Origins in comics: DC's Batman Part 2- An origin in family unfolds

Dick Grayson, the original Robin

The First Robin

    Dick Grayson, the first Robin, became Batman’s success story. The character Robin first came on scene in Detective Comics #38 as a way for lighten the comic reading and help younger audiences to identify with the characters. Robin was made to appeal to all children of his age and their inner fantasies. Dick Grayson found violence in his own origin as his parents died in an apparent circus accident while Bruce Wayne watched. Later it was discovered that criminals were to blame for the deaths though Dick never developed quite the angst Bruce Wayne did for his murdered parents. Bruce took the boy as a foster parent and eventually the youngster discovered Bruce’s alter-ego. With his athletic ability and resiliency, Dick Grayson naturally filled the shoes of a fellow crime-fighter with Batman. With his swashbuckling costume and bright colors, Robin was designed to be reflective of Robin Hood and made to hold the same fun attitude. Over time, storylines revealed Batman as a teacher, shaping and guiding the tutelage of young Robin as he grew older, wiser and into manhood.  In the 1970s, DC Comics, under the direction of artist/editor Carmine Infantino, made the move introduce new ideas and storylines including the development from adolescence of the Robin character . The change and success of this Robin reflects in his eventual break from being Batman’s sidekick to join a number of other former sidekicks in the creation of a superhero team, the Teen Titans.  This act is regarded as a “stepping out of the shadow” of the mentor and moving on into adulthood. More than that, Robin “graduates” from his sidekick name and adopts the new costume and name Nightwing. This moment for Dick Grayson is Batman’s success as a role model and surrogate father to Robin. Batman took Dick Grayson from tragic beginnings to successful triumphs.

Jason Todd, the second Robin

The Failure of the Second Robin

As Nightwing went on to his own adventures, the next Robin showed Batman that in any family there will be loss and failure.  Batman discovered the youngster Jason Todd as he was stealing tires off of the Batmobile as it was parked in the infamous Crime Alley. The audacity of this act brought about Batman’s interest and desire to help this boy who came from a completely different world than that of Bruce Wayne. Living on the streets of Gotham City, Jason did not have parents in his life and Batman sought to fill that void and take him under his wing.  Over time, Robin grew in skill but found stubbornness and foolhardiness as well from time to time. Life on the streets molded Jason with survival skills that made him like a son to Batman but with his own unique attitudes and outlook.

     Eventually, in the Batman story A Death in the Family, foolhardiness has tragic consequences as Jason received word that his mother was alive and living abroad which took him away from Batman’s protection. The public’s appetite for action and violence grew at an immense rate in the 1980s and immediately reflected in the story of Jason Todd.  While action blockbusters like Rambo (1985) and The Terminator (1983) pummeled the competition at the box-office and video games rose to new levels of sophistication and gore, Batman forever changed in 1988 as DC Comics captured the will of the audience as they left the fate of Robin up to the general public. DC posted 900-line phone numbers that allowed readers to vote whether of not Robin died within the pages of the story. The public gave a majority vote for Robin to die and that death came at the hands of an extremely violent Joker, beating the life out him with a bloody iron crowbar. Seeking out his family, Jason found he had been set up in a trap by the villain Joker, who beat him violently and then detonated a bomb killing both him and his mother. This marks the wish of the public to see the death of an iconic character. This blood-thirsty interest in the audience for a new experience like Robin’s death was apparent in the sales of the comic topping to record breaking amounts of 190,000 copies.  A Death in the Family referred to Batman’s loss of a “son” to the violent world. Family knows no greater tragedy or failure greater than the death of a child.