Robin #1 (1993)
“Outcast”
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Penciler: Tom Grummett
As strange as it may sound, Robin the Boy Wonder was probably one of the most controversial comic book characters in the 80’s and 90’s. Sure, everybody in America knew who he was– he’s Batman’s sidekick! He’s right up there in the Sidekick Hall of Fame (or Second Banana Heaven, if you’re into MST3K) with iconic sidekicks like Bucky, Kato, Ed McMahon, Chewbacca, Gabby Hayes and Scottie Pippen. So why was he so darn controversial? It probably starts back to the early 80’s and the overall character of “Robin”.
Believe me, there was not a hotter topic than “what should they do with Robin” back in the day. The original Robin (“Master” Dick Grayson) had been Robin for about 50 years at that point and had to eventually grow up. So they cooked up his transition into “Nightwing”, complete with the long-overdue arrival of long pants, circa 1984. Just before that, they also brought in “New Robin”, Jason Todd. Nightwing became popular and fans openly pined for his own series. But “New Robin” wasn’t so hot. It also didn’t help than fans began to pine for Batman as a solo act. Up to that point, most of Batman’s lifespan had been spent with Robin. It all led to the infamous 1-900 “Robin Hotline” of 1988 and the fan-voted decision to KILL ROBIN.
So Jason Todd was killed and the concept of Robin was mothballed. For all of ONE year.
Yup, in 1989, here comes another “New Robin”, Tim Drake. Perhaps learning from the failures of Jason Todd, they approached this Robin a little differently. For starters, he had long pants and was given a new costume, reminiscent of the orginal iconic Robin gear. Hey… fans liked that. New costumes are always good for a spike in interest. This Robin also was something of a nerd (brainy high school kid) and didn’t have the authority issues with Batman that had grown in Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. Hey…fans can relate. He was willing to learn from Batman and Nightwing (when the former was in town). If Jason Todd was “Jerk Robin”, Tim Drake was “Nice Robin”.
DC tested his popularity with three (yeah, THREE) mini-series from 1990 to 1992. All of them proved popular, so that led to the inevitable next step– the Ongoing Series! As it was, this was a fairly significant move, since I think Robin was the first comic book sidekick to receive his own ongoing series. In terms of an iconic sidekick branching out on their own, it was probably the biggest move since Cher broke off from Sonny or Tina Turner broke off from Ike.
So how does Robin’s long-awaited First Issue open? With Batman threatening to choke the life out of him, naturally.
Y’know that popular Internets Meme of Silver Age Batman slapping Robin… MAYBE it’s time to update it with the image above?
If you’ve been following our ramblings over on The Facebook, this whole thing falls in line with “Knightfall/Knightquest”. THE biggest Batman crossover, ever, and something which I couldn’t adequately summarize here. Y’see, in a nutshell, Bruce Wayne gets crippled, leaves Gotham, and allows Jean-Paul Valley to take over as the NEW Batman. JP began to get crazier and more violent as the months wore on, due to both stress and his subliminal “Azrael” training from the Order of St. Dumas. He began referring to Robin as “the brat” and shut him out both literally and figuratively. Robin kept sneaking into the Bat-cave to use all the Valubale Bat-Stuff there, which wasn’t okay with New Batman. So there’s our opening duel.
Of course, JP comes to his senses and apologizes. Robin’s teed off, though, so he takes his new “Redbird” vehicle and splits. The Redbird’s kinda’ different, as it looks like the early 90’s Batmobile crossed with a Pacer.
He’s off to track down a group of car thieves called “The Speedboyz”. Apparently NOT to be confused with “The Speedboys”. The “z” is significant because it’s the 90’s. There’s even a Subplot brewing, with the Cluemaster, Electrocutioner and their buddies trying to escape Blackgate Prison.
We also get a glimpse of Tim’s social life at high school. He has the nerdy friends, bashful girlfriend and even the stereotypical jock-bully. Very Archie-ish…or Spider-Man-ish. I’d go with Spider-Man-ish, since 60’s Spidey comics set the bar for all teenaged superheroes and their secret identities. Significant for DC, since I don’t think they had given the spotlight to a high-school kid since the first few years of “Firestorm” in the early 80’s.
In chasing the Speedboyz, Robin’s Redbird runs off the road and smack dab into county sheriff “Shotgun” Smith. There’s your cliffhanger!
Since it was the 90’s, this FIRST ISSUE had the dual cover treament– a regular version and a special embossed “gold” version. I had the regular version. Picked it up at the grocery store, even. At first glance, you wouldn’t think Robin could stand on his own, but it worked. This wasn’t a HUGE cliffhanger by any means, but as the series continued, it became a nice break from the doom n’ gloom of New Batman in “Knightquest”. Instead, you got Tim Drake trying to sneak away from his girlfriend, sneak into his house, make it in time for class, check in with Alfred, stay away from the sheriff, then fight his own crew of villains. Got even messier in issue 4 when The Spoiler arrived on the scene, creating some Wimmen Trubbles for the hero. In short, Robin suddenly had a very “Marvel” feel to him… and that wasn’t a bad thing.
The series itself went on to a very long run of 185 issues! Proving that the charcter wasn’t just a novelty. “Robin” succedded on its own. I think I followed it, on a monthly basis, up to about issue 60 or so. After that, if I had extra cash, I remember still picking up a few random issues to feed my Bat-Family Jones. I’ll have to dig, but I think I even have a few issues from around 2006 or so. Like a lot of readers, I was surprised that Robin, on his own, hooked me and got me to plunk down a few bucks every month. Appropriate that the seminal comic book sidekick had such a long success.
I have… no idea… what Tim Drake is up to, nowadays, in DC’s current continuity. I’m still feeling the effects of the “Bat-Puke Punch” in Batman #711 and haven’t bought (or missed) a DC book in over 3 years now (old stuff: still fair game to me). Issues of the 1993 “Robin” series can usually be found in bargain bins or in cheap lots on the Internets. Pick up a few if you’d like some good, standard, superhero fare. They will not blow you away, but they will make it worth your time.
Summary: Robin and Batman face-off. Robin gets new car, drives it off road, goes to school.
Cover Price: $1.50.
Rating: $1.50
