Robin Changed Everything

There were some superhero characters that I would have said were cool when growing up.

Robin was not one of them.

There were two version of Robin I was familiar with.

Version #1 was Dick Ward's robin from the 1960s TV series with his slapping his hand into his fist and saying, "Holy roller coaster ride, Batman." Funny? Yes. Cool? No. Particularly useful? Not really. I mean I could hand Batman the shark-repellant Bat Spray.

Then there was the Batman: The Animated Series version. In the first 85 episodes, Robin appeared in only thirty, and some of these were cameos or more of a hostage than a partner. When I saw the Robin episodes, it really felt most of the time that the writers were job to shove Robin in even though Batman could manage quite well on his own.

Of course, without Robin, Batman may have been all but forgotten. Batman enjoyed some success, but he was hardly alone in the "dark and dangerous avenger" category. Batman's whole tableau was dark and very pulpish, and at times disturbing as he seemed barely human as he went about as a bit of a crimefighting machine, skulking in the darkness and talking to himself as the villains did themselves in during their battles. Robin was grim, dark, and like way too many other pulp and comic heroes of the era.

However, in Detective Comics #38, Batman's world changed forever when the introduction of Dick Grayson as Robin, the Boy Wonder. Like Bruce Wayne, Dick's parents were killed by criminals. This gave the two an uncommon bond. It led to Rruce training Dick and to become Robin, the Boy Wonder.

The change in the comic was instantaneous. The Golden Age Robin was the definition of cool. He was wise-cracking, swash-buckling, and an asset to the team. Batman was protective of Robin, but Robin showed he belonged as a crimefighter time and time again.

In Batman #1, having captured four criminals, Batman says they're not so tough without their guns and he challenges them to take on Robin. Robin beats the four grown men single-handed. Batman told the comic reading kids that this proved they shouldn't look up to gangsters who were nothing without their weapons. At the end of Batman #1. Kids were invited to become one of Robin's Regulars with the panel portraying a boy walking an old man across the street. R.O.B.I.N. was said to be an acronym meaning Readiness, Obedience, Brotherhood, Industriousness, and Nationalism.

Whether kids took the code seriously or not, Robin helped firmly establish the Caped Crusader and his books. Robin was so successful, he was quickly mimicked by the National Comics publication More Fun Comics. Green Arrow made his first appearance in More Fun Comics in 1941 with boy sidekick Speedy. Over at Timely Comics, Captain America emerged with a boy sidekick Bucky, and the original Human Torch got a young sidekick named Toro. And it all began with Robin who rightly emerged as a leader of the Teen Titans.

Over the years, the relationship was often misunderstood and twisted by sex-obsessed psychologists and attempts to negate these unfounded concerns probably hurt the book.

In 1970s, it was decided to take the comic in another direction and Robin began to disappear from Batman titles and the character of Robin became darker. The Batman live-action movies of recent years have mostly excluded Robin. Five of the seven Batman films released since the original 1989 Movie have not featured Robin and the two that have are among the less regarded ones.

And largely Robin is thrown in to many Batman productions because well-Robin should be there, but writers have little idea what to do with the character and how he can impact the series. Robin of modern day is definitely never someone who changes the dynamic of Batman's crimefighting action.

That's not to say that this modern interpretation of Robin isn't without some merit. What young man can't identify with a twenty something year old Robin's struggle to redefine himself in the shadow of the Bat? Any man who has struggled to relate to a father figure as an adult will understand this struggle.

Yet, there's something to be said for the old Robin story. Of a boy who needs a father and a man who needs a son, of a deep bond formed by common pain, and the pure fun and joy of adventure. The Golden Age Robin is a cool character who saved Batman from sinking from the public imagination like characters such as the Black Hood. Maybe, it was more idealistic than realistic, particularly as more turbulent times came, but sometimes a little idealism can be a good thing.