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Stephanie Brown Tune in next time for fate of trusty sidekick 28 July 2004 The Dallas Morning News For the last 65 years - since Detective Comics #38 hit the stands in July 1939 - Robin the Boy Wonder has been Batman's faithful apprentice in his war against Gotham City's evildoers. For three months this summer, though, it was Robin the Girl Wonder. And now, there's no telling if there will even be a Robin at all. As another Robin once said on the campy 1960s TV series: Holy Switch-a-roo! In the pages of Robin #126 (July 2004), Batman appoints the fourth incarnation of his trusty teen sidekick - a teenage girl named Stephanie Brown - only to fire her two issues later for disobeying orders. Talk about your summer internships gone wrong. As the story goes, the most recent Robin (Tim Drake) gave up the cape and mask after his father figured out what he was up to all those late nights. Stephanie, Tim's girlfriend who had fought crime in Gotham City as the purple-caped Spoiler, somehow succeeded in lobbying Batman to be the successor. "This is so totally cool!" she exclaimed. She helped foil a few crimes and even made appearances in other comic books, but in Robin #128, her eyes get too big for her stomach, and she is given the pink slip. It wasn't the first new identity for Robin; the uniform had been worn by three different boys, Tim being the last. (One former Robin was killed after readers voted for his death.) Nor was it the first time for Batman to join forces with the fairer sex; Batgirl, Oracle and Huntress are frequent helpers, and even Catwoman has changed sides lately. But it was the first time in the continuum of the comic books that the yellow cape, red vest and green tights have belonged to a girl. It was also the first time that the outfit seemed appropriate. Hard-core comic fans heard whispers about the story line in the spring and got their hands on Robin #126 when it hit the stands in May. (You guys: Don't bother writing the e-mail; we know there was a girl Robin in Frank Miller's futuristic The Dark Knight Returns.) So what happens next? The Robin title will continue to be published, with a story line involving both Tim and Stephanie coming up this fall. Will Batman talk Tim into returning? Will he cave in and give Stephanie another chance? His handlers aren't saying; a representative for DC Comics rejected interview requests faster than you can say Holy Child Labor Laws! So for now, Batman's next move is as well kept a secret as the contents of his utility belt. Robin writer Bill Willingham's motive seems to be a matter of simple storytelling; he sees the change as another chapter in an epic tale about heroes. "The whole idea of a teenage sidekick is to look at how someone learns to be a hero," he told Wizard magazine. "At least that's what's interesting to me." That, and maybe the notion of two Robins going to prom together. Stay tuned. Jason Todd / the 1900 phone poll From the New York Times, November 10th, 1988: 
From Time magazine:  (This is a collection of excerpts from newspaper articles. They're not in chronological order, and none of them are the full text as originally printed. Think of this as a scrapbook of opinions and reporting styles; a way to get a glimpse at the reactions the phone-in stunt generated.) 1 November 1988 Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Killing of a comics hero first took place in 1940, when Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates heroine Raven Sherman was murdered by Capt. Judas. Caniff's intent was to jog complacent Americans' consciences about the war in Asia. The death of Robin II, in the context of today's Middle East turmoil, serves essentially the same purpose - to reinforce the wide gulf that exists with Iranian interests. It is, essentially, propaganda. 08 November 1988 Atlanta Journal When people not only want to get tough on crime but even want to apply the death penalty to crime-fighters who aren't tough enough, it's no wonder that opposition to capital punishment hasn't been a winning issue in 1988. 20 November 1988 The Boston Globe First of all, consider the recent, untimely demise of Robin, only a teenager and in faithful service to his mentor, Batman. He was poking around the Middle East, investigating a gun-running scheme and also searching for his real mother, when he was lured into a building by his fiendish foe, the Joker, and blown to bits by a bomb. The Boy Wonder torn asunder. Now, Batman is bereft of his sidekick; the Dynamic Duo is done in -- reduced to a single. But the issue here is not so much the fact of Robin's death -- you play with matches, you burn your fingers -- but the circumstances. The Joker always was a loner, nobody's stooge. This time, not only was he keeping bad company, he was taking orders from none other than the Ayatollah Khomeini. ... "It's an '80s version of the James Bond stories. Only it's Iranian terrorists as opposed to Russians and Cold War stuff," said Jack Santini, professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. "Rambo has had its effect on these things," he said. "Comics are cultural phenomena. Like anything created by humans, they reflect prevalent attitude -- and, the fact is, we are a racist society, we are an imperialist country. You are going to get Third World stereotypes." 26 October 1988 The Wall Street Journal Given His Costume, It's a Wonder He Didn't Die of Embarrassment "The office is in mourning," says Denny O'Neil, editor of the Batman series. Robin was "a nice counterbalance to the essential grimness of Batman," he explains. "He kept him from being an emotionless vigilante." Bat-fans, however, can breathe a sigh of relief. The Robin dispatched by blood-thirsty readers wasn't Dick Grayson, the youthful ward of millionaire Bruce Wayne who fought by Batman's side in the early days and on the late-1960s TV show. DC officials say Grayson dropped the Robin name and costume in 1984 and adopted a new secret identity as Nightwing. He now heads a superteam in "The New Teen Titans," one of DC's best-selling series. But DC, mindful that it still needed a Robin (if only to keep its many "Batman & Robin" merchandising tie-ins alive), had Bruce Wayne adopt a second ward, Gotham City street tough Jason Todd. The problem, says Mr. O'Neil, was that the new Robin was disliked by comic fans as a usurper of the name. Letters to DC called the character "a vindictive, vengeful little brat" and a "wimp," and urged DC to "waste him." In fact, according to Dan Raspler, assistant Batman editor, some delighted readers are now exulting, "We offed the twerp! We offed the twerp!" 27 October 1988 Los Angeles Times "The days of wine and roses don't last forever," said Batman Comics editor Denny O'Neill. 16 April 1989 The Toronto Star The original Robin, known as Dick Grayson in civilian life, went on to a solo crimefighting career as Nightwing in the early '80s. But his replacement, Jason Todd, seemed out of place alongside a Dark Knight who was getting grimmer by the month. To settle the debate over the teen sidekick's future, O'Neil opened a toll-free telephone line and let thousands of readers vote on the fate Robin would meet in the Death In The Family miniseries. The verdict: death by a slim margin, and a solo career for the Batman. 13 April 1989 The San Francisco Chronicle Whatever the reasons for their breakup, I commend Robin for trying to make it in the highly competitive thug-busting business, but it served no purpose. Sniped one angry reader in the current ""Batman": ""He died because of some stupid idea to garner some free publicity." It is time for DC Comics to admit its huge error - first, in replacing Grayson with an inferior Robin, and then, hoping to rectify that blunder, in erasing him so cheaply. You just don't mess around with major literary teams. May as well dump Dr. Watson, then spin him off into his own mystery, alone. While it was always clear to me that Batman was a Superman knockoff, he was superior to Superman - dramatically, for he was not invincible and had to rely on his wits. You, too, can be a hero with X-ray vision, supersonic speed, steel biceps and the ability to fly, but where's the fun if all the heavies are patsies? Ask Mike Tyson. 08 July 1989 St. Petersburg Times In A Death in the Family, a controversial episode where fans called a 900 number to vote on whether to save or kill the second Robin (his secret identity is Jason Todd), the Joker nearly beats Batman's faithful sidekick to death with a tire iron. But the Joker does not stop there. Robin is blown to smithereens in a warehouse while he is attempting to untie his mother, who was responsible for betraying him to the Joker in the first place. Later, Batman discovers the Joker is the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations and is therefore granted diplomatic immunity for the murder of Robin. 17 February 1989 Chicago Tribune Last year, the caped crusader's sidekick made headlines when DC Comics surveyed its readers on whether Robin should be killed off. The fans voted to clip his wings; however, they weren't killing off the original Robin (Dick Grayson). Grayson had departed years ago and taken on a new superhero identity, Nightwing. Batman toiled on his own until he came across orphan Jason Todd, who was tabbed as the new Robin several years ago. "I thought that wasn't a good idea," [Bob] Kane said of the decision to nix Robin. "That ruins merchandising for toys." 26 October 1988 The Associated Press The not-so-dearly departed Robin was Jason Todd, a kid off the streets who became Wayne's new ward and the readers' new whipping boy. Angry letters to the editor labeled Robin II "a vindictive, vengeful little brat" and "a wimp;" another letter urged the editors to "waste him." The editors, with the approval of the fans, did just that. O'Neil promises Robin won't be coming back; the comics, unlike television's "Dallas," will not take the easy way out, he promised. "We're not going to pull a Bobby Ewing. There will be no dream sequence," said O'Neil. "He's dead. He's gone." 23 October 2003 The Australian Once Dick Grayson, the original Robin, left Wayne manor to become Nightwing in the Teen Titans, Batman acquired a new Robin, when he found Jason Todd trying to nick the hubcaps off the Batmobile. Todd was hated by most of the comics fans, so they weren't too worried when the Joker killed him, but losing your sidekick is the sort of thing that can really haunt a superhero. 27 November 1992 Portland Oregonian And you thought the Superman media blitz is bad. DC Comics had "Batman" readers decide the fate of the Boy Wonder by calling a 900 number. The mob ruled, and Jason Todd, the second Robin, was killed off (Dick Grayson had since changed his name to Nightwing, joined the Teen Titans and rumor has it is caddying for Lee Trevino). Some limber kid named Tim Drake was promoted to Robin. 17 July 2003 Houston Chronicle The poor kid deserves a break. Robin has a tragic past. His parents were killed. The Boy Wonder grew up in the shadow of Batman. He had to act a buffoon in a '60s TV series. And when comic-book readers gave him thumbs down, Robin was blown apart by the Joker. 16 November 1990 The Harrisburg Patriot The original Robin, Dick Grayson, left Batman in 1984 and went on to become Nightwing, a super hero in his own right. His successor, Jason Todd, took over the job of Boy Wonder in Batman issue No. 366. Todd's surly personality made him unpopular with readers, however, and in Batman No. 428, "A Death in the Family," he was murdered by the Joker after fans decided in favor of it, 5,343 to 5,271, via a 900-number poll. After Todd's demise, DC Comics still believed that the Robin character humanized the grim Batman/Bruce Wayne, so Tim Drake was introduced to readers in "Batman: Year Three." 23 October 1990 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jason Todd was the second Robin. DC described Todd as ''a street kid, an orphan who met Batman when he stole the tires off the Batmobile. The character's surly personality wasn't popular with the fans.'' Readers couldn't stand the little creep. We've always identified with Robin. But who could identify with a tire thief? DC finally asked readers to vote on whether Robin II should live or die. Some 5,343 people dialed the 900 number and demanded his death. Only 5,271 went to Bat for him. DC delivered on its promise. Robin II was blown apart by the Joker. ''There has always been a tradition in mythology of sacrificing the hero, and then the hero lives again,'' DC's Martha Thomases said. Of course, people didn't usually vote to kill him off. ''That is unprecedented,'' she said. But once the obnoxious Robin II was out of the way, readers decided, as one DC editor put it, ''a Batman without a Robin wasn't quite a Batman.'' So DC gave them Robin III, Tim Drake. ''This is a more realistic Robin,'' Martha said, ''if you can talk about realism when you've got someone running around town in his underwear.'' We now know that junior crime fighters can die, so Batman wraps him in armored vests and bulletproof capes. Although you do wonder why he didn't put the kid's legs in something heavier than tights. 13 October 1989 Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Things aren't this complicated at Disney. Of course, no one there ever killed off Goofy. 26 July 2001 The Australian When you have a history as long as Batman's, making drastic changes to characters always presents a major risk. In 1984, Batman's youthful ward Dick Grayson went off to college and joined another comic book group called the Teen Titans. When he returned to Gotham City, he was too old to pull off that whole Robin look and fled the nest once and for all, becoming a super hero known as Nightwing. The Caped Crusader ran solo for a while, until he caught a young lad by the name of Jason Todd trying to nick the wheels of the Batmobile. Possibly admiring his spunk, Batman recruited the orphan as the new Robin. Unfortunately, comic book audiences took an almost instant dislike to the cocky new Robin. In 1988, he was killed by The Joker and replaced by the less annoying Tim Drake a year later. Wasn't there a risk that Terry McGinnis could turn into Jason Todd II? "We had real concerns about that," admits [series producer Alan] Burnett, who adds that the series does try to stay true to the spirit of comic. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the series has found success with older audiences, who presumably have followed many of the earlier versions of Batman. "We have a college following. We don't know how big it is because the ratings don't include college dorms, where groups of people gather to watch it," says Burnett. Batman of the Future has also proved popular with another unexpected audience. "It's very popular with two-year-olds, and the only reason I can figure is that it's a pretty show to look at." 16 May 1999 The Gazette THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM: The Robin running around in comics today is No. 3. The first Robin was Dick Grayson, who became Bruce Wayne's ward after his circus-acrobat parents were killed. Dick eventually grew up and struck out on his own as Nightwing; these days he fights the bad guys in his own title in the city of Bludhaven. The No. 2 Robin was Jason Todd, a kid off the streets who never won much of a following. He was killed by the Joker - and by readers in a telephone poll who voted to axe him in 1988. The third Robin, Tim Drake, has received a much warmer reception from fans and even has his own monthly series. |