[Characters of DC]Month Five: A Round of Robins [March 2020]

[JasonTodd428]

Welcome once again friends to the Characters of DC. This month we have a very special guest or maybe I should say Guests. Welcome to a Round of Robins.

It’s the 80th anniversary of Robin so the Characters of DC Club along with several other clubs have banded together in celebration of this momentous occasion. There are several events scheduled throughout the month so please take the time to check out what the other clubs are doing. The other clubs involved this Robin Crossover event include: DC Animated Club, DC History Club, DC Superman Club, Renegade Robins, Trivia Tuesday, World of Bats and the Dick Grayson Fan Club. ) There will also be Robin Trivia begin presented by the esteemed HubCityQuestion on Tuesday March 3, 2020 so follow the link for that if you so desire.

Now whilst other clubs are covering the main four Robins I thought our focus here should be on some of the other characters who have worn the “R” outside of those four.

This months readings:

2020-03-02T06:00:00Z → 2020-03-08T06:00:00ZRobin #126, Batgirl #53, Robin #127-128, Detective Comics #796 (Featuring Stephanie Brown)

2020-03-09T05:00:00Z → 2020-03-15T05:00:00Z Dark Knight Returns (Featuring Carrie Kelley)

2020-03-16T05:00:00Z → 2020-03-22T05:00:00Z: All Star Comics #58-61 (Featuring Earth Two’s Dick Grayson)

2020-03-23T05:00:00Z → 2020-03-29T05:00:00Z: Worlds’ Finest #0 (Featuring Earth 2’s Helena Wayne)

Discussion Questions:

• 1. Which one of these Robins is your favorite?
• 2. Do you think that Stephanie Brown made a good Robin? Why or why not? What about the others in this list?
• 3. Do you feel that Batman needs a Robin or is he better off without a partner?
• 4. If you could continue the story of any of the Robins we read this month who would it be and what would you do with the character?

And that’s all I have this month folks.

Now for a special announcement:

Characters of DC will be going on a temporary hiatus starting in April. I am planning to use this time to make a few changes to the club’s structure as well as some improvements. Keep an eye out on the main Characters of DC club page for updates as to when C of DC will be returning and thank you all for your support.

[Jay_Kay]

Sad to hear about the hiatus, but looking forward to what improvements you do.

Also, as a warning with my list – Dark Knight Returns is going to pretty much automatically be number one, so much so I may have to just put it outside the list to make it fair.

[JasonTodd428]

I pretty much figure that a lot of people’s number one this month will be Dark Knight Returns.

[msgtv]

Looking forward to this trip through some “other” Robins

[msgtv]

Did round 1 in a single day! Just like Ebenezer.
So, I don’t think I read these Stephanie stories at the time, but I really liked them. She’s fun, vibrant, but you feel like there’s a vulnerability there that comes from being raised by a villain. Bigger thoughts as the month goes on and I can compare her to others but for now.
I think Stephanie could have made a great Robin, but I don’t think Batman was ever going to give her a fair chance. Yes, he gave her the no strikes policy speech which she violated, but it’s not like he or Dick, or Todd, or Time etc ever took a chance to do the right thing. I think he wanted to train her and then hoped to drive her out of being a hero. So far, I’ll say Stephanie as Robin is someone I’d like to have seen more from, but she really is Spoiler.

This kind of crazy theories would definitely exist in a DC Universe.

WB this is Cassie. Thank you

I just feel the kid’s pain here.

The Batgirl story was an A+. Pairing the full of life Steph with Cassie just works.

Great job of building a strong emotional tie in a single issue

[JasonTodd428]

I really do love Steph and Cass in the Batgirl issue. Scratch that I love their interactions period. I really do wish that Steph had stayed as Robin for a while because I really thought it was time for a girl to have the chance to be Robin. She seemed the perfect choice being so vibrant and fun and Robin is supposed to be the light to Batman’s darkness (or at least traditionally anyway.)

[msgtv]

Too late to go back now, but should have given it a ride for a couple of years

[JasonTodd428]

I would have enjoyed seeing more of her as Robin. I think it would have been a lot of fun just based on these issues.

[Jay_Kay]

@msgtv

I think Stephanie could have made a great Robin, but I don’t think Batman was ever going to give her a fair chance. Yes, he gave her the no strikes policy speech which she violated, but it’s not like he or Dick, or Todd, or Time etc ever took a chance to do the right thing.

Literally all the other Robins have been known to kind of stretch the definition of Batman’s orders or go against them from time to time. Honestly, I kind of feel like Stephanie’s couple of issues as Robin is the one bright light in a really, really dark time for the Batman books at the time – after all, this is just the prelude to War Games, a Batman event I would unquestionably say is the worst Batman event ever made, were it not for the existence of it’s follow-up, War Crimes. Both stories really tore Stephanie apart too – both figuratively and literally.

[Jay_Kay]

Something to note is that there is actually one more issue that features Stephanie’s time as Robin, and that’s Detective Comics #796, which is about her and Batman tracking down Victor Zsasz. Pretty interesting story about how she grows and adapts to her role as Robin, and it has what I think is one of Stephanie’s most hardcore moments.

[JasonTodd428]

Thanks for the heads up on that @Jay_Kay. I’m not sure why but the reading list I pulled these issues from didn’t mention this particular issue or if it did somehow I missed it.

Edit: I added it into the list so others can read it as well.

[JasonTodd428]

@Jay_Kay

this is just the prelude to War Games, a Batman event I would unquestionably say is the worst Batman event ever made, were it not for the existence of it’s follow-up, War Crimes.

Yeah those two events rank pretty high on my list of “Worst Comic Book Events Ever” and they top the list of “Worst Batman Events”

@Jay_Kay

Both stories really tore Stephanie apart too – both figuratively and literally.

I hated that and its not the first time a character’s has been torn apart by writers either sadly.

[Jay_Kay]

Finishing up the Stephanie issues, and while I think the main plot with Scarab(?) was kind of pointless, the interaction between Stephanie and Bruce was really fun. They have always had an interesting dynamic together (I remember a scene in Kevin Smith’s Green Arrow run where Steph as Spoiler was helping Bruce with an autopsy), and as Batman and Robin, it only was more so.

Reading this made me really wish that this stuck, but I get the feeling that DC really meant this as a gimmick, something to keep the book afloat until War Games started. You can kind-of tell considering just how abrupt Stephanie’s firing was – like her stint as Robin could barely fill a trade paperback.

[msgtv]

Yep, one of those stories where the plot is way less important than the characters. Which makes sense since its Bill Willingham who wrote it. I love Fables.

[AlexanderKnox]

The only way I can describe the Stephanie Brown arc is “disappointingly good.” Everything that followed would be much easier to take if those issues didn’t leave me wanting Spoiler to be a proper fourth Robin instead of a footnote. (Honestly, I liked her more in that handful of stories than I’ve ever liked Tim in any of his Robin stories.)

[JasonTodd428]

I liked early Tim before they started making him a darker character by way of all those deaths. I really liked the idea that he wanted to be Robin for a time and then retire so he could live a normal life. I could see this set of stories being a vehicle for him to leave the vigilante life style as he always said he was going to. He had his father back and a new step mom and Steph had stepped up to become Robin.

[Jay_Kay]

Funnily enough, the only times I’ve really found Tim at all interesting is when he was at his darker moments. Like, on his own, he really just doesn’t have much of a personality aside from “I’m a normal boy,” partially because he can’t be too anything else without disrupting something from the other Robins.

But yeah, I agree, the way Tim is set up to quit being Robin felt like a perfect place for him to retire. Now I’m picturing this alternate universe where Stephanie is never fired and stays on as Robin after War Games. Man, could you imagine Batman & Son with Stephanie as Robin?

[Jay_Kay]

One of my favorite pages from the issues, really highlights the fun banter Steph and Bruce had. And while I’m normally not super into the really cartoony art style, it works here, IMO.

[JasonTodd428]

I really liked the “Mock me at your peril, masked man” line in particular. But I agree with you about the whole page being fun to read.

[ralphsix]

I’m diving into these now, but reading everyone’s comments reminded me how much I liked Stephanie during her run as Batgirl. I wish that had stuck.