Category Archives: Robin
Robin Watch: Robin of the Future!
Late last year, there was a bit of a kerfuffle on the Internet about the possibility of a black Robin, based on preview art drawn by Sean Murphy for Batman #27. I didn’t write about it at the time because the drawing was a single image for an ‘imaginary future’, and didn’t hold any importance to canon.
Or so I thought at the time! Looks like I’m eating crow now!
Check out Robin from the Futures End issue of Batman and Robin, which came out this week.
He’s definitely got the ‘Robin is a badass’ part down
Set five years in the future, the issue is about Batman battling Heretic to see if he is indeed a clone of Damian Wayne. Batman has Alfred send the new Robin out on various crime-fighting errands to keep him from interfering (and possibly dying at Heretic’s hands), but Alfred eventually disobeys orders and sends Robin to rescue Batman when the Dark Knight gets his butt whooped. It’s a pretty cool Robin story.
But is it just pretend?
Even though these Futures End comics are also just ‘imaginary futures’, there’s still the possibility that a kernel of truth exists in what we’re reading. The writer of the issue, Ray Fawkes, gave an interview to Newsarama where they asked him if this new Robin is part of the current Batman plans, considering Fawkes is also part of the creative team on Batman Eternal.
His answer?
Obviously he can’t go into more detail than that, but clearly this future Robin might be more of a reality than any of us yet realize.
Fists of sidekick justice!
The Robin in question is Duke Thomas, the kid that helped Batman during the Zero Year. Remember him? Duke made a very brief appearance, having sheltered Batman while he recovered from his injuries. Then he spent the rest of his time trying to come up with a riddle to defeat the Riddler.
I do not, sorry. My crossword skills have never been strong
It was such a small role, and I was actually a little surprised that nothing more was done with the kid. He gives Batman a hand, wishes him good luck, and then we don’t see him again for the rest of Zero Year.
Perhaps because that appearance was only supposed to introduce him. His story wasn’t going to be told in Zero Year, because Duke Thomas’ story will be told elsewhere.
Duke was about 10 or so in Zero Year, wouldn’t you say? And Zero Year took place 5-6 years prior to present-day Batman comics, which would make Duke a teenager today, the perfect age to become Robin. Except in Futures End, set 5 years into the future, Duke says he only became Robin “two years ago”, which wouldn’t link up to Bruce picking Duke in the present day. Not that that timeframe matters all that much.
I don’t know if any of this is true, or if any of it will go anywhere. But clearly there’s a new, awesome candidate for the new Robin in 2015!
If it’s not clear yet, I would love a Duke Thomas Robin!
Though I’m not a big fan of the Iron Robin armor, personally.
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A Teen Titans TV Show? That Would Never Work!
As a personal rule, I don’t believe 95% of all rumored live action superhero shows or movies. I do not think Guillermo del Toro’s Justice League Dark movie is ever going to happen. Let alone Lobo or the Metal Men. But I would have said the same thing back when the Rock was first rumored to be playing Black Adam several years ago – and now that’s a guarantee.
This fall, we’re going to get TV shows for Batman, Flash and Constantine. The Green Arrow show is probably my favorite drama on TV right now. We’re living in a world that Young Sean never thought possible.
Which brings us to today’s new rumor of a live action Teen Titans show, starring Dick Grayson as Nightwing. Apparnetly TNT is nearing a pilot consideration.
Crossover potential?
I don’t know how I feel about this possibility.
On the one hand, I don’t believe it. I believe that TNT would love to have a show as successful as Arrow, and jumping on the DC superhero bandwagon is an easy way to do just that these days. I don’t doubt that someone at TNT would love to make this show.
I just…heck, I would love to make this show. I need to stop being a cynic. If this show became a reality, I would watch the Hell out of a live action Teen Titans show. I love Arrow, I put up with the whole season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I’m definitely going to watch Constantine, Gotham and The Flash, even though I hated the pilot for that last one (more on that in the future).
I love both Teen Titans cartoons. I mostly loved Young Justice, especially the first season. And I love the idea of a Dick Grayson TV show so much that I’ve been sitting on my own series pitch that I was going to make someday to the King of Hollywood.
I should tell you henchies about that pitch one of these days…
Something like this
There is so much drama, especially teen drama, that could be wrung out of a Teen Titans TV show. Comedy too. How many teen angst shows feature a romance between a hunky circus acrobat orphan and his fiery, orange-skinned alien power princess girlfriend?
Don’t think they’d take it that far? All of the new DC superhero shows are comics accurate, even The Flash! I would imagine this new Titans would be just as comics accurate.
There are probably a lot of people in the world who are getting sick of all the superhero movies and TV shows. I am not one of them. I may not have much faith in them getting made, but that could just be Young Sean talking. He lived in a very different world from our own.
He wouldn’t understand.
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What do you henchies think of a Teen Titans live action show? Or a Nightwing series? What about that Supergirl TV show rumor that’s floating around? Sound off in the comments!
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/23/14
The week is finally here! Grant Morrison’s long-gestating project, Multiversity, has finally hit the stands! I think it was first announced back when I was in college. Feels like forever. It was one of those project that I never thought would see the light of day. But Grant Morrison lives to mess with our heads, and he definitely carries the slack.
And he’s not alone! This was a week of above average comics! Storm, Ms. Marvel, New Avengers; I was a glutton for good comics this week. But despite those quality issues – and Multiversity does indeed live up to expectations – I’m going to personally give Comic Book of the Week to Batman and Robin #34. It wasn’t the best comic of the week, but it spoke to me personally, and this is how I roll.
Moment of the week, though, goes to New Avengers. The world is coming to an end, and Reed Richards flies out to Latveria in the middle of the night to spend his last hour alive with his daughter, who has been staying with Doctor Doom. But only Reed knows the world is about to end. Every else is in the dark. All they know is that Reed woke everybody up in the middle of the night. It’s great.
I love Doom and Valeria
Though now that I think about it, why didn’t Doom ever get involved in the incursion storyline in New Avengers? Remember when that was teased all the way back at the beginning? That would have been awesome.
Comic Reviews: Batman Eternal #20, Batman and Robin #34, Ms. Marvel #7, Multiversity #1, New Avengers #23 and Storm #2.
You can also check out my review of All-New Ghost Rider #6 at Word of the Nerd.
And I was going to review Batwoman #34 this week, but something happens in that comic that deserves a much closer examination. Come back on Sunday for a deeper exploration of just why DC Comics has screwed us all over again. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, after all…
Review – Teen Titans #2
By no means do I want Teen Titans to be a bad comic. I may be a comic book blogger, who loves to complain about a medium I claim to love, but I would like nothing more than for Teen Titans to be the best comic on the stands. I remain a die-hard Tim Drake fan, and if his comic was great, I would gladly sing its praises month in and month out. That’s why I was so excited for this Teen Titans relaunch. I held out hope that Will Pfeifer could salvage one of DC Comics’ most (in)famous franchises.
Teen Titans #2
But you know what they say about polishing a turd…Actually, no, it’s not that bad. Pfeifer has some solidly good ideas for the Teen Titans, but they appear to be only subplots crowded out by a clunker of a main plot.
Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
I was cautiously optimistic about Teen Titans #1. It was solidly made, and relatively entertaining, but it was marred by the simple fact that it was just a big, generic superhero adventure when it could have been so much more! We are sitting at the dawn of a great new era in comics. Just look at the reaction to DC’s new plans for Batgirl. Teen Titans, more than any other comic in the industry, is poised to embrace this new, hip style. But Pfeifer seems determined to forge ahead with a big, dumb super-villain storyline that couldn’t be more boring if it featured Harvest.
Hopefully if I don’t say that name three times he won’t appear…
Pfeifer introduces a lot of fun ideas in Teen Titans #2 – ideas that I desperately hope he explores further – about the kind of impact the Teen Titans might have on today’s hip youth culture. Beast Boy with his own Youtube channel? Bunker as a gay culture hero with a major Twitter following? Raven inspiring punk rock bands? Wonder Girl inspiring a female empowerment movement? Why are these not the focus on the series? These are interesting stories that nobody else at DC is doing! (I might not be right about that, I never read The Movement or The Green Team.)
But no, instead we’re stuck with the same S.T.A.R. Labs storyline that doesn’t have anything to do with the Teen Titans. Ugh. And the surprise addition of a semi-classic, pre-reboot villain does not make a lick of difference. He’s not even a Titans villain!
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review!
Robin Watch: Costumes A Go-Go!
Not much going on today, so I thought I’d share this awesome cover image from Batman and Robin #36, where Red Robin, Red Hood and Batgirl all get dressed up in Robin variants of their costumes to honor Damian! It was drawn by Patrick Gleason.
Tim Drake looks damn good
The image was previewed in USA Today, in an article about how the Batman and Robin team, Mahnke and Peter Tomasi, are taking over the Superman/Wonder Woman comic. Good for them. But I only really care about the Robin stuff!
Especially a quote from Tomasi about why everyone is dressed in these variant costumes.
“All of these characters at this point are in the Robin mix,” Tomasi says. “The Bat-family will, in the end, rise to the challenge of helping a new Robin come to be in the DCU.”
A new Robin? That sounds a lot more firm than just bringing Damian back from the dead. So who could it be? I really don’t know at this point.
Though I’m holding out hope that this ‘Bluebird’ thing is all a feint, and Harper Row really does become the new Robin.
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Henchman-4-Hire 