The ongoing search for the next Robin continues with a rather surprise arrival in next week’s new issue of Batman and Robin: Carrie Kelley!

What the what!?! For reals, people, DC and writer Peter Tomasi are bringing Carrie Kelley into modern day continuity. But whether or not she’s going to become the next Robin is still anyone’s guess. DC are definitely good at teasing that possibility, at least.

This is just a strange choice, in my opinion, but it seems like the kind of thing DC would pull off. DC loves mining their big, popular stories for little stuff they can bring into normal continuity. Prior to the reboot, and even a little bit in the reboot, DC was using stuff from Kingdom Come left and right. Heck, Tim Drake is still called Red Robin. Then there was that whole Before Watchmen thing. Now they’re going to pluck Carrie Kelley from the legendary The Dark Knight Returns and tease her as a possible new Robin.

According to Tomasi in an interview with the New York Post:

“She’s a college kid who’s got spunk and speaks her mind,” said writer Peter Tomasi. “This is not an alternate-earth Robin, this is simply a girl named Carrie Kelley, who we learn knew Damian, which in turn weaves her into the fabric of the DC Universe for the first time in 25 years. What you’ll find out once you crack the book, is that she’s not exactly the ‘new Robin,’ but I don’t want to spoil the story and her introduction into Bruce Wayne/Batman’s life. In regards to how long she’ll be around, let’s just say that it’s a helluva lot longer than ‘one issue.’ I’ve got plans for Carrie that play well into the future.”

If I’m being completely honest, and this is just my immediate gut reaction, I don’t like this idea. First of all, Carrie Kelley is going to debut in the issue that was supposed to be dedicated to Tim Drake reteaming with Bruce Wayne. The issue is going to be called Batman and Red Robin, after all. I was really looking forward to their first real interaction since the reboot. But I guess DC just doesn’t want anything to do with the classic Bruce/Tim team. What a shame.

Second of all, I’m a proponent of Harper Row as the new Robin for reasons I’ve gone on and on about on my blog. Harper Row is a new character with a new life, which is perfect for the New 52 universe. Carrie Kelley is just a weak attempt to steal some goodwill from The Dark Knight Returns. I understand that we’re dealing with some alternate realities here, and that this version of Carrie is a new version, but she’s still a character with some complicated backstory. My #1 rule for writing comics, movies or anything else is to Keep It Simple, Stupid. Are you really going to want to introduce Robin from now on as the alternate reality version of a different Robin from the future?

And who also dresses like Robin at parties.

I think this is all just one big tease. I think Tomasi has some ideas for what he might do with his version of Carrie Kelley, and he’s going to run with them. I don’t think for an instant that this is the definitive revelation of the new Robin. At least I hope not. I would probably have no problem in the long run with this new version of Carrie Kelley being the new Robin, but like I said, Harper Row represents a much cleaner, fresher sort of character. Harper Row the much better candidate.

Still, it looks like DC is going to keep the recruiting field wide open!