The Renegade Robins Club is just as annoyed as Stephanie that Robin won’t reveal his secret identity to her! Come on, Tim: what gives? As if she didn’t have enough problems with her lecherous uncle and an envious member of Young Justice!
Discussion Question: Chuck Dixon and company seem to love sticking Tim in love triangles. Do you find this approach compelling, or would you prefer that the stories focus solely on building a stronger relationship dynamic between Tim and Steph?
Poll Question:
Should Tim reveal his identity to Stephanie?
Yes!
No!
0voters
Thanks for stopping by! See you in two weeks for more Spoilery goodness, @RenegadeRobinsClub! (That’s right! Two Steph sessions for the holidays!)
I love the title of this thread! Though it also might apply to her issues back when she first committed to being the Hero of the Suburbs, back in Robin #40
Also, definitely miss the Robin 80 Page Giant - get on that, DC! I am lucky enough to have stumbled upon it in a used book store several years ago, but its presence online was very difficult to track down to establish when it came out and where it fits in the timeline (thankfully, it has a pretty solid event - Jack Drake and Dana’s marriage - which can help a bit). It also is a really fun connection between Steph and Black Canary, setting up their later connection nicely.
Batman Chronicles #22 has the weirdest coloring error, turning Steph from a blonde into a…orangey-redhead-brunette? It’s a fun little story, a lot like the Showcase 95 #5 story from way, way earlier in her timeline. And it directly references that it’s the first time Steph has been out heroing since she gave birth - a nice little note.
Given that Dixon’s mentioned many times that Tim Drake’s trajectory is very similar to Peter Parker’s first decade or so of development, it makes sense that the love triangles would play a big part in his personal life structure. I don’t mind too much, though it definitely does set a pattern that would reap disastrous effects much later.
I really love Pete Woods’ art in this era, and his wife’s art in the upcoming era is also a big favorite!
Well, I firmly believe that Steph facing Tim and saying, “Face it, Boy Wonder, you have a bad case of the Stephs” is supposed to be exactly that moment. (From Robin #54)
First off, I have to say that I’m so glad that the Steph story in The Batman Chronicles didn’t become a “very special” issue like I thought it was going to, because I’m not quite sure if I trust Chuck handling that kind of story.
I mean, it could be interesting in theory, but I don’t think it works very well here. Like, I get that Dixon is trying to go for an early days Spider-Man feel, but…
Okay, I gotta get this out of my system, the whole “Spider-Man love triangle” that people think of with MJ and Gwen is up there with Jason Todd being an overly violent a-hole before his death in Post-Crisis continuity – kind of fan-made invention that was grafted on after the fact. There are a couple of catty lines in an issue or two, but from what I remember, for most of that period it’s mostly Peter and Gwen dating and then Mary Jane dating Harry Osborne, and Peter and MJ didn’t really get close until after Gwen died.
whew Now I feel better. Anyway, let’s say that the Gwen and MJ love triangle was a thing back then. The problem with how Dixon does it is that both characters have to have a compelling hook to them. Mary Jane Watson was the party girl and Gwen Stacy was the kind and respectable daddy’s girl (and even that is a little bit of fanon due mostly to Busiek/Ross’ Marvels). We know what Steph’s thing is, but…what does Star have, other than being the progenitor of Stephen Universe’s wardrobe?
Maybe it would work if they gave her a little more character – maybe play up a bit more on the criminal connection, maybe she’s an amateur thief way over her head, make her out to be Tim’s Catwoman. But then again, “amateur way over her head” also describes Stephanie pretty well, even at this point.
Since this went way too long, I’ll just say nah, I don’t think the love triangles work very well. There’s already enough drama potential going on with Tim and Steph regarding his secret identity stuff.
Well, the only direction to go now is a Wolverine/Cyclops rivalry between Tim and Anarky over Spoiler. (And anyone who read those classic Uncanny issues is like, “It was barely even there! Why is it treated like such a big deal?”)
(From Robin 
