The Evolution of the Robins

[chocochuy]

Here be just  quick post about a picture of all the canon Robins I found around the net. I am pretty sure you would like it (especially our very own Icon_UK). You know you want to make them into avatars, hehehe.



And now a scan for legality.

Comments

[jaybee3]

I think Tim's line goes from Robin>Red Robin>Swan Queen.

This also reinforces my opinion that Loeb not making Hush be Jason Todd (which would have made a lot more sense than creating a whole new childhood BFF for Bruce we never heard of being the antagonist) was in retrospect a mistake (especially since they ended up bringing him back not long after). I also a prefernce for the Hush Robin costume Jason/Clayface was wearing rather than any of the Red Hood ones.

[mrstatham]

It doesn't help that Winnick's reasoning and factoring in Hush into the actual Jason Todd's comeback made zero sense. There's no point in the fight where someone could feasibly switch in for Jason, as he suggests in Under the Hood.

That, and Riddler's mockery of Batman asking where Jason's body is makes no real sense, plus Riddler's own discovery of Batman's identity is a bit of a copout, given the Lazarus Pit makes people crazy as it heals them, not clarify thoughts.

As for Tommy, Dini's now made him much more compelling, and I think his role in the story works as it is - but he'd be far more effective if he actually was a red herring.

[jaybee3]

"It doesn't help that Winnick's reasoning and factoring in Hush into the actual Jason Todd's comeback made zero sense. There's no point in the fight where someone could feasibly switch in for Jason, as he suggests in Under the Hood."

I agree, Winick sometimes does things in his work that he THINKS is cool but make no sense continuity sense (Jason as Hush, and Ice's new quasi-racist Roma origin are two such examples). But on the other hand I've used Winick's abuse of Hush continuity to retcon out examples of the Red Hood Lost Years mini-series (which I was not as high on as others). At the end of that mini-series just AFTER the "we hate Bruce" sex with Talia, she sets him up with the new villain Hush - which is supposed to lead into Jason's role in that storyline (where he really was Jason taunting Bruce and not Clayface example they switched out at the very last minute!). Considering that not only was Ra's very much alive in the Hush timeline which took place after the Red Hood mini-series (he had a whole issue dedicated to him) but Talia was back to Bruce being her "Beloved" to the point where she saved Selina FOR HIM. A far cry from Winick's Talia who is all "my father is dead, Bruce is to blame, Jason you must be superior to him and take everything he has" and which makes no sense according to the Hush timeline.

As much as I have issues with Red Hood and the Outlaws (and how EVERYBODY is portrayed in that book) Lobdell peaked my interest originally by mentioning how Jason had become a static character with little development because his whole existence seemed to be about his bitterness and anger and (let's face it) pure pettiness against Bruce, Dick, Tim, etc. Which made him more uninteresting to me and that's all Winick seemed to want Jason to be. Even Morrison with his silly Condom Head red-headed Red Hood seemed to actually want to try something DIFFERENT with Jason.

[icon_uk]

I think "The Lost Years" lost me when we had Ra's recommend against Talia returning Jason to Bruce because he still wouldn't love her. Surely Ra's would see that having to take care of a sort of comatose, almost zombified Jason would be a terrific distraction to Batman, and a constant, living reminder of his failure, a ready made chink in his armour.

[mrstatham]

I think Morrison had a solid idea for what to do with Jason, but the execution was lost in the mix, somehow. The idea that Jason could try and prove himself as what Gotham wants and a more effective crimefighter than Dick as Batman is a great concept, because it could deal with his feelings about Bruce and Dick and sufficiently advance his character more than Winnick ever would, but I think Morrison was too interested in the big picture to focus on that. I still think it's a solid idea, though.

[jaybee3]

I agree. Philip Tan's messy art didn't help any and I think Morrison got lost by lack of focus but I think his portrayal of Jason - from his redeeming relationship with Scarlet, his use of tech/publicity in a way Bruce/Dick would never do, his lack of continuing hatred and pettiness towards the Bat-Crew (best exemplified in his anger at Dick over Bruce's "death") all the while keeping in with his Punisher-ish willingness to kill seemed more character development than Winick seemed to give him (even when Winick returned the character).

[icon_uk]

Which is one reason I love the BTAS comic "Duo Dynamic" which shows that Dick is more than the showman we know him to be, he's a media STAR

[icon_uk]

Not that it wasn't a truly, genuinely, awfully, lousy story, but the Lazarus Pit has been shown to drive those who were mentally unstable temporarily sane after exposure, so with Eddies intellect unclouded, sort of metatextually... knurd, I can sort of see him putting the pieces together in those few moments.

[mrstatham]

Right. It is comics, and I'll be honest in that I do like Riddler being the mastering after Loeb and Sale made him into a chump, so I'm not questioning it too much.

I'm fairly certain Riddler also said he had cancer? So perhaps getting rid of that helped.

[mrstatham]

*mastermind, stupid autospelling..