Category Archives: Batman

6 Best Animated Robins

Batman and Robin are like a rock concert. Batman is this brilliant, blazing, glorious rock star, the idolized hero of millions who burns brighter and rocks harder than anyone else ever will. All the other superheroes, like Superman or Wonder Woman, they’re competing rock stars. Maybe they’ll do an album together or hang out at a charity together, but in the end they have their own bands and their own concerts. Batman views them as rivals. But Robin is unique among other superheroes.

Robin is the guy with the backstage pass.

Animated Batman Lego series anyone?

If Batman is arguably the greatest, most popular superhero, Robin is the fan who Batman lets hang out back stage. We can’t be our favorite rock star. We can’t be Batman. But in some ways, we can be like Robin. We can be the fan with the backstage pass. We can hang out with Batman and learn all of his secrets. We’ll be there for Batman when he’s in a tough spot, or we’ll be by his side when he’s kicking ass. We can be the fan that Batman actually likes hanging out with, the one he shares a beer with. And maybe someday, when Batman needs us the most, he’ll invite us on stage to jam with him.

And then we will prove that it has all be worth it, and we will rock hard enough to impress Batman.

I think that nicely sums up one of the reasons why I like Robin. He’s the guy that Batman trusts above all others, the one that Batman likes hanging out with. The one superhero who is truly in Batman’s inner circle. But Robin is not just ‘Batman’s Pal’, he’s Batman-in-training. He’s Batman’s assistant. That’s what it means to be his sidekick. I plan on doing a lot more with Robin on this blog, but for now let’s take a look at one enterprise that seems to do Robin right: animation.

Here are the top 6 animated Robins, ranked worst to best!

***This list was inspired by friend-of-the-site Momma Pwncess! Thank you!

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Top 6 Current Superhero Relationships

Romance is dead in comic books. And I’m not just talking about the lack of actual ‘romance’ comics, like they had in the mid-20th century. I mean the classic, long-standing, popular romances that used to define comics are long gone! Through reboots, retcons, death or simple break-ups, the classic couples are no more — especially the ones that were highlighted in the most recent comic book movies.

But don’t worry, all hope is not lost! Newer couples, with a few remaining classics, are proving that even superheroes can still fall in love.

The DC Comics New 52 reboot basically took a scythe to romance in comics. On the chopping block: Superman and Lois Lane, the Flash and Iris Allen, Nightwing and  Batgirl, Nightwing and Starfire, the Joker and Harley Quinn, Green Arrow and Black Canary, Apollo and Midnighter, and many more. Longtime Marvel couples are also kaput. Spider-Man and Mary Jane, Jean Grey and Cyclops, Jean Grey and Wolveirne, Hulk and Betty Ross, Thor and Jane Foster, Rogue and Gambit, Shadowcat and Colossus; the list goes on. Heck, some of the comic book movie relationships, like Iron Man and Pepper Potts, don’t even really exist in the comics. Batman’s ‘true love’, Rachel Dawes, only exists in the Chris Nolan movies.

Fortunately, romance always makes for good drama, so there are still some superheroes shacking up and knocking boots. In honor of Valentine’s Day, here  are the Top 6 Current Superhero Relationships in comics.

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Red Robin to Return to Batman Family

Tim Drake is rejoining the Bat-family, baby! At least temporarily!

The comic book solicitations for April are starting to come out, and CBR has all of the Batman titles. The Night of the Owls will be in full effect, and I’m happy to say that my favorite Robin, Tim Drake, is going to take time away from his Teen Titan duties to make a jump back to his Bat-family roots! For people who don’t have any clue what I’m talking about, this probably won’t be that important. But to a comic book geek like me, this is fantastic news!

Red Robin will be appearing in Batman: The Dark Knight #9.

Kick his ass, Red Robin!

For those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about or why I’m so excited, allow me to explain. Because I love talking about comic books.

So everybody knows about Batman and Robin. Well in the comic books, Batman has had 4 Robins. Every time one of them outgrows the role of sidekick or dies, Batman gets a new apprentice. My favorite Robin is Tim Drake, who was Robin from the early 90s to the late 00s. Which is a very long time. Well as the story went along, Drake ‘graduated’ from being Robin to make way for a new apprentice, and Drake instead became Red Robin.

Then in the New 52 reboot from last September, DC drew several clear distinctions between their ‘families’ of comics. Red Robin was taken out of the Batman family of comics and placed in the Teen family, as leader of the Teen Titans. Which is too bad, because I like my Tim Drake as Batman’s sidekick, even if there is already a new Robin who has replaced him. Since September, Tim Drake’s adventures have had very little to do with Batman. Which, again, is a shame.

But with this new epic Batman story, The Night of the Owls, DC has decided to let Tim Drake return to Batman’s side to lend a hand. They could have just had Red Robin skip the whole Owls thing and nobody would have batted an eyelash. So I’m now even more excited for Night of the Owls! And I can only hope you are too.

6 Superheroes Put on Trial

As is usually the case with my life, I put everything in the context of comic books. My two weeks covering a murder trial for my day job is no different, so I thought about comic books in the courtroom. Not actually reading comic books in the physical courtroom (though that would be fun!), I mean when comic book writers put their heroes and villains on trial. The whole point of superhero comics is fighting crime, right? So you’d think that, in theory, all of these super-villains eventually have to appear before a judge, right?

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. And sometimes, it’s the superheroes who are put on trial!

I sense prejudice on the bench

So I scoured the Internet and the world of comics to find 6 cases when a superhero was forced to face the judicial system as part of a story. I mean an actual, normal courtroom with a judge, a jury and everything! And not those weird cosmic trials, like when Reed Richards went to Universe Court for the genocide of the Skrulls, and Galactus was called as a witness. That’s just crazy. Here are 6 cases when heroes were put on trial for their crimes!

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The Art of Community

With the TV show Community still off the air, the people of the Internet have risen up to fight for its return. Beyond simple complaining, this has taken the form of drawing the Community characters as if they were characters from some other property. I’m pretty sure that somebody did the first one, and now it’s simply snowballed. Either way, it’s fun! So I thought I’d share for the sheer kicks and giggles of it.

The latest one I’ve found online is Street Fighter!

I should mention that if you don’t already know who the Community characters are – let alone the characters they are drawn as – I can’t help you. This post is for fans and geeks, and the rest of you are just out of luck. Besides, if you aren’t watching Community in the first place then you’re part of the problem!

Here we have Community as the X-Men:

If you don't get that the Dean is a perfect Emma Frost, then I'm sorry for you

These are two of the earliest ones, Community as Batman heroes and villains!

All fans of Community know that Abed makes a badass Batman

 

Again, the ideas for the Dean are just brilliant!

So enjoy these images, fellow Community fans! I sense some potential desktop wallpapers here!