I have some major Tim Drake feelings and I need to talk about them
Okay so for those of you who don’t know Tim was the third and arguably best Robin, though I’m a bit on the fence about that. On one hand Dick is my favorite but I like him better as Nightwing, I think that’s when he really came into himself, he’s always been a great hero, it came natural to him. Timmy in the other hand lacked the natural skills and/or abilities Dick (and the others) had, he had to work five times harder to get where he is. Tim put everything he had and then some, into being Robin, he lived, breathed and fought for it, which is not to say the others didn’t/don’t put a damn lot into it, we all no they did. However none of them needed to try as hard, and out of them all (out of anyone really) Tim is the most like Bruce, he’s almost as smart (tbh it’s just a matter of time until he surpasses him) I mean this dude deduced Batman and Robin’s identities at age 9 based on his memory of seeing Dick preform a quadruple somersault seven years prior. That being said I think Tim’s excellence at being Robin (and his Bruceness) actually had more to do with his Batman levels of determination and dedication, it’s a deeply obsessive kind of stubbornness that coupled with the genius level intellect and a soul deep vendetta to sacrifice anything to enact justice, to give everything for the mission. Further in order to do that you need to be the very best you can possible be, and while Batman holds all his partners to incredibly high standards, they’re no where near as high as the ones he holds himself to, I think Tim even in his early teens held himself to a similarly impossibly high standard. Not quite Bruce level, but just about as close as someone that young, someone who hadn’t yet lost what Batman had, could get. So yeah I do think Tim was better at being Robin, but as I think we all know that Bruce Wayne, while hands down one of the all time greatest superheros, really isn’t someone you should aspire to be, a happy well adjusted paragon of emotional wellness he is not. The man has issues, just to name two, a debilitating case of emotional constapation and a total inability to move on. Let’s be honest, at any given time it’s clear he has at least one foot in that ally, even 30 some odd years later. So it makes sense that future Tim becomes Batman, and I’d just like to discuss the complete and totally badassary of what went down when BatTimmy came back in time and proceeded to kick the collective asses of almost every hero that had been operating in Gotham at the time because apparently at some point in the future Batwoman reallllly pisses him off (maybe she stole his girl or something, that seems plausible). Also the fact that he failed doesn’t make it any less badass considering he still beat all of them and only person who managed to stop him was present Tim. Anyways to properly illustrate exactly how legendary this ass-whooping really was here’s a roster of everyone future Timmy pummeled.
-Batman~ He’s the GD Batman, ya’ll know his stats.
-Nightwing~The OG boy wonder, was also briefly Batman, and for a glorious period of time (which was a real tribute to the universally acknowledged best ass in comics) a heavily objectified (like more so than usual) sexy super spy.
-Red Hood~ Original zombie robin, has a thing for crowbars and decapitating as a form of intimidation. Probably peeved at being dethroned as the poster child for Batfamily assassination attempts and to add insult to injury by a guy he’d tried to kill on at least two separate occasions (well that I can recall at the moment).
-Batwoman~ First cousin of the bat, also a highly skilled martial artist and marksman (markswoman?). Kate is also the most well known gay superhero in the DCU (if you don’t believe the rumors about OG Batman and Robin (but can you blame them? Baby Dick and even more ridiculously, baby Jason, were out there fighting crime pantless in scaly green panties and little pixie boots…if for literally no other reason this is why we say Tim is the smart one.)
-Batwing~ Genius child of Lucius Fox, also tech wizard, currently rocking one of the most tricked out versions of a batsuit to date. And lets be real, Batwing is the laziest codename ripoff since Red Robin (although it’s not like the batfam really has a leg to stand on in that department as Robin’s 2 through 5, Red Robin, all the Batgirls, Batwoman and Blackbat, can attest to, hell half of them are repeat lazy codename creators…I’m looking at you Timmy).
-Azreael~ Also did a stint as the Batman and like poor Timmy he too got a bit murderey after awhile (actually now that I think of it Jason was calling himself Batman during one of those attempted Timassassinations…)
-Clayface~Former probably at least B-list Batman villain (I’m unclear on the official rogue sorting criteria…like is it a point system or does Batman just rank them from best-nemesis (or maybe his soulsinner or the anti-chum, his Batronite, the loathe of his knight…I need to stop) to whatever he’d classify condiment-man as?…something he hates wasting his time on…like healthy communication or expressing emotion) Anyway the sentient clay monster decided to join bat crusade, though for reasons I’m still unsure of (perhaps to perfect one of the batfam specials, like the art of unsuccessfully attempting to murder a family member….usually Tim).
-Blackbat~ Actually I think he got lucky on this one, actually more likely meticulously arranged his master plan to avoid direct combat with her. Cass is cannon one of the most skilled fighters in the entire DCU, she was literally conceived and raised for that exact purpose. I firmly believe that she could whoop Batman’s six ways to Sunday if she were so inclined. (I can and likely will, do another rant post about the sheer magnitude of badassery Cass possesses, with such humility and grace too *cough cough Demon spawn)
-Robin~ Former child assassin with a massive superiority complex (he’s kind of a turd) like Cass the current Robin was also created to be the perfect killing machine. Was Jason’s runner up for the most Batfamily assassination attempts (he was loosing to Jason on account of Tim being the only real focus of his attempts (honestly now that I’m actually trying to keep score Jason might actually still be the front runner in this race…I cut him some slack though because he was more than half crazy when he tried to prune the family tree, and honestly Tim should get a free shot or two on account of 2/3s of his brothers trying to kill him first..)
Whelp in a shocking turn of events I got carried away *shrug*, anyhow to any brave souls that made it all the way to the end of this essay, I love you like Tim Drake loves coffee <3 <3 <3
Loosely describes the events of Batman Detective Comics volume 5 ‘A lonely Place of Living’
Called “A love letter to Tim Drake fans” by Newsarama, a description that if my own Tim Drake love note didn’t make obvious, I v very much agree with.
