[Morgeruat]

A brief history of Batman's Robins


Dick Grayson

The first Robin was a young circus acrobat named Dick Grayson who was the youngest of a family act called The Flying Graysons. His parents were murdered by the gangster Boss Zucco, who sabotaged their trapeze equipment to cause a fatal fall. Batman approached the boy after the murder and told him the truth of the matter. Dick learned that the criminal, who had been extorting money from the circus, had killed his parents as a warning against defiance. Dick pleaded with Batman to bring the murderer to justice and he agreed, while making the boy swear to always fight crime faithfully. Batman – as Bruce Wayne – managed to get approval to have Dick put under his custody as a legal ward, and rigorously trained the boy in physical, fighting and investigation skills to be his assistant. Together they investigated Zucco and collected the evidence they needed to bring Zucco to justice.

That was first of a long career adventures in which the pair, often called the Dynamic Duo, would battle crime in Gotham City and beyond. In addition, Robin was leader of his own superhero team, The Teen Titans. As Grayson grew older, he and Batman were increasingly at odds, with Dick wanting to take more control of his life as a crimefighter. Eventually, Dick would break away from Batman and abandon the identity in favor of his own creation as Nightwing. Nightwing now takes up full-time vigilante duties in Gotham's neighboring city of Bludhaven.

As Nightwing, Dick has become a hero in his own right, stepping out of his mentor's shadow. Of all the former sidekicks, he is the most respected in the DC Universe, and was even chosen by Batman to lead the Justice League when it once appeared that the Leaguers had died in battle. After a disasterous battle in which team mate Donna Troy died, Dick left the Titans. He is now the leader of the loosely-knit group of heroes, The Outsiders.


Bruce Wayne

A Batman story from the 1950s had the young Bruce Wayne assume the identity of Robin, complete with the original costume, in order to learn the basics of detective work from a famous detective named Harvey Harris. This story was later revised in the 1980s to edit out any reference to Bruce Wayne having ever called himself "Robin" or worn any costume before he finally donned his Batman costume as an adult.


Jason Todd

The second Robin was Jason Todd, another young orphaned acrobat in DC Comics before the 1980s revision and a street orphan after. Unlike Grayson, Todd never seemed to blossom under Batman's tutelage. Jason was impulsive, reckless and full of rage. This would sometimes provide him with great strength and courage, but would more often lead him to take unfounded chances and risks. Readers would never truly bond with him, and, in a controversial editorial decision, was killed off in a notorious story where readers were encouraged to participate in a pay-per-call phone-in poll to see if the character would survive. The vote narrowly favoured killing him and the character died at the hands of The Joker.

Jason's death haunts the Batman to this day, who keeps his costume under glass in the Batcave as a reminder of his greatest failures; both to save the boy from the Joker, and to properly prepare him for his role as Robin.


Tim Drake

The third (and current) Robin is Timothy Drake, a young boy who had followed the adventures of Batman and Robin ever since witnessing the murder of the Flying Graysons. He surmised their secret identities and noted that after Jason was killed, Batman was becoming more prone to overly violent and clumsy methods because of his inner grief and rage. Eventually, he revealed himself to Dick Grayson and Batman's butler Alfred, who in turned helped persuade Batman to take on Tim as his sidekick to help him regain some self-control.

Tim has proven to be a more cerebral sidekick while still being quite physically adept. He wears a modified armoured costume designed to provide more protection including tight trousers to finally protect the previously bare legs. He is also a member of the newly reformed Teen Titans. Tim is further removed from the previous Robins in that his father is alive and Batman has forced Tim to swear he will not share his identity.


Stephanie Brown

Stephanie Brown aka. The Spoiler debuted as Robin in Robin #126 as Batman's new Girl Wonder?? Only time will tell if this is temporary.

Carrie Kelly

In addition, the famous comic book mini-series, The Dark Knight Returns, includes Carrie Kelly as the first female Robin in Batman's history. However, The Dark Knight Returns is set in the future of the Batman timeline, and is not canonical.