What do Robin's do in cold weather?
Dec. 15th, 2022 10:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scans_daily"The North Wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow.
And what shall the Robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing"
16th century nursery rhyme
It's been a running joke for a very long time, that Robin's original costume was, amongst it's other eccentric design choices, uniquely badly designed for cold weather. with bare arms and legs.
Well, Batman 66 had the simple answer as to why he didn't change outfits when fighting the likes of Mr Freeze.
Well, Burt Ward's Robin DID noticeably wear tights, so that sort of makes sense...
The videogame LEGO Batman 2 gave us the fur hooded Ice Suit
Which possibly inspired the Young Justice snow weather outfit.
But in terms of practicality, if not style I do like the one that showed up in Detective Comics 519.
(Not the first image, i just put that there because Dick always looks cute lounging around the Batcave in just bits of his costume)
And he's true to his word. These look eminently practical if even LESS stealthy in a snowy environment than his usual costume in normal weather.
When he was with the Teen Titans though, Dick clearly felt he had something to prove as his usual approach was to... well... just close his collar... and that was it.
Yup, I'm sure that made all the difference...
Though if he HAS to he will wear a warm coat... but apparently no extra leg protection
Jason wore this on one occasion
And I think Tim might actually win in terms of the style stakes with this cosy looking number
However, in terms of actually addressing the "dealing with the cold in that costume" issue, Dick does mention it at least once, in a comment which arcs us nicely back to the concept of that first Batman 66 image.
but, plucky little Teen Wonder that he is, he's not going to let that slow him down
Jason also addresses the issue here
and
But a Robin doesn't always get a choice in these things, especially when you have a villain called Mr Zero/Freeze in your Rogues Gallery
and pretty much every media iteration of Robin has had the same problem
Be it the 60's cartoon...
Batman the Animated series
A certain live action movie...
Then there was the rather random time that a villain rejoicing in the name of "Captain Singaree" got involved in a very weird and complicated story involving identical triplets pretending to be Batman finding themsleves being hunted by this guy who dressed as a pirate and whose major gimmick was that his sword could create some sort of supercold ice... no I don't follow it either and I read the issues,
Still, Robin does, as is his wont, rather randomly gets involved, as a collateral victim.
Now, say what you will about the crime rate, you have to admire that, even before the police have sent someone out to check on the poor kid in a block of ice when he's left outside their HQ, some randomly passing criminals, showing that entrepreneurial spirit which regularly puts Gotham's villains in the upper percentiles of underworld villainy, have spotted him too and are DOING something about it..
Basically the little dollar signs go off in their eyes and they think "ROBIN RANSOM TIME! "
It doesn't end well for them because Bruce gets changed into costume and makes it from Wayne Enterprises penthouse to the Batcave and thence to GCPD HQ faster than any cop already inside the building could make it to the front door, but you have to admire that they TRIED.
I haven't been able to find an example of a winter outfit for Damian (though I would be happy to be corrected), but I have to assume he just finds Gotham freezing anyway.
And we shall have snow.
And what shall the Robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing"
16th century nursery rhyme
It's been a running joke for a very long time, that Robin's original costume was, amongst it's other eccentric design choices, uniquely badly designed for cold weather. with bare arms and legs.
Well, Batman 66 had the simple answer as to why he didn't change outfits when fighting the likes of Mr Freeze.
Well, Burt Ward's Robin DID noticeably wear tights, so that sort of makes sense...
The videogame LEGO Batman 2 gave us the fur hooded Ice Suit
Which possibly inspired the Young Justice snow weather outfit.
But in terms of practicality, if not style I do like the one that showed up in Detective Comics 519.
(Not the first image, i just put that there because Dick always looks cute lounging around the Batcave in just bits of his costume)
And he's true to his word. These look eminently practical if even LESS stealthy in a snowy environment than his usual costume in normal weather.
When he was with the Teen Titans though, Dick clearly felt he had something to prove as his usual approach was to... well... just close his collar... and that was it.
Yup, I'm sure that made all the difference...
Though if he HAS to he will wear a warm coat... but apparently no extra leg protection
Jason wore this on one occasion
And I think Tim might actually win in terms of the style stakes with this cosy looking number
However, in terms of actually addressing the "dealing with the cold in that costume" issue, Dick does mention it at least once, in a comment which arcs us nicely back to the concept of that first Batman 66 image.
but, plucky little Teen Wonder that he is, he's not going to let that slow him down
Jason also addresses the issue here
and
But a Robin doesn't always get a choice in these things, especially when you have a villain called Mr Zero/Freeze in your Rogues Gallery
and pretty much every media iteration of Robin has had the same problem
Be it the 60's cartoon...
Batman the Animated series
A certain live action movie...
Then there was the rather random time that a villain rejoicing in the name of "Captain Singaree" got involved in a very weird and complicated story involving identical triplets pretending to be Batman finding themsleves being hunted by this guy who dressed as a pirate and whose major gimmick was that his sword could create some sort of supercold ice... no I don't follow it either and I read the issues,
Still, Robin does, as is his wont, rather randomly gets involved, as a collateral victim.
Now, say what you will about the crime rate, you have to admire that, even before the police have sent someone out to check on the poor kid in a block of ice when he's left outside their HQ, some randomly passing criminals, showing that entrepreneurial spirit which regularly puts Gotham's villains in the upper percentiles of underworld villainy, have spotted him too and are DOING something about it..
Basically the little dollar signs go off in their eyes and they think "ROBIN RANSOM TIME! "
It doesn't end well for them because Bruce gets changed into costume and makes it from Wayne Enterprises penthouse to the Batcave and thence to GCPD HQ faster than any cop already inside the building could make it to the front door, but you have to admire that they TRIED.
I haven't been able to find an example of a winter outfit for Damian (though I would be happy to be corrected), but I have to assume he just finds Gotham freezing anyway.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-16 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-16 01:29 pm (UTC)Ahh, Fugidove!
... no, wait, false alarm. Phew.
*tries to look nonchalant*
But in seriousness (well, slightly more serious):
Would Damian need a winter outfit? Haven't his Robin outfits come with trousers as standard?
no subject
Date: 2022-12-16 02:59 pm (UTC)True Damian doesn't NEED one per se, but on that proviso neither does Tim. until they decided to give him is fur-trimmed number for snowy conditions... a Robin should have a certain degree of style after all, and if Batman can have 413 different costumes. Robin should at least have access to one with an extra layer of warmth and proper grips on his shoes.
Though go too far with that, and you get...
no subject
Date: 2022-12-16 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-17 12:51 am (UTC)... yeah... WHOEVER huh? Couldn't be the guy who wears a bdsm bat costume!
I'm really glad to see so much acknowledgement of the sheer Robin tights! It's a nice throwback to his gymnast/acrobat origins, with some slight Gender things what with flesh-toned tights mostly being for female atheletes who are expected to show a big more leg. Dick's gotta find out where ice skaters get their winter tights!
no subject
Date: 2022-12-17 01:09 pm (UTC)