The New 52 has been showing us that many characters are not safe from change. That's kind of the point in doing it. We've been seeing little changes and updates for the past year. At San Diego Comic-Con, TEEN TITANS writer Scott Lobdell mentioned that Tim Drake never went by the name Robin but went straight to Red Robin. It looks like that's a small change in comparison to what we can expect in this week's issue #0.

Normally we don't post spoilers before you get a chance to pick up a comic for yourself. This image was emailed and this has also been spoiled online. This is your last chance to look away.

Tim Drake's parents are still alive. They're in the witness protection program. Here we thought the Batman continuity remained pretty much untouched.

As for other developments from this issue, there's bound to be more. We'll do one of those in depth looks tomorrow to give everyone a chance to read the comic themselves. TEEN TITANS #0 is on sale today. Let's see what else has changed.

This is it for me--I'm done. Throwing in the towel. You win, DC.

#FireLobdell

Hoho! >:{D
BB

Intrigued by the new development and sad that "My Tim" is gone :(

Eh, maybe some good stories could come out of it.

For all we know, this could be a hoax. I didn't see anything online about this.

Either way, wasn't the fact that Tim Drake actually became a "Robin" while both his parents were alive one of the things that made him unique as a Robin? And if they are still alive at the point when the zero issue takes place, then for all we know, in the x amount of years since, they could have come back, reconnected with Tim and then died. I always thought the scene in Identity Crisis where Tim's dad was killed by Captain Boomerang was such a great emotional moment for TIm. It could be viewed as more emotionally stirring if in fact it occurred right after Tim got his father back in his life. 
 
The only problem that I have with this development, however, is that it makes no sense for Tim's parents to have gotten a hold of Batman.

Sigh

Well the "No more Robin" part should have served as a warning.

I think it is a cool take.

More and more spoiler since some weeks...i am still surprised we never had any big digital leak

Whoa! Parents actually asking Batman of all people to look after their son? DUDE!

People take their comics a little too seriously sometimes. I don't get too caught up on continuity.

(sigh) oh DC

They done messed me up with this one. Wow. I only take the editors to task when they specifically said that they were not making a new continuity but with the events of Flashpoint, anything goes so there should be no reason to be mad.

I wonder if Snyder had any say in these changes? Lobdell has to go, all his books suck and he is ruining good characters.

Lol DC. When you realize you're in a hole, stop digging.

So instead of clinically dead they are just functionally dead...really who cares about if his parents are alive or dead when DC cant even get it straight which Robin is the smart one?

What!!!!!!! Really. Scott Lobdell is single handedly ruining The new 52 for me. Is he trying to marginalise Tim Drake. What next?

I don't see how this really matters much. I mean, he's already "not really Robin," might as well make him "not really a Wayne". Those distinctions are in name only, and by keeping the parents alive now they have future hooks to mess with Tim. Unlike the "robin vs. red robin" change, I can see this having a real benefit for future stories and thereby consider it justifiable.

It's annoying, but this doesn't annoy me as much as the fact that Tim no longer tracked down Bruce and proved himself by doing so. *

*Writing in big text like BB cause I can.

I have a strong feeling that DC will ret-con Tim Drake back to being a Robin once Lobdell leaves the book.

Like I always said: The New 52 suck as hell. They changed so much ... it isn't the DC that I loved anymore. It's something new and I don't like it. To bad ... I don't know but I guess I'm done with the new DC. I still love the movies, the tv series, the old comics but the new comics ... nope, I don't like them at all.

@scuzz2.0 said:

I wonder if Snyder had any say in these changes? Lobdell has to go, all his books suck and he is ruining good characters.

Snyder said this story was brilliant. Whether he was just being nice or serious I don't know.

@War Killer said:

The whole 'Remove Tim as a Robin' thing is a ridiculous editorial decision that shows DC weren't thinking long term when they planned the New 52. Batman 1 and Teen Titans 1 are in direct contrast to the current status quo. Also, the first New 52 Teen Titans graphic novel has been edited to remove the text box "This looks like the shortest incarnation of the Teen Titans ever" or something like that. Basically Wolfman's Titans never really existed. Which riles me a great deal.

@War Killer: That only serves to show that DC is making things up as they go. There are quite a few statements made in the earlier issues that now contradict things stated a year later.

For example at the end of Teen Titans #1 there are several monitors show green animals fighting crime or saving people. This was clearly meant to be Beast Boy. However, in Ravager #0 we find that Gar was never green in this universe for the instant he was given his powers it also turned him red. This shows that They didn't have a plan for Gar initially and left him as he was until half a year later when someone came up with his changes.

Another example is with Huntress. If you read the mini series she had before Earth 2 came out. In the first half of it, it is very clear that this version of Huntress was meant to be Bertinelli, but the series took a major shift and then they had to pull the little identity theft device out rather abruptly because part way through someone thought of the idea for using Helena Wayne.

Same goes for Tim, they didn't have this planned so they played everything how it was until they felt it should be changed.

It's kinda funny how the DCnU didn't just re-write all the history before, but is constantly rewriting it's own history.

I didn't care that much that Tim went by Red Robin instead of Robin. I didn't think it really mattered that much. I dont care as much that Tim's parents are alive. What bothers me is that Batman recruited him.

Tim Drake convinced Batman to let him be Robin because he deduced Bruce Wayne's identity. That's what made Tim Drake so unique.

More fan alienation. While they promised us the Batman universe was left unscathed AND that they were staying faithful to iconic versions of the characters. Neither of which are apparently true. I don't understand this perpetual fascination with "Out with the Old, In with the New" when dealing with their characters. It won't keep old readers happy and it won't draw in any new readers.

I've officially lost faith in DC's ability to handle their own characters.

You guys are killing me. This is kind of interesting, but it does negate a great character moment. Teen Titans is TERRIBLE, and Tim is my favorite Robin. He made the character cool for me. Lobdell, go away.

lmfao, DC. You guys are dumb. Glad I dropped most of the DC titles in the last year. Batman, Allstar Western, and Swamp Thing are all that remain.

You guys are too nit-picky. I tried to empathize with you guys, but now that I know what you are complaining about, it just seems pathetic. You guys are really complaining that Tim Drake went straight to the "Red Robin" persona, without taking up the Robin mantle? That is nothing. He was still Batman's partner. Maybe he wanted to distinguish himself from Dick and Jason by assuming a different persona. I haven't read this issue of Teen Titans yet, but if this is really what you guys are complaining about, all that can be said about you is that you are all sad. Pitiful.

@Twentyfive: AMEN BRUTHA!!! AMEN!!!!

Um.......what the hell does this change? Wasn't the whole point of him that he was a Robin(Red or not) without a tragic past? Wasn't his dad's death something fans moaned about in IC?

Oh, the nerdrage.

Not torn up about the parents being alive, the fact that his uber badass transition from Bruce's greatest Robin to an uber--badass cowled avenger who walked the thin and uncertain line between Batman and Red Hood is virtually kaput.

So, instead of Tim being the kid who takes on the Robin mantle because Batman always needs a Robin to fight off his own inner darkness, Batman recruits Tim because his parents told Batman to keep him safe....well you lot enjoy reading Teen Titans. Have a nice day.

Looks cool, if I could double my comics budget, this might be one that I would pick up again.  

@Twentyfive said:

You guys are too nit-picky. I tried to empathize with you guys, but now that I know what you are complaining about, it just seems pathetic. You guys are really complaining that Tim Drake went straight to the "Red Robin" persona, without taking up the Robin mantle? That is nothing. He was still Batman's partner. Maybe he wanted to distinguish himself from Dick and Jason by assuming a different persona. I haven't read this issue of Teen Titans yet, but if this is really what you guys are complaining about, all that can be said about you is that you are all sad. Pitiful.

That's not what the issue is about.

@jointron33 said:

Um.......what the hell does this change? Wasn't the whole point of him that he was a Robin(Red or not) without a tragic past? Wasn't his dad's death something fans moaned about in IC?

Batman recruiting Tim takes away the fact that Tim was cool enough to figure out who he was, hunt him down, and convince him to let him be Robin to SAVE BRUCE from the dark path he was headed down after Jason's death. Personally that's my biggest issue with it.

With the name, I think people are disappointed that it took away some of his character evolution of moving from Robin to Red Robin.

I would prefer if Tim were Robin and Damian wasn't anymore. Tim was always a great Robin and he never needed to be replaced.Tim is being usurped by a punk kid and no one else is saying anything about it. In the next reboot they'll just "Wally West/Stephanie Brown" Tim--mark my words.

Continuity is all over the place right now.

I never thought so much people cared about him...

He was never a true robin for me, jason, dick and damian were always better in my heart

@War Killer said:

You're breaking the internet!

Absolutely hilarious.

@War Killer said:

Yep. DC literally is making this stuff up as they go along.

who the hell were his parents!? How do they know Batman?! or was it just Bruce Wayne? but if they are in witness protection that kind of legal stuff makes me think Batman over Bruce. i dont know.

Dang it Lobdell. i finally started to trust you with Teen Titans and now this. im very confused. can't Tim just get his own series again please?!

its not dumb that Tim Drake's parents asked Batman to look after Tim, but the way it was executed and written in this issue kind of bothers me the most.

@Captain13 said:

I would prefer if Tim were Robin and Damian wasn't anymore.

Damian's a great Robin. He adds something different to all the others. And Tim's earnt the right to distinguish himself as Red Robin in the way Dick struck out as Nightwing. However the 5 year timeline of the New 52 means that Batman going through 5 Robins in 5 years is a tad convoluted.

@Mbecks14:Sure it isn't. Tell me what the issue is about. Because what I have been reading for months is fanboys crying about a minor change.

I quit reading most currents from DC 3 issues into the new 52. Their is a major change in the tone of how many of the different books have been written and change for the sake of change is straight out stupid. The last universe was a very strong well written and streamlined universe and we trade it in just to do it.

@wowylied said:

I never thought so much people cared about him...

He was never a true robin for me, jason, dick and damian were always better in my heart

What's really sad is that I lost ALL of my favorite characters. Either they are missing or RADICALLY different in all the wrong ways. I really tried to give the New52 a shot. But this SUCKS. Hopefully Trinity War fixes all this.

Gallery

Now I will never get to see my favorites together again. There's no story with all six together.

If this happened to the mentors instead of the sidekicks, DC would be out of business.

BTW only Dick and Tim were good Robins IMO. Jason is acceptable as a villain, and Damian doesn't make sense continuity wise. Plus he's an annoying brat IMO. I hope he gets killed off soon...

Only Tim (as Robin and Red Robin) and Dick (as Nightwing) have had ongoing SOLO books.