Robin #5 (2021)

dick grayson & tim drake: siblings

I’m just gonna say it, cuz people certainly have said it enough about Dick.

Tim was an asshole post BFTC. Yeah, he was. Sorry not sorry. I know losing Robin hurt him and yeah Dick probably could have handled it better, but Tim was the one who made the decision to avoid Dick in the aftermath and refuse to even talk to him when Dick kept trying to reach out and check on him. Like, hello, Tim, guess what gets in the way of a big brother ‘who wronged you’ trying to make things better? You not letting him talk to you even.

(An entirely different scenario from when Bruce fired Dick, because the problem between that and Dick eventually reconciling with Bruce was that Bruce didn’t ever reach out and take the initiative to try and reconnect with Dick, when Bruce was the one who made it clear that Dick wasn’t needed there anymore and did nothing to say or suggest he was even wanted, when Dick lingered for weeks hoping he would, and it was never Dick’s responsibility to try and make the first move to repair their bond after that. This isn’t comparable to Dick and Tim because Dick didn’t do the same thing as Bruce, he did the opposite of what Bruce did because he learned from what Bruce did….thus he kept reiterating how much he needed Tim and wanted him to stay and Tim was the one who refused all the gestures actually being made).

And enough about all the people Tim lost, because guess what? Dick lost his second father too. And he’d not long before Tim lost Jack and Kon and Steph, lost his entire city. After his circus, chock full of all his remaining first family from his childhood, the extended family of friends and honorary aunts and uncles who’d helped raised him, was burned down around him with massive casualties. After his apartment building, which was chock full of people he canonically had made friends with and formed a freaking community of their own with, had been blown up with only one survivor, just to hurt him. After he’d left the Titans because he’d lost multiple teammates in the Titans Hunt and watched Joey killed in front of him, been raped by Mirage and blamed by his teammates for it, lost his several years long relationship with Kory in part because of it and various other manipulations that had nothing to do with either of them but rather his being brainwashed and then Raven’s messing with their emotions and on and on and on….

And after he’d lost Donna, and after he’d been raped again by Tarantula and after he’d lost his relationship with Barbara over Tarantula’s manipulations, to such an extent that when he went to Barbara the night his circus was burned down, she let him stay for the night and then told him he had to go in the morning, after he’d lost Jason and killed the Joker over it and feared he’d lost Bruce’s trust because of it to the extent that he was downright suicidal in the wake of Blockbuster’s death, after Stephanie Brown a girl he barely even knew had become the second kid to die in his family’s colors without him ever having a say in them wearing them in the first place, and then getting Jason back only to have him try and kill Dick’s new little brother Tim, and then try and kill him while they were fighting for the cowl, right after Dick’s newest little brother Damian tried to kill Tim and now Dick was stuck trying to raise him himself, and felt the burden of having to teach Damian to not do stuff like that, because he couldn’t just pretend that Damian wasn’t Bruce’s son, wasn’t his brother, and so he felt the pressure of having to try and find some way to turn Damian into someone who could coexist with Tim so that Dick wasn’t forced to yet again choose between brothers like when Jason was going after Tim, because yeah, Tim was the target and there’s no substitution for that but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still royally suck to be the big brother who feels obligations and ties to all three of these boys and considers them all family because of how they’re tied to him whether he likes it or not so he’s constantly struggling with trying to find some way for them all to coexist because he can’t lose any more family…..

And all of this happens in the span of like, three or four years comic book time, and then their second dad dies and Dick is suddenly stuck living his dead father’s life, running the company he never wanted, being the Batman when all he ever wanted to be was his own hero of his own invention, protecting a city that has taken from him time and time again, raising his dead father’s son as though he’s practically his own, and he just had to battle his brother Jason for the cowl he didn’t even want with it ending with Jason falling from a train and potentially to his death again (since Dick didn’t know yet if he had even survived that for sure or not) when its not like Dick has issues with family members falling to their deaths in front of him….

And Dick gives his newest little brother Damian the mantle Robin that means family in his eyes, because its the only way he knows of to make Damian believe that Dick actually wants him here, wants to form a bond, and isn’t just doing this out of obligation to Bruce, as Damian did believe at that point and why he was keen on leaving….and he tries to explain to Tim that this was an act of desperation, of necessity, of he didn’t know what else to do, and it has nothing to do with Tim not being good enough, or not wanting Tim as family, or wanting Tim to leave, its the exact opposite, he sits there and tells Tim he feels Tim is too good to treat as a junior partner, that he’s his equal and he could never be Batman to his Robin again because Robin takes the lead from Batman and Dick no longer sees Tim as someone who needs to follow, and that’s why Dick needs him to stay, needs him to help him in Gotham because he’s fucking drowning here…..

And Tim just goes, whatever, fuck you, you took away Robin which was the only thing that matters to me (no mention of the fact that he only had it in the first place because of Dick) and just outright refuses to respond to any of Dick’s frequent attempts to check on him, to see how he’s doing, to acknowledge that Dick is just fucking worried about him because he’s stretched impossibly thin and all he knows is he can’t bear to lose anyone else, it’ll break him, he’s lost all he possibly can right now…..

And Tim just…..doesn’t fucking care. Peaces off to pursue his (still lacking evidence) Bruce isn’t dead theory because Dick did something he didn’t like and won’t believe him without evidence about the thing he always says every time someone who’s close to him dies and has led to him going down some very dark roads in the past but why should past behavior worry Dick at all……

And sorry not sorry, but if you can reframe every one of Dick’s issues with Bruce about Robin as him being an immature spoiled brat, but that doesn’t sound like sulking to you, I’m calling foul. 

*Shrugs*

Tim was kinda a brat back then. I know he had a lot going on and was dealing with a lot, but Dick was too, and all he wanted was to know that his little brother was freaking alive and Tim was like no, that’s too big an ask right now, you made me mad so stew on that bro. BYE.

Yeah Tim was a teenager, but Dick wasn’t even eighteen when he left home, and if he has to always be a big boy or else he’s a spoiled kid throwing a temper tantrum for not getting his way, I don’t see why Tim (who preboot, was definitely at least close to eighteen at the time) can’t be expected to be a big boy too and at least say “Dick I’m still mad at you and hurt, but I at least recognize that you are going through shit too right now and so I can at least be bothered to check in and let you know I’m alive and okay still and you haven’t lost another family member while they’re hating you and blaming you and thus making it likely your fault too.”

All of this^^^!!! I don’t understand why people act like Tim was acting rationally during the time Bruce was dead–he was a jerk. Period. Like, it was understandable, but that doesn’t mean that what he did was justifiable or fair to anyone. He even admits this himself to Stephanie (in Red Robin #10): 

(And I kind of think that his apology is not great, because even when he is saying that he is sorry, he follows that by saying that “we’ve both made mistakes” in order to justify being a jerk to Steph. If he’s actually sorry, he should just genuinely apologize, but whatever.) One of Tim’s strengths, one of the things that makes Tim different from Bruce, is that he is self-reflective. When he makes a mistake, he apologizes and he makes it right no matter what. But he never apologizes to Dick. Even though he hurt Dick arguably worse than Steph, even though he abandoned Dick and (intentionally or not) hurt him when the poor guy was trying to help and support everyone that he could. 

I know the reasons that Tim acted the way that he did, and I understand why he felt the way he did, but it is still just not reasonable for Tim to expect everyone to believe a crazy theory that he has no evidence for (especially when you take into account the trauma that Tim has losing the people close to him and how that has driven Tim to make poor decisions in the past, ie trying to bring back his loved ones with the Lazarus pit). It is not fair to expect blind faith from people, and it wasn’t fair that Tim used this as a rationale to push all the people who came to help him (Dick, Cassie, Steph). 

Also, the idea that people have that Dick doesn’t trust Tim or love him as much as Damian is just crap. He spends all of Red Robin reaching out to Tim, telling him how much he values him and needs him and wants him on the team. He tries to talk to Tim and get him help multiple times, without Damian having anything to do with it. With the exception of not believing in Tim’s crazy theory, every time Dick’s trust for Tim is put to the test, Dick choses to trust Tim. Like here (in Red Robin #4): 

Tim says that if Dick trusts him, he needs to let him go on a hunt for Bruce. Dick lets him go. Then in Red Robin #10:

Tim returns from said journey acting erratically, associating with people from the League of Shadows (Pru), and refusing to give any explanations once again. And Dick trusts him once again despite everything and follows his lead. Damian and Dick’s relationship is just different from Dick and Tim’s, and Damian needs a lot of guidance from Dick that Tim doesn’t at this point in his life. Loving Damian does not mean that Dick loves Tim any less, his love is not a finite good and he can love multiple people at once!! 

So yeah, Dick didn’t deal with this perfectly either. Tim doesn’t want to give up Robin and, though Dick talks to Tim about it, he ultimately gives Damian Robin anyway despite Tim’s protest. Dick (intentionally or not) hurt Tim there, and he should apologize too. I’ve read over the things people think Dick should have done instead. He maybe could have talked to Tim about it more or earlier (though if Tim thought that Robin was the only thing he had, then no amount of talking was going to make Tim agree to give Damian Robin). He could have more gradually transitioned between Tim and Damian (though I doubt Damian or Tim would have responded well to sharing Robin for any amount of time). He could have just not given Damian Robin (and Damian would have ran off to his mom, and we’d be yelling at Dick for letting that happen instead). Some people have said that Dick should have given Nightwing to Tim. Maybe that would have smoothed things over more, but I honestly a) don’t think Tim’s personality or skills are suited to being Nightwing and b) don’t think Dick needs to sacrifice another one of his identities for the sake of other people. That has happened enough with Robin and he gets zero credit for it. I bring all this up just to emphasize that Dick had no good options available, and people were going to be hurt pretty much no matter what option Dick chose. 

So yeah, OP I am with you here. Sorry for the long addition, but you stoked many EmotionsTM within me, lmao. 

Can I just say, that when talking about Ric, I really, really need people to stop acting as if Dick holds any of the blame for any of the stuff that’s happening to him because he “forced his family to go away.” I am sooo sick of seeing that take. 

“I mean, Barbara and Bruce and the family tried to help Dick but he pushed them away so there was nothing they could do”…oh, you mean like that one time that Dick tried to comfort Bruce in the aftermath of Jason’s death and Bruce punched him:

And still a couple of weeks later, Dick tried again. Dick was so nervous and scared that Bruce was going to hurt him and kick him out of the house again that he was actually sick to his stomach with it, and he still showed up, knocking at Bruce’s door, trying to help him. 

And then Bruce freaking ran away: 

And the Titans call needing Dick’s help, which would be the perfect reason for Dick to leave and not have to deal with this mess, and DICK STILL CHASES AFTER BRUCE TO HELP HIM. Because for Dick, it wasn’t about him, it was about helping Bruce when he was hurting, no matter what. 

And hey, let’s talk about Damian. How, in the beginning, Damian would always tell Dick that he was unworthy to be Batman’s heir. How he told Dick that he didn’t need him and didn’t respect him and would do things his way. 

And after all that guess what? Dick still freaking chased after Damian because he didn’t want him to be hurt, still did everything he could to help him and keep him safe. Even though Damian didn’t ask for it and even though it was hard and thankless, Dick still did it because Damian needed him regardless of what he thought he knew. 

Same with Tim, when he was struggling with Bruce’s death and falling apart and ran away from the manor. Dick was hurting too. He was dealing with all 100 of Bruce’s obligations that had just fallen into his lap. And Tim had made it clear that he didn’t want Dick’s help. But even as Tim fought to make him leave, Dick still tried to be there for him. Kept sending people his way. Didn’t give up on him. 

And I could go on and on and on because there are so many instances where Dick went out of his way to be there for his family even when they tried to push him away or didn’t make it easy. So freaking many. 

Dick’s doctor, the one that Bruce chose, the one that Dick thought he could trust…she had brainwashed him, conditioned him to be uncomfortable around his family, and Dick still went to the manor and gave the whole family thing a chance. And Bruce? Traumatized Dick with a video of Dick getting shot in the head because he needed Nightwing now and he didn’t care if he had to harm Dick to make that happen.

And Dick is horrified and angry because they hurt him with this, and so he tells them all to leave him alone, says that he wants no part in something this because it scares him…and that’s somehow unreasonable on his part? That makes it alright that his family, the one with a billionaire’s funds and all the resources in the world, just gave up and left Dick all alone to live homeless, on the streets, after getting shot in the head? Without even his skills as a vigilante to protect him in a rough town like Bludhaven (because–amnesia!!!)? That makes it okay that they haven’t even bothered to check up on Dick to notice that he was being attacked and manipulated by Scarecrow, and the Court of Owls, and the Joker until it was too late? 

Oh no, Dick told Barbara to go away one time! Shut up I hate it here. 

Family doesn’t just help when it’s convenient and easy to do so. People need to knock it off and stop acting like Bruce and the rest of the family is in anyway justified. 

YES say that it’s bad writing, YES say that it’s out of character, YES say that DC should do better, but NO do not try to act like Dick holds ANY of them blame for being shot in the head and brainwashed and traumatized and abandoned! 

having red robin 2009 brainworms... need someone to explore a very particular scenario after brucequest. where after all the dust has settled, dick has a temporary lapse of faith in tim... and tim can't comprehend why... because he was only doing what he needed to do to save bruce. but dick is so angry!!! because tim, his brother, after weeks of silence comes back to gotham and asks dick to trust him. and dick does! of course he does. only to watch in horror as he falls out of a window... only to realize much later that tim, the guy who planned every move during the loa arc, had no contingency... no back up plan for his own life. red robin tells batman "trust me" and then he lets dick watch as tim falls. how could tim do this to him? how can dick ever get past the fact that tim perpetuated a scenario where he had no regard for his own life... where he didn't account for dick's off-the-charts regard for tim's well-being? is tim's faith in him that shattered? because dick trusted him... dick has always trusted tim to make the right choice. and now, dick has to come to terms with the fact that while he would trust tim with his life, he cannot trust tim with his own.

i love them.

i truly think the dickbats era dick-ra's dynamic is underrated. ra's is out here playing hard to get, like, oh i don't care about you in the slightest, detective, you are nothing to me, i don't care that you are batman's heir and successor or that you've won the love and loyalty of my grandson in a way that i never could or about any of the rest of it, the only one of you bats who truly concerns me is your seventeen-year-old brother

and we don't get a lot of follow-up on this from dick's end, but i think this approach would be surprisingly effective. not because dick cares about the ego hit of ""not being considered a threat"" by ra's, or would even want ra's creepy attentions in the first place. it's simply that if you touch tim, and dick hears about it, you are gonna be eating through a TUBE

#please this is so fucking funny#also i love an inconsistent man#bc rmb those last few issues of nightwing 96#where dick kicks his ass and ras breaks into the cave to drop off a sword for dick#and threatens him and says welcome to the black hole detective#unmatched comedy from ras to simply pretend that none of that happened and tim is his nemesis now#<- PREV#it's because dick so thoroughly rejects him that even ra's just has to be like#'well i guess i have to focus on ANOTHER son'#dick vc: you're pathetic and leave me alone#ra's (actually feeling a little rejected): okay FINE i'll go after your little brother instead#dick: /i will end you/

tags from @/vechter and @/boiwcndr

It needs to be known that Dick didn’t just beat Ra’s. He made him surrender. Ra’s kept attacking Dick but Dick wouldn’t end the fight by killing Ra’s, and after a while Ra’s realized that no matter how many times they fought Dick would win.

So he surrendered, offering Dick the sword Ra’s once used to fight Bruce with and claiming that Dick had long since surpassed Bruce in skill.

Then Dick rejected the sword and basically said “fuck you old man, I don’t need your validation”. And left Ra’s there in the middle of the desert.

This is sweet.

(Titans United Bloodpact 002)

Dick Grayson costume evolution

Dick in Black Mirror not doing the disappearing act with Gordon is still incredibly funny ! Like.... "Yeah, i'm batman but I'm not just gonna disappear with no trace without saying goodbye... that's impolite".

Dick Grayson Was A Good Brother To Jason Todd, Y'all Are Just Mean

I'm tired of the narrative that Dick Grayson was a bad brother to Jason Todd, so I'm going to correct it. I feel like a lot of this comes from Dick being upset when he first found out about Jason, when in reality, he was upset with Bruce, not Jason, and he had every right to be. Robin was Dick's identity. It was the name his mother gave to him. Bruce took that away from him because he took a bullet to his shoulder from the Joker, so he fired him. This resulted in Dick moving out permanently and becoming Nightwing. Flash forward, Dick finds out Bruce has replaced him with another kid. Bruce gave Robin to someone without asking Dick, which already is going to sting enough, but on top of that, he gives it to someone who is still a child despite the fact that he declared it too dangerous for Dick, who was around 18 years old at the time. The blatant hypocrisy would anger anyone. Throw in the fact that he adopted Jason and never adopted Dick (at that point in time at least), and Dick's going to be feeling very unloved and angry with Bruce.

But he didn't take out that anger and resentment on Jason. Here are the panels of Dick and Jason when Jason was Robin:

Here's Dick waiting for Jason to give him his old Robin suit, basically accepting him as Robin.

Here's Dick giving Jason his number in case he ever needs someone to talk to.

Here they are shaking hands, basically agreeing to be friends and allies. Reasonable for two people who are only just getting to know each other.

Now here's a time where after Jason helped out the Titans, Dick is thanking him and telling him that if Bruce gives him a hard time, to tell Bruce to give him a call so he can defend Jason.

Here the two of them are working together as Nightwing and Robin.

How about the time Dick and Jason went to the mountains together and Dick still has the photos?

Here is Dick's reaction to Jason's death. He's absolutely distraught.

Some people like to blame Dick for not being there when Jason died and not going to the funeral. But Dick was in space with the Titans when Jason died, and Bruce didn't even bother to tell him about the funeral.

This is Dick killing the Joker after the Joker makes him believe he just killed Tim, and then taunts him over Jason's death. It's the taunt about Jason that finally pushes Dick over the edge. The only reason the Joker is still alive is because Bruce resuscitated him.

Here's Dick calling Jason Little Wing.

And here's them in the New 52 where Dick is trying to give Jason guidance and training. Jason isn't too receptive to this, but that doesn't change the fact that Dick is trying to be a good brother/mentor.

So, please, enough with the accusations that Dick was a bad brother to Jason when that's clearly false. If anything, Jason wasn't the greatest brother to Dick for a while after coming back from the dead.

There was that time Jason impersonated Nightwing and gave him a reputation for being a killer in the public eye.

Or how about the time Jason kidnapped Dick and Damian (this was during the time Dick was Batman because Bruce was lost in time) and set up a game to reveal their identities to the world, which would put them both in extreme danger.

So, I'd argue that the brother of the year award isn't going to Jason, guys. Dick wins this one by a landslide.

THE MAN WHO FLIES

*COLOURED BY FOURCORPSMEN

Upside down bird

Nightwing #144 (1996)

Nightwing #54 (1996)

Detective Comics #729 

Gotham Knights #16

Outsiders #47 

Batman - Bane

Nightwing #73 (1996)

Nightwing #22 (2011)

Detective Comics #878