pretty friendly with Damian. I'd say he's relatively close to a lot of people.

We have heard something like that said about a LOT of characters only to be disappointed.

Geoff John's expressed interest in Duke? When did that happen?

It was around the time Rebirth was starting up. Snyder did say that-I want to say it was around the time we heard of a Duke book happening-we didn't know if it was an ongoing or mini at the time.

I'm probably not getting the memo correctly. Duke "fridging" = DC not caring for diversity?


What happened to Duke has already happened to every single bat character. Exception maybe for bluebirdwhateverher name is.

Yes it happens to others. Yet when it comes to POC mainly black males- rarely get that chance to get built back up. In other words that is rarely a follow up. Jason Rusch lost his powers-we haven't seen him since but have seen Ronnie & Stein together.