One of the latest of the new batch of DC books has a slightly strange premise. We know living in Gotham City must be tough but now we're about to see a bunch of teens take to the streets and call themselves "Robin." Lee Bermejo is taking the idea of Batman's sidekick to a different level.
What will the focus be about? Can a group of untrained kids really survive on the streets of Gotham? We asked Bermejo some questions about the series and what we can expect.
COMIC VINE: How did the premise for WE ARE ROBINS come about?
LEE BERMEJO: I guess it was a while back. I had pitched a Robin idea. It just wasn’t really the right time for it, for a variety of reasons. Stuff was just starting to happen. The concept itself just didn’t really seem to fit within the constructs of what they were doing at that time. Last year [editor] Mark Doyle contacted me about the possibility of doing something else with this idea. He had a take on it I thought was very very interesting. We kind of merged the two ideas and something new was born. It definitely came out of some cool creative conversations with editorial.
CV: Is Duke Thomas going to be a series regular?
BERMEJO: Yeah, most definitely. I wanted him to be that entry point for readers into this issue. I like the idea of him being the eyes and ears as we discover these characters. In Scott [Snyder] and Greg [Capullo]’s run, Duke was solving the puzzle, trying to defeat the Riddler [in Zero Year]. I thought that was awesome. It was a great little view into who he was as a character. I wanted someone like that, a guy that wanted to solve the puzzle.
CV: There are some other “Robins” seen in the first issue. Do you plan on having a set cast or several different Robins coming in and out?
BERMEJO: There’s multiple kids doing this thing. I’m focusing on five or six of them. You will definitely see some of the other kids. Some other characters will be popping up here and there but I’m mostly going to be focusing on these six. There really is this idea there’s more that’s going on than just these kids. I don’t want to throw too many characters at the reader just because I feel like it. I want readers to ease into it and not feel bombarded.
CV: What's the big difference between Batman's sidekick, Robin and the Robins we're seeing in your book?
BERMEJO: There’s a few different answers to that question. Really for me, there’s the fact that you have a character who has been trained by someone to do a very specific job. These kids are doing it of their own volition. These kids are choosing to go about this without necessarily an adult that’s guiding them. That’s definitely part of the first few issues. There’s this concept of the kids receiving messages from THE NEST and what that means for their own personal crusade. But I would say the biggest difference is the fact that the kids aren’t necessarily very good at what they do. It’s just something they want to do. They’re choosing to do this job. Then obviously they’re kids from multiple backgrounds.
CV: What's driving these kids to be Robin? Is it them getting tired of being afraid, living in Gotham with all the threats?
BERMEJO: Yeah but I think the best way to look at it is Gotham City and Batman, they’re these dark oppressive kind of things. Gotham is this great place—this dark place that’s dirty. Robin is thematically this ray of light in that world. I think that’s why these kids are latching on to that character in particular. Obviously it’s easier for them to see themselves in Robin as opposed to Batman. It’s just that concept of bringing light into a dark world. Essentially it’s a symbol.
CV: What sort of training will they have?
BERMEJO: That’s the thing, it’s not really…well part of that I can’t really talk about since it gets into spoiler territory a little bit. That’s something that I really like about this idea in general. These kids haven’t been trained. They’re not “professionals.” They’re very much J.V. trying to become Varsity.
CV: Will we find out who’s helping them right away or will that be a mystery that builds?
BERMEJO: It’s a mystery. I’m not going to say when but it’s something we’ll obviously find out about. That’s a big big part of the first story arc.
CV: I have a theory but I’m not going to say it. How rooted in the Batman-universe will the series be?
BERMEJO: Very. Very. It’s going to be something where you’re going to see other characters in the Bat-Universe show up. I know they just real eased the solicitation for issue #4 so it’s no secret Batgirl shows up. These kids will also have interactions with Batman. They will definitely fit into the Bat-Universe. The nice thing about it at the same time is they can still fit into their own little pocket of that universe. You have a book like ROBIN: SON OF BATMAN and the book is completely different than this. It’s this fantastical globe-trotting kind of epic. Our book is a lot more street level and grounded with a little more reality than the other Robin book. So they’re almost counterpoints of each other
CV: What's it like carving out your own piece of Gotham?
BERMEJO: It’s awesome. It’s awesome, man. I think even from work I’ve done in the past—JOKER, BATMAN NOEL, LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL, I’ve always tried to establish a Gotham and these major characters that are recognizable but still have a unique flavor to them. I’m hoping that’s going to be the same for this book. I’d like it to feel very much like its own thing. I love playing in that universe. That’s the great thing about it. You can interpret the characters in a lot of different ways and they work.
WE ARE ROBIN #1 is on sale today. Check out the rest of the preview below.
