A little more Dick appreciation (Hmmm, there's no way that could be taken out of context is there?)

[icon_uk]

Solo was a DC series where different, distinctive creators were basically given an entire issue to play with whatever stories and characters they wished.

Paul Pope was the creative force on issue 3 of the title, and he devoted an entire 11 page story to the Boy Wonder, who's a...



"Teenage Sidekick"

We start with a fairly common scene, one imagines...



Robin breaks free... as is his wont... and look at him, he's TINY!



This of course highlights the complete insanity of the concept of Robin "If you had to have one kid at your side, this is the one you'd want", which completely overlooks WHY anyone would choose a kid in the first place... but I digress



Actually, he breaks away again in the next scene, and rather than acrobatics just lays into them, it's unsuccessful, but it's a valiant effort. (The narration also outlines the reason that he was orphaned and how Batman came to take him in)

Batman meanwhile is tracking his missing sidekick and is using the trail of shreds of torn and bloodied cloth, which Robin is making sure he's ripping from the goons clothes each time he tries to break free.





Paul Pope's Joker is Cesar Romero by way of the worst nightmare you ever had...

The Joker doesn't say much, Robin isn't a real person to him, he's a means to an end, a victim just waiting to happen to annoy Batman... And the industrial factory he's currently located in offers some inventive methods of doing so...





Love that moment! He IS that good...

Batman. arrives on the scene and proceeds to take care of the Joker and his goons, I include this panel because it says something which may be cliche but which I still find to be an important part of my headcanon for Batman taking on Robin...





To me Robin is Batman's moral anchor, Dick was the first one, but each has been, in some way, someone that Batman has chosen to take responsibility of and care about (And I don't think it inappropriate to say that he loves them, they are his children and what parent worth the name doesn't love their children), and that is an essential part of the human experience which he otherwise risks losing.

I find it somehow dignificant, that in the old continuity, Dick Grayson was the first person Batman revealed his secret idenity to, it was an important step for him, to trust ANYONE that much.

That's one reason I find it a little disheartening that in the New 52, Bruce never shared his ID with Dick, Dick worked it out for himself based on his magic Cass-Cain/Doug-Ramsey-like ability to read body language and micro-expressions and deduce that Batman and Wayne were the same person, a small change, but an important one to me.

At any rate, hope you enjoyed this, Pope's artwork has a visceral quality which should seem a little at odds with a Robin story, but I think it works very well here.


 

Comments

[xamda]

Paul Pope's art is so... kinetic.






Me like.

[jlbarnett]

Art is not a big issue for me, but I really hate that. It's ugly.

As for size, I don't know 185 pound 14 year old doesn't seem small to me.

[icon_uk]

i confess to being somewhat surprised that I do like it, it's pretty much the polar opposite of my normal tastes, but as I said there's a visceral impact to this that sold itself to me... even the scratchy sound effects work for me.

As to the "tiny" comment, I meant that in comparison to the two bruisers who are escorting him.

[ensiform]

He's not 185, he's 158. Which is about right for a muscular but lithe 5'8. I'm a little shorter than that, muscular, and less lithe at 160. And people would not call me large, at all.

[junipepper]

He's 14 though, he'd still have a lot of filling out to do in the chest and shoulders especially. And the art does make him look very thin. I'd have put him at about 138, at most; there's a limit to how much muscle mass an immature male can put on. Not that it matters, really. The main thing is that it's clear he's insanely, ridiculously mismatched against the bruisers -- I'm always torn between "This is awesome!" and "This is really disturbing." (Which is pretty much the same conflicted response I have when I find myself ogling Robin's rear...)

[ensiform]

I agree totally with everything you say here (except the part about the rear, but to each his own). Teen sidekicks are just one of those staples of the genre that you have to accept if you want to read comics. No matter how you crunch the numbers or give a teen "Olympic-level" gymnastic ability, it is a very, very rare 16 year old who has a prayer of taking even one strong or skilled 30 year old in a fight. And as for a 14 year old, it gets so far into incredulity that it becomes, as you say, disturbing.

This is just discussing the actual physiognomy of the character, not the even more troubling questions of parental/guardian (ir)responsibility. If Batman was real, most Americans would cheer his brand of rough justice (break a mugger's arm? Smash in a rapist's teeth? Sure!) but he'd be hounded to arrest for endangering a child if he had a Robin.

[icon_uk]

Of course, sometimes Batman did try to give Robin something of an advantage

[ensiform]

There are two schools of thought on using a giant slingshot to launch a teenager straight toward an armed criminal who is actively shooting at you. There's the school of thought that says it's giving the teen an advantage in a fight; and there's the one that says it's using the teen as a meat shield to save your own bat-ass.

[icon_uk]

"Luckily" the Fifth Amendment prevents him from having to answer questions like that.

[gamerguy]

Oh, please, there's nothing 'disturbing' at all about it. Kids are not some fragile little butterflies. They can and do perform some pretty amazing feats, especially when you're talking about someone who has been an aerial performer since he was four (because you have to start that young), and been trained by Batman.

And what's with the scare quote around Olympic Level? Teens can and do compete in the Olympics, and walk away having pasted adults with twice their experience.

[ensiform]

I think probably you have some vision in your head about adolescents that makes you be so vehement on this issue.

You're just wrong. Sure there are teenage Olympians who take the gold in their sport. So? There are no 14 year olds who can take any UFC professionals in a one-on-one fight. None. I very much doubt there are any 14 year olds who can take down any large, reasonably trained grown men. It is a comic book myth, which is fine to read about, but it breaks credulity and has some disturbing implications.

Involving a minor in illegal vigilantism is disturbing. You can glorify it in your head all you want, but in the real world it would be horrific. Sorry.

[randyripoff]

One of the reasons that I like Robin is that Dick is one person who can always call Bruce on his bullshit. "Yeah, your parents are dead. So are mine. Doesn't mean you get to be a jerk."

[superfangirl1]

My dear Dick Grayson robin. You will never not be adorable and a lucky charm to many dangers.

[cypherfdp]

Yep, everyone loves Dick every now and again.

[junipepper]

Context is for the weak.