Missing the Cowl
By r3d_rob1n 4 Comments
I'm new to the site and this is my first blog post, so I'm sorry if this has been covered already.
I'm a big Tim Drake fan, as is obvious by my name, and have been following Teen Titans since the launch of the New 52. Despite my enjoyment of the series, I have to admit that I miss Tim no longer having his own title. I have loved tracking the evolution of the character, and as I'm a 90s child myself, I have always been able to relate to him. When tim transitioned into his new role as Red Robin it seemed like a great coming of age moment for the character, this is most evident by him abandoning the domino mask of Robin and taking a more Batman like Cowl.
The Cowl fit Tim's character for me in two different ways. First of all it showed that he was maturing and growing up. Abandoning his role as sidekick and embracing that of a full-fledged hero in Red Robin. The other important aspect of the cowl was that it differentiates the different atmospheres of Tim and Dick's separation from being Robin. When Dick left the Dynamic Duo it was due to him wanting to get out of Batman's shadow and become his own man, however Tim's separation was quite different. As the only person convinced that Bruce was still alive, Tim's adoption of a cowl is logical as it symbolically places him closer to his mentor. This to me is the biggest reason that Tim should retain his cowl rather than switching back to a domino mask in the New 52. It shows the differences between the two former Robins and characterizes their styles of heroism (this is also the reason I enjoyed Dick's blue Nightwing costume, but that is for a different post).
It seems as though this new representation of Tim in the New 52 has made him a younger, less developed character. What do you think of his new depiction? Should Tim go back to having the cowl as he ages, or should he stick with the more Robin like Domino mask?
4 Comments