Tim Drakes new name confirmed.... and a bit of a retrospective

[icon_uk]

It was 30 years ago next month that Tim Drake debuted the first major redesign of the Robin costume, outside of the older Dick Grayson of pre-Crisis Earth 2.





It was December 1989 when Tim, who had worn the classic Robin suit only once, during "A Lonely Place of Dying" was finally ready to step out as the third Robin.

Bruce, not wanting to burden Tim with a costume that Dick had made famous, and Jason had died wearing, designed a new costume for him, so he could be Robin on his own terms, and with his own selection of weapons (he would soon adopt the signature bo staff, and chest mounted R-shuriken)




I like that the original is there for both contrast and comparison. The short sleeves remain, but the bare legs are covered, the cape is black with a yellow lining, and the pixie boots are replaced by more solid looking calf length boots.

This was definitely my favourite upgrade to an outfit that had remained unchanged for nearly 40 years.

Though his boyfriend took a while to come around to it's charms.



But even the originator of the name approved of the costume when they met thanks to time-shenanigans.



Though Dick did mention he wished he'd gone with long leggings (Which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, because if anyone could change it, he could, it was HIS costume after all, but I tend to overthink these things.)

In 2006, in the wake of the "Infinite Crisis" and "One Year Later" storylines, we found Tim with a new costume, and one I have never liked, to be honest.



He lost the short sleeves and any trace of green from his costume, and gained a scalloped cape and gauntlet spikes like Batmans. To me, it just makes him look LIKE Batman, when Robin should CONTRAST with Batman.

In story he said he used the colors because they had been "his" colours, meaning Superboy, who had died in Final Crisis, except of course, those really weren't Kon-El's colours (he wore a black t-shirt with red logo and blue jeans)

After Batman RIP, when Damian became Robin, Tim adopted a name and costume with a very confusing history.

"Red Robin" was a name and costume first seen in the alternate future of "Kingdom Come" as the costume worn by a fifty year old Dick Grayson who was a little past his acrobatic flips'n'shit prime..It was later worn briefly by Jason Todd in the events of "Countdown" when he was visiting an alterate Earth and took it home with him, only to abandon it, It was then retrieved by the criminal strategist wunderkinder known as "The General" who somehow knew that the wearer had been named Red Robin, and used the name. Tim retrieved the costume when dealing with the General, and after being badly burned across the back of his head, wore the cowled costume to hide his hairloss and scars (I'm not sure if that was ever really addressed, but the scars certainly went away). He switched back to his old costume after a while.

But then, following the events of Batman RIP when Dick became Batman and made Damian Robin, Tim, feeling more than a ittle abanoned for all of Dick's assurances that he viewed Tim as an equal, not a sidekick, resumed using the name and costume.





and then came... the New 52, and with it, Tim in perhaps his most... unexpected outfit...

Tim's established history wa completely wiped away, He was now a very different character, a child genius who had hacked the Penguin's system for fun, but didn;t cover his traces well enough and accidenally turned his family into targets, His parents went into Witness Protection, never to be seen again but Tim stayed in Gotham, after changing his surname (So "Drake" wasn't even his real surname name) and stayed with Batman.

He basically made himself a new role, but thought calling himself "Robin" would be uncomfortable for Bruce, so chose the name "Red Robin" instead, because what could possibly be unsettling to Batman (whose last partners had been battered to death and blown up) than his new partner dubbing himself "RED Robin"....

The costume was also more than a bit of a departure, with built in motors allowing him to actually fly using his rather magnificent Las Vegas performer wings...



I'm not sure that any aspect of this version of Tim took off the way DC hoped it would, and so "Rebirth" saw a return to a far more classic look. (Though this art, clearly intended as an homage to the Beyfolge introductory panel above is frankly freaking me out)



And now, in the pages of Young Justice #10, we get not just another new costume, but an entire new name. We had wondered whether it was just a one-shot joke that Bart coined for him (along the lines of Changeling suggesting that Dick, after giving up the name Robin, should keep the theme and his role in the team and call himself "Bird Brain"), but no, this is his name and logo now..

Meet



Yup, Tim Drake's codename is now "Drake", mostly because of his Earth 3 counterpart.



Maybe they just breed REALLY bad-add ducks on Earth 3? I mean drakes are pretty horrible birds by nature, but as a heroic inspiration?

Okay, I admit that a "robin" isn't exactly scarey either (though the European variety are vicious little buggers), but that was 1940, a very different time and I don't think I see "Drake" flying the same way.

Comments

[nyadnar17]

New Costume is good.

Drake would honestly not be that bad of a name if you know....that wasn't he actual damn name.


Wait maybe for Tim the name is suppose to be a reference to Drake as in the magical creatures and not the ducks? That would explain the spikey bits and lack of cape/

[icon_uk]

I'm not a fan of the new costume, the colours are dull, and overall it looks more like a Talon costume than a Robin costume.

[long_silence]

I can kinda understand the reasoning behind giving Tim a brown color scheme. It helps set him apart from the other boys in the Batfam. Nightwing has blue, Jason has red, Duke has yellow, etc.

That doesn't leave Tim with a lot of color coded options.

[icon_uk]

He could match Steph and go purple!

[cainofdreaming]

Or green. I mean, it's part of the Robin colour palette.

[an_idol_mind]

Drake would honestly not be that bad of a name if you know....that wasn't he actual damn name.

It reminds me of the smack Arthur got in the new Tick series due to the fact that he accidentally made his superhero name Arthur.

[lieut_kettch]

I'm awaiting confirmation of whether "Drake" refers to dragons or male ducks.

I'm also imagining this will come in a moment where Tim unveils a new feature of his suit and it will either be wings and a flamethrower, or a massive mechanized corkscrew drill springing out of his crotch.

[owlbrigade1]

I think he must have gone quackers.

[icon_uk]

Or just plain daffy.

[obsidianwolf]

This is just phenomenally silly. I get that they want to distance Tim from Robin so Damian can be the one carrying the role but there are way to many better options folks have preposed than this.

Even getting past the stupidity that it is his own name there are just so many better options than naming himself after a freaking duck.

[beyondthefringe]

I'm sorry, it's hard to top the classic '89 redesign and I've never truly liked most of the subsequent attempts to jazz it up. The Kingdom Come outfit's not horrible, but it's clearly an outfit meant for an adult hero and not a teenager, and it takes a few visual cues from Doctor Midnight, of all people. Although the New 52 isn't -bad- by comparison.

But thus far, I'm not a fan of "Drake" as a codename or the overly complicated and overly brown outfit. It's like he wants to follow in Dick's footsteps as a Nightwing type but didn't quite stick the landing. Plus, I hear Drake and I think of the musician. And really... borrowing your codename from your evil alternate-Earth counterpart? That's just a faux pas if ever I heard one.

I know that it's hard to come up with unique, interesting, unused bird names in comics at this point, but he still could have done better.

[coldfury]

I think for his next codename, he should totally pull a Genis and just call himself Nightwing.

[locuatico]

Personally, I think Flamebird is up for grabs currently...

[donnblake]

Or, to stay on theme, Darkwing...

[pteppic]

This is an underrated comment.

[lego_joker]

He is the Darkness That Flaps in the Night! He is the Hackitude Mousing Around the Link Farm! He! Is..!

[icon_uk]

That works on more levels than seems entirely fair! :D

[icon_uk]

I am.... The Sinister Duck

[minervasolo]

Rumour was that was the initial plan when Dick got amnesia, but once Young Justice was officially in the works they didn't want him tied too closely to the Gotham plots (outside of popping up occasionally in the ridiculous King saga, wherever that actually fits in continuity).

[icon_uk]

I'm not sure how much credence I'd give to that since the original plan wasn't for Dick to get amnesia at all.

The original plan (which was mentioned in solicits till very late in the day) was that after a facedoff with the Scarecrow, Dick would be left with chronic acrophobia, which meant he wouldn't be able to rely on his usual flips'n'shit methods and have to learn to adapt to that, but would still be Nightwing

The "Ric" plotline was Scott Lobdell's after having to take over early due to Ben Percy's unexpected early departure.

[kurenai_tenka]

I assumed that those solicits were just to avoid spoiling King's ~surprise.

Lobdell sure does love an amnesia plotline.

[locuatico]

I like the general idea for Tim's Nu52 look with wings that actually let him fly and the like. I felt that made him different from the other robins and highlighted he was more of a gadget's why compared to Dick, Jason or Damian.
But Oh boy did it had the unfortunate luck of showing up in an era of the Teen Titans/YJ so infamous that DC has decided to ignore it altogether.

[joetuss]

Costume sucks, and the name is even worse. Thanks DiDio.

[silverhammerman]

I don't love this look. The colours and the general design are just unappealing to me and while "Drake" certainly has simplicity on its side, sharing a name with one of the biggest musicians on the planet is at the very least, terrible SEO.

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the original Red Robin costume, though I think that the bandoliers and "untucked shirt" are a little goofy. I always thought that the cowl did a lot to distinguish him from the domino mask crowd and align him with Batman (fitting the increasing emphasis on how his obsessive tendencies mirror Bruce's). I still think with a bit of tweaking it could have been a good look.

This latest rebranding just speaks to the fact that ever since being ousted from the Robin role by Damian Wayne, Tim's floundered as a character without a clear role. This at the very least doesn't undercut itself in the way that "Red Robin" in the very name defined him as "the other Robin who's not as important". I do wonder if it's maybe too late at this point, and much like Wally West and the non-Hal Jordan Green Lanterns, Tim might be destined to become one of those characters who has been doomed to narrative obsolescence. Which isn't to suggest that I dislike the character, but unlike Dick and Jason, Tim's got no distinctive gimmick at this point and Damian's supplanted him as both a member of the Teen Titans and the go-to sidekick in DC's animated movies. Without getting too into it, this goes to my whole "Batman shouldn't have literally over a dozen sidekicks" argument.

[janegray]

Tim's gimmick could easily be gadgets and gizmos and computer tech. He is the "brainy" Robin.

Like, Nightwing = Leonardo, Jason = Raphael, Damian = the Anti Michelangelo, Stephanie = April, Cassandra = a better version of Karai, and Tim = Donatello.

[icon_uk]

Agreed on Dick being the tech-nerd and gadgeteer of the family, he should play into that more.

Remember the old days when you could use

Dick = Brooklyn, Jason = Broadway, Tim = Lexington

Now there are so many we're going to need to switch from TMNT analogues to something even more populous like My Little Pony or Care Bears....

[jaxjyls]

TBH I find Tim to one for the more boring characters in comics

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

Batwoman's hair reminds me too much of Firestorm 's.

[leahandillyana]

Are you sure it's here to stay? Stephanie also has her own font, and she is only here for that story arc. I guess Drake (honestly that's just discount Nightwing) will last just as long.
Anyways what pisses me off is that there doesn’t seem to be any continuity between DC writers, when Earth 3 was recently glipsed in Justice League it had an intact anti-League who somehow knew what is going on.
As for Robin costumes, I've always liked the original one best. My modest proposal is for everybody in Bat family to wear a Batman Beyond costume (not Bruce, he's the original) with the red bits swapped for their signature colours: Blue for Dick, White for Barbara, Red for Kate (Jason doesn’t deserve to be in family), Black for Cassie, Purple for Steph, Yellow for Duke, Green for Damian, and Tim can have... Pink, I guess, we have run out of colours before characters. Don’t they look like a super sentai team now?

[cainofdreaming]

So, his last name is also his codename? That's... actually insidious.

"Wait, Drake is Tim Drake?"
"..."
"Quick, do a search of people with the surname "Batman" in Gotham!"

[icon_uk]

Billy Batson is probably going to get some very confusing phone calls about his "Dad"

On the plus side it means that whenever Damian calls him by name, he'll be acknowledging his superhero name, which is a step up.

[icon_uk]

I've just realised he'll be going from "Robin, the Boy Wonder" to "Drake, the Boy Duck"

[zachbeacon]

Remember when Bruce wouldn't let Tim reveal his identity to his superhero friends so Tim wore two masks when playing truth or dare with YJ?

MALLARD

[7dialsmystery]

Really, there are so many other Duck related code names they could have gone with. So many.

[tripodeca113]

So that's his New 52 backstory.

I didn't really like Red Robin,but man Drake is bad.

[kurenai_tenka]

Drake is a terrible name.

I'm confused about Steph (?) here. This book is in main continuity right? Is she not stepping of Kate's toes?

[chalicother]

They are in another universe. This is not the Steph from the main DC universe.

[kurenai_tenka]

Ah, okay, so it's regular universe Tim (and the rest of YJ too?) and AU Steph?

[deepspaceartist]

That's Earth-3 Stephanie as Batwoman. The Steph of Earth-1 is still Spoiler.

[kurenai_tenka]

I see, thank you!

[chalicother]

Meh. It's not the costume. I think the issue is that the colors don't match him. They could've went with Mallard. Heck the Green Mallard.

[deepspaceartist]

Drake is not a super great hero name even before you factor in how incredibly stupid using your own name as a codename is when you care about having a secret identity. Honestly, at this point I think the best route for Tim would just be following in the footsteps of Barry and Wally, the thousands of Green Lanterns, and the Spider-Men and Hawkeyes from Marvel and just call himself Robin too (with no 'Red' modifier). Heck, there's even precedent in the Bat family since there was a time where both Bruce and Dick operated as Batman.

And the costume itself is... not appealing to me. His original Robin and the first and third Red Robin looks are much better. Also I question the wisdom of ditching the cape from the suit mid-mission. A cape is the kinda thing you have to incorporate into your fighting and movement style if you don't want to get Dollar Bill'd, and I would think you'd need some time and training to not get tripped up by not having it anymore.

[zachbeacon]

This. I will never understand why Tim had to be "Red Robin" (which was also a stupid name) the second Damian showed up.

Dick had a falling out with Bruce and reinvented himself.
Jason was dead(ish).
Steph was fired...among other things. Seriously, the mishandling of Steph's stint as Robin is a long rant into itself.

There was no reason for Tim to stop being Robin in a world where Jay, Barry, and Wally all used the same name. At least Tim and Damian had distinctive looks (unlike that era's Wally and Barry).

[lieut_kettch]

Why is a drake one of the most dangerous birds? Is it the corkscrew penis?

Or he could be referencing the old-timey use of the word "drake" which is a synonym for "dragon."

[werehawk]

The costume would be better with a green and red cape. Also evildoers would go stabby-like at the brighter bits.