Saturday, December 15, 2012

Tim Drake and DC Comics

Shhh, Tim Drake was never Robin
DC Comics has always been my favorite publisher.  Their characters were awesome, and I always, without fail, loved reading the exploits of their universe.  Don't get me wrong, Marvel has so much incredible stuff in it, but DC was what I latched onto as a kid.  So, I kept buying, and buying, and buying more.

Until now.

When DC launched their New 52, it was an awesome opportunity to bring in new readers.  The DC universe was relaunched!  As opposed to starting just with a new batch of number 1 issues, they literally started things from the beginning.  Superman was brand new again!  The Justice League was meeting for the first time!

Some titles didn't start from scratch.  The Batman titles and Green Lantern, for example, all carried over SOME continuity from the "old" DC universe, pre-Flashpoint.  Flashpoint was the storyline that brought the world into the New 52.

The disadvantage of being a lifelong DC fan is the company's odd need to continue to reboot their universe.  I've always prided myself on being flexible, adapting, and even embracing a lot of the changes in a DC universe that reboots approximately every 9 weeks.  I've also always prided myself on my odd need to exaggerate.

The thing is, the core characters always retained their back stories, even if there were minor changes here and there.  Even the New 52 had so many bright spots.  Aquaman was awesome for the first time since...oh, I don't know, EVER.  Nightwing was a great read, etc.  Not all was bad.

This brings me to Tim Drake.  It seems that he was never a Robin in the new universe.  Even though he was actually referenced as a former Robin in a New 52 Bat-comic.  That, and a few other continuity blunders in the new universe, made me feel like these changes were pretty half-assed.  Change for the sake of change is stupid.  That's what the New 52 started to feel like.  Especially when the greatest Robin there was, turns out he was never a Robin to begin with.

Drake is a character who, in his debut, deduces who Batman and Robin are, and sets out to convince Nightwing that Batman needs a Robin.  Nightwing was pretty much saying "Been there done that".  Tim Drake ended up impressing Batman enough that he eventually took up the mantle of Robin.  Drake didn't want to be Robin because his parents were gunned down, or killed in some bizarre way.  He idolized the concept of Batman and Robin.  It was truly a great origin.  Pretty different from the usual tragic circumstances that caused most heroes to don their spandex.

In an attempt to push Damien Wayne down our throat, we get to pretend that Drake was never a Robin.

Yeah, I'm probably bitter a little about this change.  I can admit that.  I can also admit that there was some cool stuff being put out in the New 52.  DC Comics treatment of not only their characters, but their creators, has become too much to stomach.

The good news?  I have almost 20,000 comics that I can re-read.  The movies are always fun.  The family and I had a Batman marathon (Christopher Nolan films) last weekend, and that was amazing.

As a result of my current state of collecting, I have decided that this blog...WILL CONTINUE!  I know, all 2 of you are excited.  Next update will look back at a Marvel/DC crossover. 

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