I could probably read every Batman strip ever published, from 1939 right up to the present day, and Robin's introduction strip would still be one of my top-ten favourites. How could it not be? It's such an important turning point in Batman's life, when he meets Robin and both the strip and his life take on a whole new dynamic, a father-son/best friends type of bond which makes every crimefighting mission that much more meaningful. And here is where we get to see the beginnings of that bond. Well, mostly. There are a few key moments which the strip doesn't cover. So I wanted to first do a summary/review of the strip, going through exactly what does happen, and then talk about a few things they didn't cover that I'd like to see, which they could add if this story is ever made into a movie or similar. Which it totally should, because as I understand it we haven't had a real Robin origin movie apart from the Lego Batman movie.
Dick Grayson was brought up in a circus, where he worked with his mother and father (imaginatively named Mary and John) as a family of trapeze artists. One day the owner of the circus, Mr. Haly, was approached by a couple of gangsters demanding protection money. Mr. Haly refused, and so the gangsters struck, killing two of the circus performers during a show – John and Mary Grayson.
Dick overheard all the conversations between the gangsters and Mr. Haly, and knew what was going on. He wanted to go to the police, but before he could he was approached by a dark, mysterious figure: Batman. He had been watching the show as Bruce Wayne, and – can you imagine what that must've been like for him?? Bruce sees Dick go through the exact same thing he did that made him turn to crimefighting – it's no wonder Batman goes out of his way to find and help Dick!
Batman takes Dick with him in his car, and there's some real element of trust on Dick's part here, he just agrees to get in a car with a mysterious masked figure. Batman explains why Dick can't go to the police about his parents' death: the entire town is run by the gangsters' leader, Boss Zucco, a big fat man who uses all the cool gangster talk (“see ?” after every other sentence, and all of that). Batman says if the police knew Dick was onto the gang, he'd be dead in an hour.
And then comes my favourite part of the strip – well, not a lot of emphasis is put on this in the story itself. It just sort of happens, quite smoothly. But when you read between the lines... Batman has never revealed his true identity to anyone. He lives completely alone (Alfred wouldn't appear in the strip for another year or so). In one of the earlier strips Bruce had a literal fiancée and she has no idea she's engaged to the Batman, and he gives every indication he has no plans to tell her. And now, with this stranger he's just met, Batman says he will hide Dick for a while inside his own home. Just like that. Without any hesitation or thought for the consequences. Obviously, unless Bruce planned to hide Dick in the Batcave or wear his cowl around the house 24/7, he knew this arrangement meant Dick was going to find out his true identity. And Batman just willingly suggests it. He never even hesitates.
That deep moment is immediately followed by another one. Right after basically committing to share his real identity for the first time in his life, Batman opens up, without any prompting from Dick, and tells him his backstory. He explains that criminals also killed his mother and father, and that's why he became a crimefighter. Although it's not quite so absolutely definite, there's every indication that Batman never opens up about his past, not to anyone. I mean, it would be kind of risky, what if someone noticed how similar Batman's backstory is to Bruce Wayne's? But here, almost as if he's trying to explain to both himself and Dick at the same time why he's opening up so much, Batman willingly tells Dick everything. Probably he knows that if anyone will understand, it's this heartbroken young boy who has just been through the same thing.
And Dick does understand, perhaps even better than Batman anticipated, because the very next thing he says is that he wants to fight criminals too. Here is the only point in the strip where Batman hesitates about anything – and in another favourite moment of mine, he hesitates only a moment. He never tries to argue that Dick is just a kid, as if it's up to Bruce to decide what Dick is capable of or how he should want to spend his life. He agrees, right away, to take Dick on as his aide, and just like that, the Batman-Robin duo is established before the car even reaches their home.
The next thing we see is one panel of Bruce and Dick swearing a solemn oath to devote their lives to crimefighting, followed by a montage of Dick's training. (Obviously, his acrobatic skills are already top-level!) After that is our big showdown with Boss Zucco, which involves Batman scaring all of Zucco's mobsters by messing up all his rackets, in a successful attempt to make Zucco mad enough to draw him out of hiding. It also features our very first instance of Robin deciding to take on the crooks himself without waiting for Batman, which is an endearing trait of his that shows up several more times throughout the Chronicles (and most notably in certain Dailies strips like What a Sweet Racket! and An Affair of Death). At the end of it all, Bruce offers Dick the choice of going back to circus life, but Dick decides to keep on being Batman's crimefighting partner. I quite appreciate the two reasons he gives for this: Dick thinks his mother and father would have wanted him to go on fighting crime – meaning we have yet more characters who aren't belittling Dick's abilities on account of his age, and that Dick's parents knew their job was to help him fly, not to hold him down. I'm thinking Dick Grayson had some really good parents while they were alive. And the other reason just sums up Dick's character beautifully in three words: “I love adventure!”
Of course, this story was written for a comic book, so naturally the main focus was on action and adventure. I can fill in all the touching, impactful details of Batman and Dick's first meeting just by imagining them; but now we get to the part where I tell you what I would want to see, if this story were expanded into a movie or similar with time to explore all the different emotional aspects.
Dick's Parents
I can understand perfectly why we never get to know these two characters who will be dead before the story is underway. Kind of reminds me of the first time I watched The Lion King, and very quickly found my favourite character was Mufasa.... But still, if you were doing a full-length Robin origin story, we'd want to know exactly what Dick lost. I think Dick must have had some really great parents, just by looking at how well-adjusted and positive he is, even after facing such tragedy. You could play up on that, show how Dick was shaped by the people who raised him, and at the same time set us up to really feel how devastating it is when the tragedy we know is coming inevitably strikes.
Dick's first time seeing Batman's face
We know it must have happened. We see the very moment Batman decides it will happen, when he offers to keep Dick at his home for a while and must know that could never work without Dick ever seeing his face. But there isn't any moment in the strip that actually shows us that one impactful moment. I imagine that it happened just after Batman parks his car in its secret place and he and Dick go up into the manor. He would pull off his cowl the same way he normally does, almost out of habit, but remembering tonight the circumstances are very, very different. And I imagine the next thing he does is to tell Dick his real name as well as letting him see his real face, because if he didn't Dick would only be able to call him “Batman” even when he was Bruce Wayne and other people were around! I would love to get to see that one profound moment of trust.
Dick Grayson, the Millionaire's Ward
It must have been quite a change for Dick, in one night losing one family and home but also gaining another. I imagine that before Dick had proper sleeping arrangements at Wayne Manor, Bruce might have put him up in a comfortable spare room – and I would love to see the scene where Dick first opens his eyes to his first full day as Bruce Wayne's ward, and notices for the first time just how luxurious his new surroundings are. Of course, I also want to see a bit of an adjustment period – Dick might open his eyes that morning still expecting to be back at the circus with his parents still alive! I like to imagine him looking around himself in the morning light, seeing his surroundings clearly now, and it dawns on him suddenly that he's a millionaire's kid now.
Julie's Reaction
In the very earliest days of Batman, Bruce Wayne had a fiancée named Julie Madison. She was a remarkably unimportant character, not given any traits that would make her unique or interesting, and appeared in all of three strips before leaving for good in the third Chronicles volume. One of these appearances was absolutely nothing but a single panel in which she negatively compares Bruce to Batman. But according to the strip's timeline, Julie was still a part of Bruce's life when Dick first arrived, and I think she might be mad about not having been consulted on such an important decision in her fiancé's life! After all, if Bruce is adopting a ward, he would become Julie's ward too, and he's essentially given her the role of Dick's stepmother without any discussion. I would love to see the conversation, and probable argument, between Julie and Bruce about his making such major life decisions behind her back. I would love to see how Julie gets along - or doesn't get along - with Dick. I would also love to see Bruce showing where his loyalties truly lie by refusing to give up Dick no matter what. You could hint throughout this exchange that Julie and Bruce are not exactly a match made in heaven – and really have no business being together.
Dick Integrating Into Bruce's Life
And it's not just Julie's reaction we need. Acquaintances, society friends, and business partners will all see the supposedly lazy, noncommittal Bruce Wayne suddenly taking on the responsibility of being a young orphan's father figure. Bruce will be seen bringing Dick to society parties, taking him out to the ice-cream parlour or the amusement park, letting him sit in on board meetings. How will the people around him respond? I can see a lot of them hoping this is a good sign and a turning point for him, that finally he is taking on some real responsibility. Or there might be a lot of raised eyebrows, people wondering how on earth Bruce Wayne of all people ever got custody of a kid!
The Origins of the Robin Costume
In Robin's origin strip, he just seems to have the outfit when he's ready. And that's believable, since the story does establish he had several months of superhero training first, so plenty of time to think about and put together a costume. The Lego Batman movie (which, I am convinced, will always be my favourite Batman movie no matter what) did a really good job on introducing the costume, with some very funny moments in which Batman comments on how short Robin's pants are and how bright his colour scheme is, considering Batman's reliance on stealth. It would be a lot of fun to see how Dick got the idea for the costume (I bet he took inspiration from his old acrobat's uniform, and that's why the bare legs!), whether Batman did have any doubts about its potential for stealth, and even where the name Robin came from. The strip does tell us how they came up with the name, calling Robin the “laughing young Robin Hood of today”, but it would be fun to see how and when Dick decided to compare himself with Robin Hood!
Of course, I do love the strip exactly as it is. Mostly I just enjoy imagining all these little details to fill in the gaps, and I would really, really love it if there was a full-length movie or some such one day which was entirely about Robin's origins. Then it could include everything!
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