Duke Thomas: We are Robin, The Signal, Final Knight Appreciation 2021

[lemonpeace]

Duke Thomas by James Tucker.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVtkwbSP...EXQU9-6iGn2o0/

Attachment 115307

Duke supremacy! praise the son! I love how many DC creators have been taking to Duke these days. Duke as the Signal would've been great for Brave & the Bold, and it would've probably helped boost his profile in the DC pantheon.

[Frontier]

Duke Thomas by James Tucker.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVtkwbSP...EXQU9-6iGn2o0/

Attachment 115307

Wish he was making his animated debut as Signal.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Wish he was making his animated debut as Signal.

Give it time. Everyone starts somewhere.

[9th.]

So what's the follow up to Secret Files? I just bought it the other day and I enjoyed the story.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

So what's the follow up to Secret Files? I just bought it the other day and I enjoyed the story.

I don't think there is one yet. Duke is presently in Urban Legends but I don't think follows the one shot.

Urban Legends feels like a follow-up for the Outsiders and bridges the gap to Future State.

For all we know the one-shot happens after his appearances in Urban Legends.

[9th.]

I don't think there is one yet. Duke is presently in Urban Legends but I don't think follows the one shot.

Urban Legends feels like a follow-up for the Outsiders and bridges the gap to Future State.

For all we know the one-shot happens after his appearances in Urban Legends.

Oh ok, I figured. So is this just going to be how they handle Duke for the near future? Random One-shots?

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather he have this than no stories at all but it's kinda...idk weird.

[lemonpeace]

Oh ok, I figured. So is this just going to be how they handle Duke for the near future? Random One-shots?

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather he have this than no stories at all but it's kinda...idk weird.

ion think it's like that, i think DC is just shifting tactics. it appears these anthology stories are meant to gauge which stories to make spin off into their own titles series. with all the [well received] DC projects they've given Brandon Thomas thus far, and the amount of work he's done/plot points he's introduced with Outsiders, I'd be surprised if DC doesn't have plans to give him an Outsiders title of some sort. especially since The Fearful was a tie-in for Fear State, which is meant to set up plot lines for the Batfamily for 2022 and beyond. Thomas does reference Secret Files in Urban Legends, so it's possible they want to pick up that storyline if/when they lauch the next Outsiders run, but I would want them to give Tony Patrick a proper limited so he can finally finish telling his story with Duke before that.

if i were DC, I'd grab a solid artist (Sampere and Tormet both seemed to enjoy drawing Duke, and did great work) and let Patrick and Thomas co-write a 6 issue Signal limited. Patrick handles the majority of the writing so Thomas can wrap up some of his other DC projects while also insuring synergy between the series and Outsiders. use that to answer any and all lingering threads left for Duke from Patrick/Snyder's run with him and finally finish establishing Duke as a fully formed solo hero; something more reminiscent of the version of him from Thomas' Outsiders. once that's wrapped, and Thomas' workload lightens up, launch a new Outsiders with Thomas using the current team, with Duke being the sole Bat representative.

[Hellscream]

I saw the power stats. But the question that been doing cart wheels in my head concerning power set. Is how far into the future does Duke ability go? And does it have a set distance? Or is it just nebulous and writers put it in when they want to? Because some folks (Dino Dan outisders) shouldn't be able to tag Duke when he training under so many people in the Bat family. If so I think that is one of the flaws of his characters that requires a solo series to flesh out.

[lemonpeace]

I saw the power stats. But the question that been doing cart wheels in my head concerning power set. Is how far into the future does Duke ability go? And does it have a set distance? Or is it just nebulous and writers put it in when they want to? Because some folks (Dino Dan outisders) shouldn't be able to tag Duke when he training under so many people in the Bat family. If so I think that is one of the flaws of his characters that requires a solo series to flesh out.

as it's been described thus far, Duke can only see a few seconds into the future and there isn't really a set range that we know of. if the future sight is perfectly analogous to his retrocognition, i guess he could maybe see a few minutes into the future if they really push it, but as if right now it's only a few seconds. I think the issue is, other than Tony Patrick's mini, i think most writers forget he has precognition because he does get tagged a lot; and it probably also didn't help that the longest run with him recently (Hill's Outsiders) didn't use his light powers at all and saw him getting beaten up a lot. however, he saw when Duke faced his father that someone who has better reaction times/is a superior fighter can beat the future sight by just being quicker to the punch than Duke can react. so him getting tagged could technically be chalked up to Duke facing bad match ups for him; maybe the subterranean was just THAT good.

I do agree with your sentiment tho, Duke shouldn't be tagged as often as he does considering the pedigree of his instructors. he's trained with Batman, Red Hood, Cassandra Cain, Katana, Black Lightning, sorta Lady Shiva, and even a little bit of training with Dick, he should be more formidable than he's appeared thus far. I really wish we'd get more scenes of him winning these hand to hand exchanges, because with all of his abilities and training at this point he really should only be getting tagged by really elite-level fighters.

[Hellscream]

as it's been described thus far, Duke can only see a few seconds into the future and there isn't really a set range that we know of. if the future sight is perfectly analogous to his retrocognition, i guess he could maybe see a few minutes into the future if they really push it, but as if right now it's only a few seconds. I think the issue is, other than Tony Patrick's mini, i think most writers forget he has precognition because he does get tagged a lot; and it probably also didn't help that the longest run with him recently (Hill's Outsiders) didn't use his light powers at all and saw him getting beaten up a lot. however, he saw when Duke faced his father that someone who has better reaction times/is a superior fighter can beat the future sight by just being quicker to the punch than Duke can react. so him getting tagged could technically be chalked up to Duke facing bad match ups for him; maybe the subterranean was just THAT good.

I do agree with your sentiment tho, Duke shouldn't be tagged as often as he does considering the pedigree of his instructors. he's trained with Batman, Red Hood, Cassandra Cain, Katana, Black Lightning, sorta Lady Shiva, and even a little bit of training with Dick, he should be more formidable than he's appeared thus far. I really wish we'd get more scenes of him winning these hand to hand exchanges, because with all of his abilities and training at this point he really should only be getting tagged by really elite-level fighters.

Hmmm good to know. I definitely missed those cliff notes. My head cannon was Duke ability to see the future or glimpse of. Was one to one with his ability to see the past at a crime scene. Because getting to a crime scene would take time. So a couple of seconds just seem odd to me. Plus it will give the character a different form of gathering intel. By just soaring or gliding above the city and using the future sight. Similar to superman hearing, but Duke have to go past the area. Which would limit it and have flaws.

I thought the edge Duke father had was his telepathy, on top of faster reflexes and being a capable fighter.

The character just need 30 issues on his own. Because he has the old Robins he rolled with. And family issues....

[lemonpeace]

Hmmm good to know. I definitely missed those cliff notes. My head cannon was Duke ability to see the future or glimpse of. Was one to one with his ability to see the past at a crime scene. Because getting to a crime scene would take time. So a couple of seconds just seem odd to me. Plus it will give the character a different form of gathering intel. By just soaring or gliding above the city and using the future sight. Similar to superman hearing, but Duke have to go past the area. Which would limit it and have flaws.

I thought the edge Duke father had was his telepathy, on top of faster reflexes and being a capable fighter.

The character just need 30 issues on his own. Because he has the old Robins he rolled with. And family issues....

well you have to remember Duke's precognitive ghost vision doesn't exactly function the same as the retrocognition. he sees the past by looking at the light patterns leftover from where light has already been, but to see the future he's basically just following where light will be going. the light isn't there yet, so that probably limits how much information he's processing from the future, which is likely why he can only see a couple seconds ahead. We see in Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Metal that Duke's powers can see years into the past (able to see his earth as it was even before Barbatos took over), and which the boosts he got from Ishmael and Quietus who knows, it may be possible for him to pull the Superman move you're talking about one day.

as for Gnomon, you gotta remember, Gnomom may have some way of communicating telepathically but he straight up tells Duke that he wasn't reading his mind; they just share the same sight. so I think it had more to do with Gnomon's reaction time being better due to just having nigh-infinitely more experience in with his powers and fighting than Duke.

while I would love 30 issues of solid Duke content, I don't think we even need to set the bar that high to be honest. After seeing what Brandon Thomas has done with Duke in 4 issues (which I should go back and give my thoughts on because amens are in order for that man) and what Tom Taylor could do in 11 issues on Suicide Squad, 6-12 issues is more than enough space to give Duke the attention, feats, and general showings that he needs.

[lemonpeace]

the demon arm was pretty dope.

[9th.]

the demon arm was pretty dope.

I'm surprised this isn't your new avy

[lemonpeace]

I'm surprised this isn't your new avy

as dope as the demon arm is, and as cold as this edit is, the panel of Duke from Tales is still one of my absolute favorite panels of Duke of all time. it's the perfect avi for me rn. I can't say I wasn't tempted, ngl.

[Hellscream]

well you have to remember Duke's precognitive ghost vision doesn't exactly function the same as the retrocognition. he sees the past by looking at the light patterns leftover from where light has already been, but to see the future he's basically just following where light will be going. the light isn't there yet, so that probably limits how much information he's processing from the future, which is likely why he can only see a couple seconds ahead. We see in Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Metal that Duke's powers can see years into the past (able to see his earth as it was even before Barbatos took over), and which the boosts he got from Ishmael and Quietus who knows, it may be possible for him to pull the Superman move you're talking about one day.

as for Gnomon, you gotta remember, Gnomom may have some way of communicating telepathically but he straight up tells Duke that he wasn't reading his mind; they just share the same sight. so I think it had more to do with Gnomon's reaction time being better due to just having nigh-infinitely more experience in with his powers and fighting than Duke.

while I would love 30 issues of solid Duke content, I don't think we even need to set the bar that high to be honest. After seeing what Brandon Thomas has done with Duke in 4 issues (which I should go back and give my thoughts on because amens are in order for that man) and what Tom Taylor could do in 11 issues on Suicide Squad, 6-12 issues is more than enough space to give Duke the attention, feats, and general showings that he needs.

I already gave my opnion on the writer and the most recent Outsider. So if they chart Duke for now on. I'll keep my mouth shut and let people enjoy it.

I said 30 issues because
Cassandra (Batgirl) 73 issues solo
Tim Drake ( Robin) 184 sol + 26 Red Robin issues
Damian (Robin) 26 issues solo, but has the most team ups
So If they going to do this character justice, than drop the team ups and focus on his background. Than new readers that picked up the most recent Signal, wont be saying who is this. Heck in the webtoon it just seem exposure.

Concerning his power set, which thank you for taking the time to explain. It seem to me he dont need an new trick each book he is written in. I.E two Outsiders run that Duke gain Darkness/shadow and a Demon arm. When he has a power set or untapped power to walk in to.

Retocognition -look at battlefields, training grounds (Themisycara) and mimicking the warriors movements and plans. Or just be A Justice League chronicler to start out.
Telepathy (untouched)- because of not training someone can be having access to him that can lead to meeting Martian manhunter for aid/training.
Boosting Metas- An sleeping army, make Jefferson (black lighting) beast mode. Or use him/ Riko to make metas. Which I think thats what they are doing.
Shadow/powers-No clue
Intelligence-I thought it was in genetics which is not in any batfamily wheel house.
Thats just me rambling.

But please let Duke cure his family members. Because this feel like they going to do Identity Crisis down the line for the back story