Before the reboot, Tim Drake idolized Robin and believed that Batman needed a Robin. When he couldn't get Dick Grayson to return to the role he became Robin. Scott Lobdell announced that Tim Drake was never Robin and went straight to Red Robin.
"Tim goes straight from being Tim Drake to being Red Robin in that there was no official period of time where he was Robin."
Later after seeing a lot of fan outrage he posted this on his twitter.
"Attention Tim Drake Fans, be at peace. He was still Batman’s most brilliant sidekick of several years. Still adopted. Origin 90% intact."
So what's the big deal? He just tacked Red onto the front of his name. This doesn't change anything, right? Wrong. There are three main reasons for this.
1) Names mean something. Batman had two Robins before Tim was his sidekick. Robin was an inseparable part of Batman. The light to his darkness, etc.
2) The biggest problem is that now he never changed from Robin to Red Robin. It might be easier to see by comparing it to "What's the big deal if Dick was never Robin and was just called Nightwing instead? It's only a name change." When Dick fought with Bruce and Bruce fired him he went out into the world and became his own person, Nightwing. If he was only ever Nightwing he loses the transition from sidekick to hero and all that goes with it. This is a step that every sidekick makes and it means something.
After Bruce "died" and Dick became Batman he made Damian Robin, essentially giving up Tim's place in the family. Tim then took up the mantle of Red Robin because it was "tainted". He took it as a punishment to himself for his perceived failures. If Tim was never then he never made this transition. He also would have stayed with Dick to fight crime if Dick hadn't given Tim his alternate identity (which was pretty much the last thing that he was holding on to) and not gone to find Bruce.
3) Why does Tim hate Damian so much now? Pre-boot he disliked Damian because he was really mean to him and tried to kill him then he hated Damian after Damian took his role. It's been said that Tim hates Damian because he thinks that he is bringing shame to a legacy that he wasn't even part of. Some might argue that he was still part of the Robin legacy because he was still Batman's sidekick, but so was Batgirl and she's not part of the Robin legacy. If he made the purposeful choice not to be Robin than he isn't part of the legacy and therefore shouldn't be so personally affronted by Damian being Robin. I've heard that Tim chose not to be Robin because of Jason Todd and not wanting to dishonor his memory, but now that Jason's alive again I can't see Tim really being upset at Damian taking his identity especially if Jason isn't upset.
Side Note: I also see no reason to make it that Tim was only Red Robin. It doesn't conserve time in the limited 5 year timeline or anything. Maybe it will be a plot point in the Zero Issue, but right now it doesn't seem to serve any purpose. It doesn't make things less confusing (if anything it makes it more confusing as there wasn't just Batgirl and Robin). I can't see how it would entice new readers and it certainly hasn't made old readers happy. It might have been meant to make a ruckus with current fans and promote the Zero issue though."
************
So there's my opinion. What does everyone else think? Do you think any of my points aren't important/don't make sense and/or are there any points that you think I missed?
Log in to comment