Cassandra Cain Mainly

[casscainmainly]

Duke Thomas Starter Pack

Do YOU want to get into the character of all time, Duke Thomas? Are you not sure where to start? Here's a variety of resources to learn more about him! Comic and non-comic resources included :).

Basic Information

Here's a collection of Duke Thomas profiles for you to peruse! Check the reblogs for additional info.

Here's Duke Thomas' wiki page on DC fandom wiki.

Here's the Duke Thomas wiki, called the Hatch!

Reading Lists

@duketectivecomics has a great one here!

@searchforahero has a bunch of Duke resources, including a website list and a spreadsheet, here!

@haithhegimp has a colour-coded spreadsheet of all Duke's appearance here!

@s-darling-art has a nice streamlined list of important Duke comics here + a good Elseworlds list (and bonus Jace Fox list)!

If you want to follow Duke's story in-universe chronologically, check out DCU chronology guide!

Backstory

Duke's backstory is contained within Batman (2011), in the arcs Zero Year (where Duke and Bruce first meet) and Endgame (where Duke's parents get Jokerized). Read Batman (2011) #21 - 40 for the full story. For just the Duke bits, read: #21, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39.

Starter Comic

If the reading lists look a little daunting, a good place to start would be the 12-issue comic series We Are Robin. The first six issues are relatively self-contained and a great introduction to Duke and his friends!

Further Reading

Read some Duke Thomas meta that I personally enjoy!

@himejoshiangels has a wonderful wonderful fic rec list for Duke-centric works!

Some Duke Thomas-related interviews excerpts I find interesting!

Amazing and comprehensive Duke writing advice from @inkpotsprite!

If you don't know where to read comics, consider searching 'read comics online' in Google... or check out this thread from r/Piracy.

Not reading but you can check out the adorable kid's show Batwheels for some Cass!Batgirl and Dukebin goodness.

Once the Batwheels generation grows up Duke will be everywhere so hop on the train early and join Duke nation 🥰🥰🥰

[sinhosstuff]

Duke Thomas week day 3!

Light & Shadow - Glowing eyes

More like Light & Lightning but you get the idea

[dangerouslyperfectsandwich]

Day 3 of @dukethomas-week 2026!

Light & Shadow - Glowing Eyes

[winged-bat]

duke as that one reaction pic

[mssmarvell]

duke

[havendance]

For no particular reason thinking about Gavin King again. Another character in the long line that dc failed. He was named after a tragic hero but that shouldn't have weighed him down.

[vanta-bat]

[kamadis-last-fan-on-earth]

Duke Thomas Week Day 2 - Community: Duke Thomas Joins The Bat-Family Early

Family photo

Part of a rough au I've been playing around with and probably not going to do anything with

Duke is about 10 years old when he's left an orphan as part of a large scale Joker attack on Gotham, which involves the murder of 13 year old Jason Todd. While Dukes role as the signal is basically just being Robin those first few years, no one wants to look at that costume.

Barbara has completely quit the family, the destruction of the city and death of Jason so soon after her attack and paralyzation by the Joker causes her to become disillusioned with the crusade for justice, at least for now.

Batman adopts Duke, he still remembers how the Thomases took care of him during zero year. Bruce isn't distant from Duke the way he might be expected to be, the two are fiercely dependant on each other. Duke is much younger when he becomes Signal than what we see in the comics, he's mourning the complete loss of his family, so whether either of them admits it or not, he's completely allowing Bruce to assume a parental role, just to feel a familiar connection. Bruce is doing the same by really filling the void left by his murdered son with Duke. Their relationship really is loving, but it does take time to grow past this point of almost replacement, and it's messy and complicated for years afterwards.

Dick is bitter. He resents Bruce for, in his mind, replacing Jason, and while he tries to be fair to Duke, their relationship is strained and distant, at best. Dick doesn't understand Barbara's choice to leave, and his constant insistence that she's making a mistake leads her to totally sever communication.

[angels-changeling]

Cass has a shag mullet forever and always

[himejoshiangels]

one of the worst parts of being a duke fan, I feel, is duke being created in the 2010s rather than the 90s or late 2000s when the bats were doing their peak toxic found family-isms so now when duke gets his rare interactions w the rest of the batfam it's all therapyspeak and healthy and shit bcs he missed out on all the toxic codependency and resentment 😓

[himejoshiangels]

NEVERMIND POST CANCELED everyone get more duke & dick beef/it's complicated brotherism coded NEOWWWW

[dangerouslyperfectsandwich]

Day 2 of @dukethomas-week 2026!

Community - We Are Robin

[himejoshiangels]

duke nation will raze every other federation to the ground and under the sovereign rule of our glorious council the whole world will come to know the beauty and saving light of duke thomas whether they want to or not

[starfall1ng]

Duke Thomas!!!😼😼

Version w/out text below 😁😁

Edit: fixed a few things + changed the text

[sinhosstuff]

Duke Thomas week day 2!

Community- We Are Robin

Did some redesign on Duke's Robin days.

[24hrsoda]

Organizers of the DCBlackout boycott have announced the boycott’s end, citing discourse overshadowing the goal of the campaign, and acknowledging that some calls to action were limiting support of black, lgbt+, and female creatives.

While no longer calling for a boycott, they are still encouraging others to boost comics and media made by black creatives and about black characters to bring awareness to the lack of representation and to let publishers know that these stories are sought out and wanted.

from @jpenumbra on tiktok

here is a link to the campaign’s petition: change.org/dcsowhitecampaign

image text under cut:

“First and foremost, we want to thank everyone who has supported the DCSoWhite campaign. Since the beginning of this year, thousands of comic readers, retailers, creators, and fans have joined us in advocating for greater investment in Black characters and opportunities for Black creators within the comic book industry.

Today, we are announcing the end of the DCBlackout boycott.

This decision comes after a lot of reflection and conversations with members of the comic book community. While the boycott was launched to draw attention to an issue we believe remains important, it became clear that the conversation surrounding the boycott was often overshadowing the larger goal of the campaign.

The fact remains that it has been more than 1200 days since a Black character has headlined a solo title in DC Comics' mainline continuity. We continue to believe this is an issue worth discussing and addressing. However, we also recognize that many fans and creators we care about felt the boycott unintentionally minimized books, characters, and creators whose work provides meaningful representation for women, LGBTQIA+ readers, people of color, and other marginalized communities. That was never our intention, and we apologize for that impact. We heard those concerns, and they played a major role in our decision to reevaluate the boycott.

Our goal has never been to take representation away from anyone else in oursuit

of our own. We believe that Black characters deserve greater support, and inat the creators and books currently providing representation across the industry deserve to be celebrated and supported

As a result, DCSoWhite will continue as an awareness and advocacy campaign rather than a boycott effort.

One of the most effective ways readers can support creators and influence publisher decision-making is through preorders before a book's Final Order Cutoff (FOC) date. Pre-orders are one of the clearest indicators of reader interest and help publishers and retailers determine future investments in characters, titles, and creative teams. We encourage fans to support the books and creators they want to see succeed, particularly those from underrepresented communities. If you are unsure of a title's FOC date, contact your local comic shop or consult publicly available retailer resources.

DCBlackout grew into something much larger than we originally anticipated

While we appreciate the conversations it sparked, we recognize that the focus often shifted away from the concerns that inspired the campaign in the first place. Moving forward, we want the conversation to center on solutions, support, and meaningful opportunities for Black characters and creators.

The DCSoWhite campaign is not ending. The petition remains active. We will continue to highlight Black creators, promote Black independent comics, document industry trends, and advocate for greater investment in Black characters across mainstream comics.

We don't know what the future holds for DC in the coming weeks, months, or years. What we do know is that Black characters deserve the same opportunities, promotion, and great stories as everyone else. That's what this campaign has always been about, and that's what we will continue fighting for. And when DC finally announces a Black ongoing in the mainline continuity, we will be there for phase 3 of this campaign like we originally intended.”

[himejoshiangels]

duke genuinely STAYYYSS on these people's minds, it's honestly kinda iconic the way he has so many haters. like he's so divisive for truly no reason it's cunty atp

[casscainmainly]

plus dc nuked Gretchen felker-martins comic for saying something negative about a dead nazi a successful pride special isnt going to undo that thats their attitude towards lgbt people

GOD YEAH... like DC should've been raked over the coals way more for that and while most of the people on here were outraged I still remember people caring more about fictional characters than the unjust firing of a trans woman. And never let it be said that DC lets sales get in the way of their bigotry, since they actively lost money firing her and retracting that issue!!!

Like of course we need more queer books but the way people reacted to the boycott (leading to its early termination) is not showing DC that we love queer stories. It only shows that when it comes down to it, DC can continue their bigotry in plain sight, and we'll just let them.