Robin and the Making of American Adolescence

Comics Culture

by Lauren R. O'Connor

Holy adolescence, Batman! Robin and the Making of American Adolescence offers the first character history and analysis of the most famous superhero sidekick, Robin. Debuting just a few months after Batman himself, Robin has been an integral part of the Dark Knight’s history—and debuting just a few months prior to the word “teenager” first appearing in print, Robin has from the outset both reflected and reinforced particular images of American adolescence. Closely reading several characters who have “played” Robin over the past eighty years, Robin and the Making of American Adolescence reveals the Boy (and sometimes Girl!) Wonder as a complex figure through whom mainstream culture has addressed anxieties about adolescents in relation to sexuality, gender, and race. This book partners up comics studies and adolescent studies as a new Dynamic Duo, following Robin as he swings alongside the ever-changing American teenager and finally shining the Bat-signal on the latter half of “Batman and—.”
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics

222 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2021

Reviews

[Victoria Truesdale · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's hard to take this woman seriously when she repeatedly calls Damian Wayne, a boy whose mother is mixed Arab-Chinese, white. I understand that Dick's Romani heritage has been in and out of canon for decades so many people might not know about it but Damian has always been Talia al Ghul's son. By repeatedly referring to him as white, especially since his being "white" was used as a comparison to Duke Thomas, her analysis just lost all credibility to me. Bruce is white and Talia isn't, which means that Damian isn't white either. You shouldn't be making race part of your analysis if you can't even remember the race of the characters you're analyzing.