I Know The Fic Referenced But I Have A Rent Free Idea

I know the fic referenced but I have a rent free idea

Warnings: Heavy Angst, Hurt/No Comfort, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

Here was the known facts:

Timothy Drake (Tim) had left Wayne Manor at three minutes to six to attend a date with his Boyfriend Bernard Dowd at six thirty sharp. He was meant to arrive back at Wayne manor to start his patrol as Red Robin at eight fifteen. However the only thing on the list to happen was Tim leaving.

Bernard Dowd was Tim's boyfriend of four months. They were comfortable and understood eachother which was why when Tim failed to show up to the planned date Bernard didn't think to much of it. Tim was know to skip on dates ocassionally being a n emergency family matter or simply crashing after having stayed up to long. However he always made sure to text Bernard by the time Bernard woke back up in the morning with an apology and a promise of a lunch date later that day.

Bernard Dowd woke up at seven, earlier than normal for the weekend, but meant he could conspiracy theory some stuff more. He checked his phone but had no messages besides some Theory board updates and a text from a spam number about an online dating website he wasn't a part of. He grew worried. Tim was known to get injuries so he opened the contacts and pulled up Stephanie Brown's number.

Stephanie Brown was Tim's ex girlfriend, which would make many insecure, but after the initial awkwardness Bernard and Stephanie built up a solid friendship. Pressing the call button at seven minutes past seven Stephanie answered with a yawn.

"Stephanie do you know where Tim is?"

Which wasn't a polite way to greet on the phone but stress was a fair excuse.

Stephanie Brown jumped up, "I thought he was with you and just didn't want to be disturbed?"

It was at that moment when neither knew where Tim was that warning bells started going off.

"He never showed up for our sate so I thought something was going on with the family, but he didn't text me so I thought something happened."

Stephanie ran around her apartment gathering her things and sliding on the first presentable peices of clothing she could before running out the door and slamming it behind her.

"He left about six to meet up with you."

"Did he talk about something happening to someone else."

"I'll text everyone else, but Bernard make sure you stay put he might come to your house."

Stephanie hung up the phone at a quarter past seven and started texting everyone within the vigilante community asking if they knew where Tim was.

Everyone who replied back said no and Jason had sent a few extra swears with a few comments about worrying people.

Stephanie Brown sounded the emergency button as she ran to the nearest safe house to get her stuff.

-)(-

When the emergency alarm went off Bruce had just finished drinking his coffee and reading the newest rumor in the tabloids. Something about Batman being a reporter in the Daily Planet.

Bruce rushed down to the Batcave quickly followed by Damian who still had Titus on a leash as he did so.

Reaching the batcomputer, Bruce saw the alarm was sounded by Stephanie Brown.

Answering the alarm and showing Stephanie location as being close to a safe house he opens a comn communication.

"Spoiler report."

"RR didn't show up to his date last night a no one knows where he is."

Bruce's heart skipped a beat before he took a deep breath. Tim had probably done some vigilante work between leaving and the date, got an injury and passed out in a safe house.

Bruce pulls up Tim's location, and find it in the middle of the Harbour.

Damian who had thus far been quite stilled.

Bruce sounded the full emergency system alerting all Batman associated vigilantes and anti-heroes to an emergency.

-)(-

Damian was used to stupid things happening to his siblings and fellow vigilantes. He was used to Stephanie Brown overreacting sometimes. She was well meaning, but jumped the gun sometimes when distressed which was why when the emergency beacon turned to be sent by Brown he thought the possibility of a not big issue.

When revealed that Drake had infact been MIA since six the previous night it was more concerning. Drake may not be his favourite person but when no one had seen Drake in twelve hours he was normally injured or eight hours deep in an old cold case.

Furthermore the worry for Drake tenfold when location revealed the middle of Gotham Harbour. When jma tracked appeared in the middle of the Harbour something bad normally followed which was why he justified his concern. Not because Drake was legally his older brother, but a displaced tracker meant all hands on deck for whatever was happening next.

"Father what is the plan."

"I have already dispatched Batwing to check the tracker, but have called everyone to the nearest safe house with communication device to conference."

It was a few minutes later that the screen lit up with the feed from Oracle's Cloak Tower with Huntress and Catwomen beside her.

"What's going on?"

"Drake's tracker is in the middle of Gotham Harbour and no one has a location past when he left night for his romantic partner last night."

Barbra stilled and there was a intake of a breath from Huntress who was half in gear and half looking ready for rest.

Another screen window popped up and Stephanie Brown's face appeared.

"He left the manor at six, was supposed to meet Bernard at six thirty, be back by eight, but he didn't show up, and no one knows a location."

Oracle starts tapping away at computer screens and pulling up security footage.

Video footage from under water appears from Batwing. Showing a half broken tracker being held in hand.

"Nothing else belonging to Red has been found nearby."

-)(-

Jason had just woken up from a nap in his apartment. It was a slow night with some complaining from a couple of the Bats due to the replacement being missing, but nothing but a couple of small mugging and a would be child kidnapping.

He had just finished glaring at the mirror for a minute trying to remember why he got up when he saw that he communicator was going off.

Either Roy needed something, Kory had found a new thing to share, or one of the Brats needed something. However it was the community wide emergency alert.

Moving over to the screen kept to answer said calls, because even if it wasn't the end of the world there would be arguing which would lead to dome entertainment for him and frustration for the old man.

Opening the window he sees that the Clock Tower, Batcave, Blonde, and qn underwater screen are there.

The demon brat glares at him before announcing, "Todd, Drake has gone missing at Batwing has found the tracker in the middle of the Harbour."

Okay so it wasn't aliens or Duke accidently pushing a button because no one explained the buttons on the bat computer to him, but Timbo has gone missing.

"I've locked down his last known location."

Okay Barbie knowns where he was, he got injured and forgot to check in this will be resolved in five minutes.

"Location?"

"Allyway, two blocks west from Neli's diner where Tim was to meet Bernard. There is an audible screen, the doubt of a struggle ane he doesn't appear leaving any of the areas."

More concerning, but someone just got the drop on the kid, and dome low rank criminal would send a video wanting ransom and would be over in a couple hours at best.

Duke's screen appeared from atop a building on his patrol route. Quickly followed by Cass who was patrolling in Hong Kong.

"Duke, I'm sending a location I need you to check it out keep the front camera on so we can view."

Oracle sends a location.

"Cass, Tim is MIA, but don't rush back yet, the could be low level rich people kidnapping.

That was when the emergency news turned on Jason's TV.

-)(-

Bruce was tense, but he could jot aford to think of the worst. However he got a pop up of the emergency news.

"This is just in, Arkam was broken out of last night, punchline, Joker's new girlfriend broke out Joker earlier last night. It is unknown how jo signals were sent out about the breakout, but it has now been eighteen hours since the last check in. Make sure you have your gas masks, stay inside and don't go out alone until notice of capture has been sent out."

The windows pops away.

Bruce can't breathe. Joker escaped last night, no one knew until now, and Tim was missing. Tim was missing and the Joker was out.

Bruce grips the computer desk as he breaths in. Jason is on the screen, Jason whi died, Jason who he failed to save, Jason who still didn't handle being around Bruce very well.

Joker who killed Jason. Joker who took his second son from him. Joker who might have taken his third son.

Bruce slams down on the all hands on deck emergency button and starts running to get his suit on.

-)(-

Duke didn't allow himself to think about the possible connection as he arrived to the alley. He jumped down looking around. It was dirty and appeared ro have housed a couple back alley fights recently, but it was when he stepped further in that he saw a Red Robin issue projectile with blood on it. He picks it up and puts it in a safety bag.

He looks around and find peices of clothing. A dark material with part of a zipper on it, and a length of prison orange fabric.

It could have been from anyone. It didn't have to be from Joker. It could have been from any Arcam breakout or someone with a sick sense of style.

He didn't allow himself to think about his parents still in the ICU with Joker toxin faces. He didn't allow himself to think about the horror stories Jason tells them when he trauma dumps. He didn't allow himself to think of the graveyards, the laughter, the destruction.

He rushes back as fast as he can to the Batcave. It takes twenty minutes going his top spends but he makes it, definitely jot two minutes from a break down.

-)(-

Stephanie Brown was many things. She was optimistic when needed, an amazing fighter, caring, and compassionate, but she was not an idiot. The probability of Tim's kidnapping and Joker's breakout being connected were high. However she couldn't deal with the very real possibility right now so she deals with suiting up and rushing as quickly as she can to start the Joker protocol that Bruce issued.

-)(-

Three weeks.

Three horrible weeks.

Bruce hadn't slept in days, half of them were injured, and Jason was sedated after having gone into a violence induced by panic. Richard was smiling even if no one else was because he didn't want to remember the statistics of survival. Damian was having his own mental crisis but that was beyond the point.

Cassandra who flew in two weeks ago was crying softly because her little brother was most likely dead.

Oracle had exhausted all resources.

Bruce was the worst.

He was sitting at the computer looking over all known information for the thousandth time as if it would just open up a new peice of information.

He couldn't and wouldn't think about the funeral, the lowering of a coffin, the grave stone, the broken bruised and bloodied body of Jason as he thought about Tim.

He had failed.

Time if not dead was close to it, and probably was in more pain than what Bruce ever wanted his children to feel.

Everyone was tired. No one was giving up when an emergency video from the news appeared up again. No news caster, but a hand held camera with Joker in view.

"Batsy, Basty, Batsy. You are your birds have been searching oh so very hard for the missing Birdie, but it's too late."

Oracle had tracked a location of the video and no hesitation everyone was moving out. Rushing down the streets as quickly as they could.

-)(-

The building was one that no one had found.

It was old and as they followed into the building dropping down until they area of what looked to be a creepy version of a stereotypical family home, they saw Joker reading a paper and Punchline dusting a broken fireplace mantle.

"Well that's no way to enter a house."

Batman surged forward when nets fell down on everyone. Heavyweight and would be hard to move.

"Don't interrupt the joke before the punchline. It's rude to hurt the comedian."

"Where is Red Robin?!"

"Who?"

"Where is Robin?!"

"OH you mean the annoying birdie?? Not here anymore."

"Where is HE!"

Joker gives out a laugh before punchline wheels in a older TV and pressing the play button.

Our Family Story

"You see Batsy, we've been thinking, we wanted to add some more members to our family, but the whole process of having a child?"

"Takes to long." Punchline exclaims.

"We could adopt, but we thought you have so many children that taking one would help you out."

-)(-

There was three things Stephanie knew about the situation. That she wanted to put Joker six feet under, that Tim was tortured by the Joker, and that she was going to take Jason's revenge upon the dead and do it herself.

There Tim was, well what was left of Tim. He was standing there. Skin a translucent white, clown makeup just a tad neater than the Joker's, dark green hair, a Joker suit and a crazed smile.

Stephanie had tears in her eyes. Tim who had been there for her in some of the worst points in her life, Tim who had forgiven her for the dead stunt she pulled years ago, Tim who had come out to Stephanie first, and Tim who had finally found happiness was now Joker Junior with a trick gun pointed at Bruce. Tim who hadn't killed anyone even. Tim who had forgiven Jason for the crimes he committed and the harm he had done.

Tim who was just ordered to shoot Bruce and kill Batman. Tim who had tears in his eyes as he struggled to point the gun away from Bruce as he quickly moved it to Joker before he pulled the trigger and sent the flag through Joker's chest killing him.

Tim who just broke down laugh crying as Bruce finally struggled out of the net and crushed Tim in a hug.

Tim was saved from Joker and Punchline in the physical sense, but Tim might have died mentally.

Junior what got you smiling like that? 🤡

We need more Joker Junior fanart because I said so, no I don’t care that it isn’t canon, I love him. Partially inspired by a reverse robins fic I read a few days back and I haven’t stopped thinking about.

Not to mention just how much a character has changed. How much some of society has changed since the character started, but despite just about everything changing since the begining. The core story still is the same.

Richard is still the first Robin who came from the circus. He is still the first sidekick, and the start of the era. It has been over 80 years, and while most of everything from the story tones to the way comic books look has changed, that things are still the same.

That kid from world war two had Richard as a Robin, the first of a kind.

The kid enjoying colour TV had Richard as a Robin, and maybe got to see Jason as Robin.

It is also heartbreaking.

Now, we have Robin's from all different places with all different stories and struggles. We have inclusion and acceptance[mostly]. We have characters who we can find ourselves in. Love to the core, and not be ashamed to like. We are allowed to love comic books, and the stories that come with them.

But those who came before us couldn't. Stephanie Brown was the first female mainstream Robin in a cannon universe. Carrie Kelly was the first female Robin to have been in a story. They were the first time girls had a Robin.

Jason was the first Robin to show that there wasn't just one Robin. That it wasn't just one type of character. He was the first one to show that Robin could be someone new. He was the first time we were shown a character taking up a name and carrying it well.

There are kids who saw Richard as Robin but never got to see a new one.

There are kids out there who didn't know who Jason was.

There were kids who will never know that Jason was murdered.

There were kids who never got to see Jason come back.

There are kids who never saw the new Robin who brought the Batfamily together again (bigger and better).

There are kids who never got to see a female Robin.

There are kids who never got to see a POC Robin.

There kids who never got to see Richard grow up to Nightwing.

There are kids who never saw Richard as a leader, as an older sibling, as an adult, as a parent.

There are kids who never got to see what we get to see, the stories we get to love, and the jokes, and pain we get to have from these characters.

There are kids who might not have found the Robin role model they needed, but we get to have.

The history is amazing, and Richard and comics have come a long way, but to know that what we have now some other kid never got to have.

it's crazy to think about how long comic book characters have been around for

Dick Grayson was created in 1940

There's probably been tons of kids, adults, and older people who were just obsessed with him as I am now

It's just crazy to know that I probably share the same favorite character with people who lived such different lives than me

A soldier in WW2, one of the first astronauts to go to the moon, a kid enjoying color tv for the first time - it's possible any of them could have loved the same character I, so many years later, do now

And that's just so heartwarming and cool and wack all at the same time

This is why I love the RR comics.

No one listened when I went on about this a couple years ago, but someone else has made a list with the comic book pictures to go with it.

Thank you!!!

Red Robin 1-12: a love letter to continuity

a.k.a. I could footnote this entire run and that’s so much of what I love about it

This is an incredibly minor one-off moment with intense awareness of what’s going on in other comics, done with a thoroughness that is 1) totally unnecessary because 99% of readers will never notice, and therefore 2) SO GREAT

References!!! So many references!!!

(This is a really long post because there are just SO MANY references; I’m so sorry; I’m just very enthusiastic; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!)

Okay!  So I like a lot of things about Red Robin 1-12 (such as DICK and TIM), but one of the things I like most about it is pretty low-key: it’s very grounded in continuity, and it really rewards people who’ve read a lot of comics.  Chris Yost - who wrote the 12-issue arc that culminates in a fight with Ra’s - is really careful about keeping track of recent events and crossovers and who-knows-what and who’s-friends-with-who, and he brings in characters from Tim’s solo and his team books and past Batman crossovers.

Among other things, Yost explicitly references a ton of characters and events from the final issues of Robin, including:

Tim’s high school friends Zo and Ives, and his contacts Harper and Bard

Tim’s final battle with Shiva in R 183

the new Anarchy killing his siblings in R 182

Dick and Tim’s final encounter in R 183

Tim’s go-to fake name “Alvin Draper” (a deep dive going all the way back to the 90s, when Tim uses the alias in Robin, Young Justice, and issues like Detective Comics 697)

Tim telling Steph to stop wearing the Spoiler costume in R 182 after he finds out she hired someone to attack him in R 177 (…it’s complicated, but look, none of this is Yost’s fault)

Tim worrying that Batman was going crazy in R 176

Tim breaking Jason out of prison in R 182

Yost’s also careful to keep track of and reference events from other comic books around this time, including:

Jason’s murder spree in Battle for the Cowl (and we even get Tim having the logical emotional response of blaming himself for freeing Jason),

Hush replacing Bruce in Batman: Streets of Gotham (and Ra’s tries to figure out what’s going on!), 

Superman being the one who (apparently) brings back Bruce’s body in Final Crisis, 

the attack of the Justifiers with the Anti-Life Equation in Final Crisis,

Tim and Cassie grieving Conner in Teen Titans,

Tim and Cassie’s goodbye in Teen Titans, 

Tim’s meeting with Conner in Adventure Comics (and Tim muses on what Conner deduced about his costume),

Tim’s meetup with Dick in Batman: Blackest Night (and Tim second-guesses not telling Dick about his evidence), 

Dick and Damian moving to the Penthouse in Batman, and Steph and Babs moving to the Batcave in Batgirl (when Tim heads to the Batcave, he’s startled to run into Steph instead of Dick, and when Babs calls Dick later, she also calls from there)

But that’s not all! Yost’s also really interested in older comics!

The entire plot of RR is a follow-up on Ra’s’ interest in recruiting Tim from all the way back in the Resurrection of Ra’s al-Ghul crossover!!

plus Yost creates a League character who specifically remembers and references Resurrection, 

plus Tim notices that the current White Ghost is different from the old White Ghost, 

plus Tim talks to Bruce’s gravestone, much like he talks to his parents’ gravestones in Robin,

plus Cassie mentions Tim’s Batman needs a Robin catchphrase from all the way back in Lonely Place of Dying,

plus in one of Dick and Tim’s fights, Dick says Tim should get therapy in Metropolis, which is a very in-character thing for Dick to think of because Dick himself seeks therapy from a Dr. Parker in New Teen Titans and kinda low-key tries to get informal therapy from Clancy in Brothers in Blood, plus I’m 90% sure that this refers specifically to Dr. Claire Foster, a Metropolis psychologist and minor Superman character (who Yost has Donna suggest that Kory see in the Titans issue he wrote),

plus Dick and Tim have a fight when Tim’s heading to the airport, and the fight starts when Dick tries to grab Tim and hold him back, and Tim throws him off, which is exactly how their fight over the Lazarus Pit in Resurrection starts too,

plus Tim only wins his physical fight with Dick because Dick has second thoughts and backs off and lets him win, rather than actually losing, which—again—is basically how their fight went in Resurrection,

plus Dick’s “Tim’s my equal, Damian’s my responsibility” line is a nice shorthand that’s very in-character and true to how Dick thinks of them in other comics (Dick has a high opinion of Tim and generally thinks of him as an equal or even better than Dick at things in New Titans and Nightwing; Alfred just told Dick that Damian is his “responsibility” in Batman and their relationship will continue to be ‘guardian and child’ in Batman and Robin),

plus RR 1 has some clever visual and verbal parallels to Batman 416, and just generally I love the idea of low-key replaying the Bruce-Dick-Jason / Bruce-Dick-Azrael dustups with a new Dick-Tim-Damian dustup which is both completely different and extremely similar,

plus, Yost adds some fun original characters (Tam and the assassin trio), but without introducing them at the expense of Tim’s previous relationships - Tam and the assassins aren’t the focus in the big finale, and Tim’s traditional friends and allies are,

and Yost neatly introduces the new characters by fitting them into existing mythology (you already know Lucius’s daughter Tiffany, now meet her younger sister; you already know Ra’s has assassins, now learn some of their names).

Non-Batfamily Characters

But wait! I’m not done!  There are even more continuity references!  Consider how RR keeps track of—and references—what’s going on with non-Batfamily characters:

The Wild Huntsman, an incredibly minor character from Justice League: Europe, shows up to try to stop Tim from stealing from a museum in Germany.

Tim runs into a new Killer Moth and mentions that he’s hard to identify because “the costume and the man” change regularly, and Killer Moth panics and asks if Tim’s with the Atom, which is a reference to the Atom fighting Killer Moth and torturing people in Cry for Justice (and Tim has “no idea” what Killer Moth’s talking about, as indeed he wouldn’t!)

In order to kidnap Hush, Ra’s and his group of assassins have to knock out Katana, because she’s one of the former Outsiders that Dick asked to start guarding Hush in Batman: Streets of Gotham,

The montage of Ra’s’ targets and Tim’s allies spotlights a bunch of lesser-known Batfamily allies and Bruce Wayne love interests from Batman/Batfamily comics through the years!!  Man-Bat!!  Huntress!!

I’M STILL NOT DONE.  Consider how careful Red Robin is about names:

When one of the assassins says, “Flash,” Tim guesses that they probably don’t mean “Wally” or “Mister Allen,” which is a short-and-sweet way of clearly distinguishing between Tim’s relationship to Wally (part of Dick’s generation, someone he’s worked with before) and Barry Allen (older, Tim never met him).

Ra’s al-Ghul calls Tim “Timothy,” just like he does in Resurrection, and Tim remembers that Ra’s usually calls Bruce “Detective,” which nicely sets up the coming-of-age moment when Tim does something clever and Ra’s calls him “Detective” 

When Tim says the name “Hush,” Steph misunderstands and thinks he’s telling her to be quiet, because Steph was presumed dead during Batman: Hush so—unlike a lot of the other characters—she has no reason to recognize the name.

Tim’s inner monologue refers to himself as Robin and then he has to course-correct as he tries to figure out what he should call himself (and just in general Tim’s identity-crisis inner monologues where he distinguishes between himself as “Tim Drake” or “Tim Wayne” or “Robin” or someone else are straight from similar musings throughout Robin)

Harvey Bullock thinks Tim is Dr. Mid-Nite because their costumes look similar.

Relatedly, Red Robin is careful about keeping track of who-knows-what and which characters have relationships to which other characters. Thus for example:

Alfred doesn’t know that Tim’s taken off until he goes upstairs and finds that his bedroom is empty,

Dick finds out about Tim’s theory that Bruce is alive because Tim tells Cassie and she calls Dick,

Nobody knows Tim’s new codename unless they ask him and he tells them,

Tim doesn’t know that Dick and Damian are now in the Penthouse instead of the Cave (and that Babs and Steph are now in the Cave), because that move happened while he was gone,

Dick finds out that Tim’s in Gotham because Babs calls him to let him know, and Babs knows because Steph got in touch with her when she ran into Tim,

Damian and Prudence recognize each other from Damian’s days in the League.

Also, I am a connoisseur of character flaws and weaknesses and insecurities and mayyyybe less-than-ideal coping mechanisms, and Red Robin is ON POINT.  Among other things:

The specific Brucequest plan of “run away from home on an impulsive quest without telling anyone where I’m going” is SUCH a classic Tim Drake response to personal problems I CANNOT TELL YOU.  There was the time he ran away to Paris without leaving a note in Robin (while in a guilt-spiral), or the time he ran away from Central City, or the time he snuck into NML, or the time he quit Robin and didn’t tell his teammates, I COULD GO ON,

plus Tim’s insecurities about his place in the family (and the ways he ties that place and his identity to the Robin costume) are straight out of Robin and Nightwing and Damian’s first appearance in Batman and Resurrection, and ditto feeling threatened by Damian and being super-hostile toward him as a result, plus Tim’s idea of Robin both as something you earn and as a symbol of love (and as something that’s Dick’s to give and take) goes all the way back to his origin story,

plus the “I’m fine” line, and lying, and not confiding anything in anyone, and just generally responding to a personal crisis by getting super-involved in crimefighting and pretending he’s totally fine are all Peak Tim Drake, and very reminiscent of how Tim responds to the aftermath of Darla’s death in War Games and the aftermath of his dad’s death in Teen Titans and the aftermath of Dodge’s death in Robin (in Tim’s defense, his role models are Bruce and Dick, so…yeah),

plus in RR 12 Tim’s—not trying to die, he’s trying to win, but he’s also extremely willing to risk or sacrifice his life in ways that the people who love him might be understandably unnerved by, and that feels very true to some moments in Teen Titans,

And this is kind of fuzzier, but one thing that I really, really love about RR is that even though it’s very much a Tim story, it’s got a lot of love for the supporting cast.  

Lucius Fox is the one who realizes Hush needs to be stopped and that he can use a legal trick involving Tim to do it, and the reason why he has the authority to pull it off is because that’s how much Bruce trusts him, which is a very nice way of honoring how important Lucius is to Wayne Enterprises and the Batfamily

Bruce is the one who trusted Lucius and trusted Tim in return and that’s why they’re able to pull it off; 

Tim only saves the day in the end because he calls on a bunch of Batfamily and Titans allies; 

In the finale, Tim loses his physical fight with Ra’s!!!  I will never be over how great this is.  Tim wins the protect-everyone battle that matters to him, via cleverness and trickery and allies and friends and figuring out what Ra’s is up to and asking the right people for help, but he loses the physical fight, because Ra’s is a fantastic fighter and there’s no possible way for Tim to beat him.  How many superhero comics end in a triumph where the character knows he’s gonna lose the physical fight and then does indeed lose it and you’re still cheering for him and understand why it’s a victory?  Not a lot.

Ra’s doesn’t lose the battle of wits because he’s an idiot—he loses because he doesn’t anticipate Tim calling on allies, which is a very reasonable assumption because Tim hasn’t been doing that; 

plus an after-fight scene tells us that Ra’s wasn’t trying his hardest because this was mostly a test for Tim; 

We end not with Tim saving someone but with Dick saving him.

Like. It’s a great Tim showcase that still saves some key BAMF moments for other characters, and it lets Tim have conflict with other people while still keeping the other people understandable and sympathetic, and it does all this while still giving Tim his own genuinely satisfying victories: his hunch that Bruce is alive is right, and his evidence will save Bruce; the final confrontation with Ra’s is enormously fun.

There are also just a bunch of ways the story feels right on a thematic level!

The whole storyline starts with a fight with Dick and ends with a reconciliation with Dick AS IT SHOULD because Tim’s relationship with Dick is at the CORE OF HIS CHARACTER okay i might be a little biased here but I am also RIGHT

Tim figures out that Bruce is alive via a split-second instinctive visual recognition, followed by a bunch of actual detective work to confirm the split-second insight, which is a PERFECT way for Tim in particular to make the deduction because that’s exactly how Tim figures out Dick’s secret identity in Lonely Place of Dying,

Tim’s big issue 12 finale involves him declaring, “I’m not Batman—I have friends,” which is a version of things that Tim says repeatedly in Young Justice and Teen Titans, but more broadly, the importance of “nobody works alone, we have to lean on each other and ask for help” is, like, the Ur-Tim-Drake-thematic thing, the core insight at the heart of Batman needs a Robin,

plus it’s an insight that Tim consistently struggles to apply to himself in Robin and Teen Titans, so Tim forgetting this and relearning it again is a great thematic arc for the whole twelve-issue story

And of course, the big finale ends with Dick CATCHING Tim while he’s FALLING, which is the most thematically appropriate thing you could possibly have happen for those two characters IN PARTICULAR.

And Red Robin works with the other comics and the history of the DC universe and relies on them, as opposed to being its own self-contained solo act that warps everything around it, so on a meta level it’s enacting the same in-universe moral that Tim uses to defeat Ra’s.

IT’S JUST SO GOOD YOU GUYS

Okay but imagine the reveal happened in an undercover way. Like Selina and the Sirens are busting some northeast crime gang that set grounds in Gotham and the gang is trying to idk bring in a new bread of plant killers that are toxic to most plants. The gang are trying to bring it in through stollen art peices in an auction. It's a big operation but the Sirens are in a spot after a verbal spat with some of their tentive allies. Selina calls Tim expecting to have to use a favour, but Tim just says yes to an art heist.

Tim who basically stole Batman artifacts and smuggled himself over boarders in order to prove that Batman was still alive would do this no questions asked.

Skip to the heist and everything gets over and done with before another Batfam member shows up. I'll say Jason because the reaction.

Jason freaks out because Stray hasn't been seen in around 6 years.

Jason: kid you're still alive?! What happened?

Tim: *blinks* I didn't disappear?

The two stare at eachother and than Jason freaks out: Tim? *Jason shuts down and reboots*

Okay so you know how there are AUs where Tim is Stray, and also a few where Tim is known as "Ghost" or something like that to crime ally kids during his photography stage?

Well imagine he was both, and then became Robin.

Like from age 9-10 he's Ghost so he gets photos of both Dick and Jason

Then at 11 Catwoman finds him and takes him under her wing

And then at 13 he realizes the problem with Bruce and become Robin

And no one knows besides Silena since the Sirens aren't a thing yet.

I imagine this is how the reveal will go:

Dick: Who do you think is the most likely to become a Rouge?

Jason: Well I was-

Steph: We get it Jay, you were a crime lord or whatever

Jason: Hey!

Damian: Well It's definitely not me, I would never sink to such a level

Tim sleep deprived and with out a brain to mouth filter: I mean I was Stray for a bit if that counts towards anything

Rest of Batfam:

Dick: You were Stray?!

Jason who had met Ghost and Stray and put it together: Wait no, the little stalker kid was Catboy. Wait you were Ghost?!

Tim suddenly awake: Shit. I forgot that people didn't know about that. BYE *proceeds to jump out the window*

Since its pride month, Tim Drake is a LGBTQ character, and cooperation are putting out pride merchandise, let's talk about something.

Tim Drake as a character

Yes I will be talking about it.

This isn't very structured, more of a rant, and feel pleased to add on with your own contributions.

See I love most DC characters, and most DC characters have at least one good story to them, that later gets erased from the timeline by some multiverse or time travel BS.

Tim Drake is one of those characters. And no I'm not saying he is the only one. I think Stephanie, Cassandra, and a multitude of others have wasted potential.

But I digress.

Tim Drake is Queer, he is under the Bi umbrella. He now get featured on the pride month covers for DC, and is having a decent story with Bernard right now, but could we do something with him as a character.

Hes still Robin? Right now. Which I won't complain I love Tim Robin, but we know he can be a vigilante away from Batman.

While I loathe the name Red Robin and think that there is at least 5 other good names that at least some part of the fandom agrees on.

Red Robin was an interlude in Tim's life, a point from a before to a new after. He shouldn't have remained Red Robin, but I don't think he should just be Robin anymore.

We could have such a cool identity story where he finally gets a really good costume, and name. We could keep the Black Yellow, and Red. However Tim just seems to be the second thought Robin. [Out of the popular 4 male robins.]

Damain is getting he tournament arc, has his rebeling costume, Dick had his reveling stage, and is an established hero separate but next to the Batfam. Jason is an antihero/ dark vigilante who has had many comic runs, and retelling.

Tim? Was the first Robin to get a comic solo run, and the Red Robin series, but besides that, and after that? He doesn't really have a dedicated comic run anymore.

I'm aware he was a big part of Detective comics, and has been a central character before and after, but nothing on the level of his other adopted brothers.

Sure Tim is getting his dose of upgrade, and his current suit right now isn't bad, and I actually like it. I think it is time that DC actually does something with a character with a well established history of being the first at most of the things.

He was the first to wear pants. He was the first to use a bo staff, he was the first to get a solo run, he was the first to deal with a switch in who was Batman. He is now the first official Robin to be out of the closet.

Tim has so much potential, but he often has his traits pawned off to others and what is left is never his character.

Sure each Elseworld, timeline, dimension will be different, but Tim has never really been Tim in a long while. 1

I just hope DC doesn't mess up again, or take a wasteopportunity.

Killing Tim doesn't count as doing something with the character *cough* DCeased and DC vs. Vampires.

If we are holding a vote, Tim has my support.

People were really entertained by Tim’s presentation topic, so I made the slides

Tim would absolutely have the most colorful, aesthetically pleasing slides when the topic is why he should get to unalive someone. So these are them, they’re colorful, they’re chaotic, they’re written in stream of consciousness, you’re welcome

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