What is the reason many people don't like Duke Thomas

[Aioros22]

From what i gathered, it seems like the main reason is that many people don't like the fact that Duke is a superior fighter to all the other robins, naturally without going through all the rigorous training

I betcha you made this thread just to stir things up when in the published material that`s never been a bone to throw at him. This is just another appreciation Thread in disguise.

[DevilBat66]

Only problem I have with Duke is his codename. Even "Lark" was better than "The Signal". ugh.

[BFF]

boring.

want diversity that catches on? create villains of color (VOC)

and IF you must go superhero route, add some flaws (other than boringness).

[adrikito]

Not in the slightest. At worst, that's a gripe. The main reasons people hate (Or in my case, dislike) Duke, is threefold:

1. He's boring, not unique in the slightest, and generally uninteresting.
2. Nothing about the character is consistent.
3. Synder has done everything in his power to alienate him from fans of the other BatFamily members, both as a group and on an individual level. Examples of this are the "Better than Robin" idea, being as Bruce's side instead of Damian (emphasized by the upcoming Batman and the Signal ) and his being pushed so heavily over the other, far more popular and beloved teens of the BatFam, Cass, Steph and Tim.

Better than Robin... I think that I hate him since the first moment that I heard that.. Before that he was a secondary character..

from what i gathered, it seems like the main reason is that many people don't like the fact that duke is a superior fighter to all the other robins, naturally without going through all the rigorous training

are you crazy??

I mean is he seen as a better fighter than Bruce?

This is CASSANDRA CAIN.

[DGraysonWorldsGreatestSpy]

Duke is text book in how not to introduce a new character minority or not. He has 4 different directions since being introduced 1) a kid who like to solve riddles 2) aged up and now taking the Robin name to form a street justice gang with no training 3) A non Robin sidekick to Batman 4) A meta human needed to protect Gotham by day. When you add in "Robin does not need Batman", Something "Better than Robin", and generally have him operate away from the Batfamily to the point you can act like they don't exist it makes him look bad. Add in that Snyder has not shown much regard for the rest of the Bat characters he is creating unnecessary conflict. There is nothing original about Duke operating during the Day and honestly why couldn't Cass do it since she ain't going to school. What would be original is for Duke to be a young adult with some talent and pre-training in the same style as Bronze Age Barbara Gordon. Even the title Batman & The Signal is a underhanded attempt at replacing Batman & Robin. I would love for D.C. Minority characters to sell as well and become as noteworthy as Black Panther/Miles Mirales/Ms Marvel but Duke is gonna end up selling as low if not worse than Cyborg if he had an ongoing, a mini may give you false sales numbers.

[failo.legendkiller]

Duke is an unnecessary character forcedly pushed from Snyder without settle the ground for his presence.
He's there without a real reason stealing space to other more interesting characters.

[Assam]

Duke is text book in how not to introduce a new character minority or not. He has 4 different directions since being introduced 1) a kid who like to solve riddles 2) aged up and now taking the Robin name to form a street justice gang with no training

I really wish they'd just stuck with one of these.

There is nothing original about Duke operating during the Day and honestly why couldn't Cass do it since she ain't going to school

Unsurprisingly, my immediate thought upon reading that trade description.

[Diggy]

It's less of a problem with the Duke character himself and more of a problem with Snyder as a writer. Harper Row was the EXACT same thing. Some Mary-Sue "awesome amazing fan-favorite SJW perfect genius crimefighter" character that Snyder created and immediately pushed onto the readers as hard as he could. He dropped her when he realized that she wasn't actually a fan-favorite and no matter how great he said she was the readers wouldn't embrace her.

He failed with Harper and started trying again with Duke, but more aggressively this time by completely pushing Damian out of the Batbooks. Tim Drake already felt superfluous in the New 52, but Snyder had to push it a few steps further by creating a few more characters to flood the Batfamily even more. He's desperate to leave a permanent mark on Batman lore and instead of doing it through timeless storytelling he's trying to force his pet characters to be loved and embraced by the fans.

In reality, Duke, like Harper before him, is bland, generic, boring, and completely unnecessary. He's needlessly "replacing" an established and well-liked character in Damian, who is completely MIA in the Batbooks and got shipped off to the Titans because Snyder didn't want to include him. The Batbooks desperately need new life and talent, and a head writer who will embrace the existing Batfamily and try to tell great stories with them rather than shipping them off in favor of their pet characters.

[portland_breakers101]

More diversity is never a bad thing and calling any character an affirmative action character is insulting. Is Duke an uninteresting creator's pet? Yes, but his race has nothing to do with it. I'd love for their to be more racial diversity in the Batfam.

Also, Black Lightning? Seriously? A character only tangentially connected to Batman at this point? If you wanted to bring up minorities already in the BatFam, try Cass, Luke, and despite how he' colored sometimes, Damian. Or even great characters who were tossed aside like David, Onyx and Orpheus.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BLACK LIGHTNING? There was your diversity there. When his comic was out in 1995, no one cared! Why? It's not like he was boring as Duke Thomas. This is the problem, when there are already diverse characters, you didn't care for either Black Lightning nor Steel which was more interesting than Duke Thomas. Who cares if not one single Bat character is not Black. Wait, Bat-Wing and no one cared. Oh my god! GOD! This is annoying!

[Aioros22]

Harper was just painful with all the ass kissing she got instantly from everyone in her first crossover which incidently wasn`t that much after her character introduction.

[Assam]

It's less of a problem with the Duke character himself and more of a problem with Snyder as a writer. Harper Row was the EXACT same thing. Some Mary-Sue "awesome amazing fan-favorite SJW perfect genius crimefighter" character that Snyder created and immediately pushed onto the readers as hard as he could. He dropped her when he realized that she wasn't actually a fan-favorite and no matter how great he said she was the readers wouldn't embrace her.

He failed with Harper and started trying again with Duke, but more aggressively this time by completely pushing Damian out of the Batbooks. Tim Drake already felt superfluous in the New 52, but Snyder had to push it a few steps further by creating a few more characters to flood the Batfamily even more. He's desperate to leave a permanent mark on Batman lore and instead of doing it through timeless storytelling he's trying to force his pet characters to be loved and embraced by the fans.

In reality, Duke, like Harper before him, is bland, generic, boring, and completely unnecessary. He's needlessly "replacing" an established and well-liked character in Damian, who is completely MIA in the Batbooks and got shipped off to the Titans because Snyder didn't want to include him. The Batbooks desperately need new life and talent, and a head writer who will embrace the existing Batfamily and try to tell great stories with them rather than shipping them off in favor of their pet characters.

You know they haven't even given up on Harper, right? She's appearing in the next arc of 'Tec, and she was teased to be part of a team-book coming out next year.

[The Whovian]

[The Whovian]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Oh dear lord a 2nd non-appreciation Duke thread.

Bottoms up, this might be fun!

LOL!! Yep, this is going to be fun. I'm pretty sure everyone knows how much I hate Duke, so no sense in rehashing every reason why. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy.

[Diggy]

You know they haven't even given up on Harper, right? She's appearing in the next arc of 'Tec, and she was teased to be part of a team-book coming out next year.

Ah jeez, I haven't been tuned into Rebirth much, last I heard they had basically retired her. I guess Snyder and his team think if they just keep pushing eventually she'll become the "fan favorite" they advertised her as.

The fundamental problem that Snyder and Tynion and his team don't understand is that compelling characters don't start off being completely perfect and amazing and instantly loved. Compelling characters are flawed, and improve upon their flaws (compelling characters are never absolutely perfect) over the course of their story, and begin to earn respect and love through actions and personality.

Ex: Damian Wayne. Morrison introduced him absolutely packed with flaws and everyone's immediate reaction was "This psychopathic dickhead twerp is supposed to be Batman's son?? Hell nah." then over time we started to see the likable side of Damian come out, and through actions the fans embraced him and he became a legitimate fan-favorite. He wasn't just thrown onto the page with some interviews telling us he's the greatest thing since sliced bread and we should love him and read his new comic book.

[millernumber1]

You know they haven't even given up on Harper, right? She's appearing in the next arc of 'Tec, and she was teased to be part of a team-book coming out next year.

Containment book? Please!