hi!! i just read most of the comics from your list which im SO grateful for. my first legit experience of reading comics and i finished it in 2 whole days. my god. changed my life
i wanted to ask if theres anything on duke and the batfam personally? i was thinking about his relationships with them and i really dont know how it is currently since most of what i know is from robin war and batman & the outsiders. or interactions in general. i lowkey just want to see him more LOL
also, i dont know where id ask this but what type of bird do you think duke would be?
Hey! Ahh, I’m always so happy to hear when y’all are reading dukes comics! I’m so glad you had fun!!! Bc Duke’s obvi the best haha if you’re ever looking for more recs, I have a gen list on my main dc blog & also feel free to drop an ask there. Licherally any comics fan here always has recs to give, we don’t gatekeep bc we want others to be insane abt our blorbos just like us haha 💛
I think I need some clarification on your question? Like do you mean if I have personal comics recs or fic recs or something else? Bc as far as general duke/batfam interactions in canon… you def got the most of it already it sounds like 😅 the reading list, as is, is fairly comprehensive, I just haven’t been personally keeping up post-Secret Files/DC Power 2024. (& there rlly unfortunately hasn’t been much published for duke since from what I’ve seen 🙃)
It doesn’t help that bc of the nature of superhero comics… we really don’t see as much of their ‘downtime’. Idk abt everyone else, but I’ve esp noticed this shift in comparison to the 80s/90s, where you have a Story-arc (2/3 issues)/downtime (1 misc adventure or Reaction™️ to prev story arc) pattern. Compare that to post-Flashpoint, where comics are written almost exclusively in mind with how they would be collected in a trade (5-6 issue story arcs before moving directly into another story arc). This means unless a writer goes out of their way to showcase those relationships (for ex, how BatO did for Cass n Duke & Secret Files helped to reinforce), it otherwise leaves a lot up to fan speculation.
So like, Duke has… varying levels of closeness with the batfam, which is just to be expected when you’ve got a potential ‘main cast’ of? What are we at like 10 now, almost? If you want me to analyze any of them specifically, I do already have an ask abt Dami & Duke in my inbox & I’ve talked a few times abt Duke n Cass. The meta tag on this blog is a good place to start too if you wanna see more interpretations of duke in gen 👍
Ok, but getting to your last one. Here me out:
I do really love Lark as a codename & for the symbolism it brings. Funnily enough, I think fandom forgets that Duke never actually donned it as a moniker, Bruce actually kinda shot him down on it:
Batman & the Signal #1
But fans usually use it in esp Reverse Robin AUs and it makes me so happy bc well, just look at this here. I pulled it from wikipedia so obvi further research encouraged & it’s got great stuff abt other things larks symbolize but!!!
Like!!!!!!!!! That’s Duke!!! That’s Duke’s WHOLE THING IN BatS!!! He’s breaking away from the mold & being a something new!!!!
Also all Robins being diff kinds of songbirds makes my heart rlly happy 💛 idk abt the other kids yet bc I haven’t given it much thought before but!!!! Yea!!! \o/ songbird sweep for the robins haha!
I made a comment a few months ago about how Cass processes her anger slightly differently than Bruce does (& Zaed’s holding me to actually analyzing That, ty Zaed) but during my Batgirl reread I’m still just.... absolutely floored how Cass emulates Bruce like. Take this moment from #18
For context, Cass & Tim end up tailing the same people and are teamed up to save a girl who’s been kidnapped/ransomed. Tim initially wanted to wait for the hostage exchange. Cass insisted on going directly for the kidnapper, since he would kill the girl outright. And then this happens~
And Cass doesn’t HESITATE to take him out after this exchange. Over the course of the series her skill and precision is always on full display, but also her humanity. She understands the way criminals are and how they think, and she knows because of that, that there can’t be any doubt when it comes down to taking them out. And just to REALLY prove her point
She breaks his fucking hand!!! And it’s WILD to contrast this with the opening of issue #4, when Bruce comments on how she normally would Hold Back when it comes to criminals, even when they’ve done unspeakable things
But because of how Cass had been developed btwn #4 and here. And how she continues to be developed, it’s no surprise that she starts mimicking Bruce more and more as time passes
But that’s just a little Quick Thought. I’m gonna be diving deeper into this after I’m done with my reread
OOC preferably, but does Ivy want kids at all? Cause Harley being the chaotic mom and Ivy being the nature loving mom gives me LIFE
Oh this ISNT a role play blog if that’s what you thought aksjsk all of my sideblogs are resource/fan blogs!!
I don’t know if Ivy wants children biologically/genealogically (ie related to her, it’s a big deal for some ppl and not as big of a deal for others and that’s valid!), the only time I can point to that would MAYBE indicate that she wants her “own” kids would be BtAS, when she “made” that little family in the suburbs as a cover. But given that BTAS is a cartoon and not entirely canon to the greater DC mythos well 🤷🏽
But in the comics, during the NML event, Ivy took over Robinson Park and took in the orphans of Gotham! They stuck it out there for a p long time, too! (Until one of her kids got really sick and she turned herself in so they could give the kid an antidote from her poisons)
So with that in mind, and specifically in regards to HarlIvy, I think Ivy’s absolutely open to kids and esp to adopting kids, given that she kinda already did that! And genuinely loved and cared for them too!
Now on Harley’s end, I know at least in the Injustice canon, she did give birth and gave her baby over to her sister. She seems much more conflicted there about having/raising children. I know she has kids in the White Knight canon too, but I haven’t read either of these myself fully, only seen a smattering of screencaps yknow?
I think overall it would be an interesting point to develop out in their relationship, if a writer gave them this conflict of wanting kids vs hesitancy to care for them on Harley’s end, and then Ivy’s much more openness to & past with kids. But I can totally get where ppl are coming from if they want to dive past the Conflict part of the Should We/Should We Not conversation and go straight to the fluffy domesticity headcanons!
hi! i love your account so much :) so i was just wondering, do you think that duke and dick are somewhat similar characters? i feel like externally they appear different, but they seem to share a lot of values. i was just wondering if you had an opinion/wanted to weigh in on this
The short answer is, “No lmao”. The slightly longer answer is; It depends? If you’re just comparing their moral/value system, then yeah, almost all vigilantes run on a pretty similar moral code. But I wouldn’t go so far as to call their characters similar. If you mean in characterization and esp in presentation, then there’s something we can have a little fun with playing around with and meta-ing about. Esp if we want to compare their leadership styles and how quickly they can think on their feet in a fight. I would absolutely, Very Generally say they’ve got some similarities in that regard!
But my Extra Long answer to this is gonna be under the cut:
Overall, this feels like a very loaded question, given that Dick has 80+ years of comics history to parse through, compared to Duke’s 7-ish. And then even if we do narrow it down to only One or a few of Dick’s characterizations, that still leaves so much up in the air for me. Are we talking Wolfman-Perez Titans-era Dick? Are we talking late 90s/early aughts Dixon/Grayson Dick (who i know most dick stans disavow lmao)? N52/Rebirth? Pre52/Morrison’s “DickBats”? (or do we say that everything after Bob Kane & Bill Finger’s time is all Elaborate Fanfic and call it a day haha)
Reading for Duke isn’t as difficult, because comparatively speaking, it’s a very short list. And while I have read through Dick’s time as Batman (bc of my Damian reading), or some one-offs like Robin: Year One, I’m by no means a Dick Expert the same way that I am for Duke, and don’t feel comfortable making comparisons between the two characters. (But I’m sure there are other fans who Have read for both and who would be more than happy to wax poetic comparing and contrasting them, and yall feel more than free to tag this blog if you make that meta!! I’d love to read it!)
What I CAN speak to, however, are three very specific times where Dick and Duke directly interacted:
1) is that during Robin War, the writers for that event DID make it a point to match up each of Duke’s Robins with a fellow/similar Official™ Robin (sans steph bc R I P i guess. we all know she n Riko woulda made the PERFECT match-up tho srsly). Duke was matched up with Dick. And the Watsonian reason for it makes sense, as Duke was the leader of his Robin team, and Dick was recognizing that initiative as the First Robin. (the Doylist reason being ofc, that Duke’s the Main Character of We Are Robin & therefore gets matched with The First Robin™ to reflect his importance in the narrative)
2) We see one other canon interaction between Dick and Duke during King’s run on Batman (the infamous Batburger scene), and what fans choose to extrapolate from it, I’ll leave up to them (although I personally don’t put too much stock into it, given how short the scene itself is). What we can conclude is that, once again, very generally speaking, Duke and Dick seem to get along, even if they disagree on things.
3) This last interaction I’m hesitant to point out, would the Tales from the Dark Multiverse one-off. And I hesitate, because by all means, it’s an elseworld/future story. It’s not 100% reflective of canon, it’s a one-and-done adventure. But it’s interesting to note, given that even in the high-stress situation of living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Duke and Dick appear amicable for the most part.
Can we say that them getting along in these three instances is because they are similar in personality/moral compass to one another? I’m sure that comes at least somewhat into play. But I’d need more input from canon (or again, I would at least need to read up more on Dick), before coming to any definitive conclusions.
I saw @tzigone had a question abt this in Zatanna’s tag and I also wanna keep this for my own reference to SO
Let’s Talk About Shadowcrest!
The first time the Zatara home is mentioned, but not yet Named, is in Justice League of America #162!
Here we get a vague location of “near Arkham Asylum”, which by extension implies that Zatanna grew up in Gotham.
Now, I haven’t quite made my way through the 80s/90s as far as Zee reading goes, but my guess is that this isn’t touched on very much throughout those decades, given that a quick google search doesn’t give much info.
However, in the early 00s, we do get another round of confirmation that Zee grew up in Gotham and was childhood friends with Bruce (in Detective Comics #833) and shortly after, in Countdown #37, Zee introduces Mary Marvel to her home, finally giving us the Name:
Now, I haven’t read all the way through Countdown just yet, but this issue and the following (#36 bc Countdown was published in reverse order) have Mary and Zee exploring the mansion and getting into some trouble. There could be quite a bit of Hidden Lore about the house that wasn’t explored quite as much later in Zatanna’s solo series!
(Something of note, in both Countdown and Zee’s Solo, it’s mentioned that she prefers living at her home in San Francisco, likely bc she still sees Shadowcrest as her fathers estate and that gives her grief. OR bc the House has Other Secrets 👀)
So to answer the second part of the Original Question Posed: The cool thing about Magic Mansions in the DCU, is they always have something Odd about them! Wintersgate, while in a fixed located in Washington DC, is detached from time and can deposit it’s residents in many places throughout history. The House of Mystery/Secrets also seem to have minds of their own and enjoy being detached from any particular place in the multiverse. So it’s entirely possible that Shadowcrest, when given a vague “hundred year history”, likely has some of its own tricks up its proverbial sleeves! Again, I’ll have to actually sit down and read Countdown to be sure though! 😉
wait i wanna hear the conversation about how cass processes her anger
(its been so long since i made the original tag, but i hope you like this verifiable essay zaed lmao) (and uh, LONG POST warning for everyone else. this is a good 3k of Cited/Summed-Up Issues and Meta about Cass’ Batgirl run)
The reason why Cass processes differently from Bruce is because their traumas have different origin points and therefore have manifested differently. While Bruce’s vigilante drive is in avenging those who have been wronged and bringing villains to justice (bc of his perceived ‘failure’ to save his parents/bring Chill to justice), Cass’ drive is all about her absolution (bc of her continuous guilt for taking a life & later for any other person she feels she ‘failed’ along the way). That being said, while Cass herself is not a typically angry character, the anger that she displays throughout Batgirl (2000) usually has one of three origin points; the vindictiveness towards criminals that she’s learned from Bruce, her unresolved anger towards her father & mother, or the special cases, often where her inhibitions have been selectively lowered due to outside forces. Given that Cass is never given many healthy options to channel this anger, however, is how she ends up emulating Bruce, and is what makes exploring her anger so fascinating.
With that, let’s dive through the canon & Cass’ journey in Batgirl (2000).
I - Learning Vindictiveness
Again, all things considered, Cass isn’t an angry character at the start of her series! In issue #1, wordless as most of it is, there is a very telling moment when both she and Bruce are fighting together, and when she chases a goon into an alley. She watches while Bruce is a little overzealous in taking said goon out. For first-time Cass readers who may not have read NML, this can be a very telling moment. Cass has seen Bruce work. More than that, she’s seen him work in what’s likely one of the most stressful disasters to plague Gotham. But this is one of the first times that she’s really seeing him, and starting to pick up on how and why Bruce operates the way that he does. Admittedly, this is an undertone that I didn’t quite pick up on, during my first readthrough! But I mention it here bc I think it’s something to keep in mind. Because in #4, when Bruce makes his infamous “she’s perfect” speech, he specifically mentions how she ‘holds back’ even for criminals who he wouldn’t care if she was a little harsher with. I think that this is a big moment for Bruce, realizing how he excuses vindictiveness. However, he quickly backtracks on this when in #6, when Cass becomes so incensed (one of the first times we really see full-fledged anger from her) by seeing a criminal shooting arbitrarily that she stops his heart for a few seconds. And Bruce, hypocrite that he is, berates her for taking things a Step Too Far there.
Okay, might be getting a little harsh on Bruce, so in his defense, he doesn’t like the road he sees her heading down. At this point, he’s in denial of the Evidence that Cain has sent him so far that Cass has killed in the past. He’s fearful for what it might mean that he’s putting faith and trust in a potential killer (or rather is in flatout denial that Cass The Perfect Fighter could Ever Have Possibly Killed when she CLEARLY exhibits so much control. Killers must be all or nothing things, after all, right? Once one, aways one? (you’re absolutely wrong bruce but OKAY))
The point still remains, that Cass didn’t show vindictiveness on this level prior to issue #6. And more importantly, prior to Bruce showing her his own vengeful side. And the wildest thing about this… is that he continues to nurture and reward that vengefulness.
Issue #14 is a follow-up to a story where Cass had saved a man while out of costume, and Bruce learns that he had been killed regardless. Hoping to intercede before she finds out on her own, he leads Cass directly to the killers and allows her to punish (read: beat the crap out of) them for the man they killed. Now, there was some significant lead-up to this issue, the biggest shake-up also being that Cass is officially moved out of the Clocktower and into her own Cave. (Promotion or Isolation, it’s tough to speculate which exactly Bruce had in mind, given Cass’ behavior leading to this moment. None of it, I would label as quite angry, however. More... moderately rebellious.) So this can be seen as a kind of turning point where Bruce is explicitly putting faith in her again.
From here we begin to see more and more instances of children being put in danger & Cass being more vindictive in turn. Most especially in #16 (when Cass realizes the mastermind behind a heist is the father of the boy who sent her after them & she’s harsher with him than with many of the other crooks), and #18 (where she and Tim team up and she breaks a kidnapper’s hands when he threatened to kill the girl he had hostage). By this point in the series, Cass has also been working more consistently with others, and it’s easy to see how this has become a learned behavior, and a poor outlet for her growing anger towards the criminal element.
Cass, for all of her heart and training that she’s poured into her vigilantism, at this point in the series had been working towards one goal, to be ready to die by Shiva’s hands. Now, I want to put a pin in Shiva since she comes more into play in Part II, but just know that their fight in #25 was a turning point for Cass’ character, where she begins to care much more about the work Bruce does outside of simply fighting criminals, she begins to care about truly helping victims and for solving cases.
#34, specifically, opens with Cass and Bruce investigating a crime scene, where Cass can tell that a child was hurt. She asks Bruce to allow her to help solve it, but he benches her, telling her she’s ‘not ready’ for detective work. The rest of the issue is interspersed with Cass training until her knuckles are bleeding, and does end with her helping Bruce take down the group responsible! When Bruce asks at the end, however, if putting away One Killer is enough for her, she responds ‘No’, and Bruce expresses his pride in that declaration.
For a long time by this point in the run and for quite a time after, Bruce has absolutely been molding Cass more and more into the same type of vigilante that he is. And Cass is perfectly fine with that! She sees Batman as something to aspire to, the symbol as something transformative and redemptive. And as long as she is channeling the anger that she feels at those who so clearly deserve that punishment, then she must be doing something right.
Because there certainly aren’t other outlets or alternatives that could be productive… could there?
II - Dad/Mom Issues
Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive is an extremely notable story arc, not only for the crossover event that it became, but for the impact and repercussions that it would have for Cass. While not expressing anger, per se, during this arc, Cass does show a lot of frustration towards both Dick and Barbara whenever they suggest theories of how/why Bruce may have actually committed the murder (which, spoiler, he was indeed framed for! By Cain, no less!). This is important to note because this arc highlights a few things; the faith and trust that Cass has put into Bruce that she’s willing to go to bat for him, the jealousy & proprietary nature that Cain displays over Cass, and finally the consequences that are had when that jealousy comes to light.
Another case opens up after this arc, and Cass is forced to confront Cain in #33 in an effort to gather intel on the criminal known as Alpha. When she goes in under the guise of a reporter and tries to interrogate him, she’s overcome with unresolved anger towards Cain, yelling “Who do you think you are?” and even breaking through the glass to get to him. This isn’t the first, nor the last time that Cass’ anger towards Cain is on display, but it’s certainly a prominent one, as while she makes physically aggressive moves towards him (and yeah, initially kicks him when breaking through the glass), she never outright lays a hand on him otherwise in this one. Threatens him, sure, but shows remarkable restraint given the high emotions.
Cass’ feelings about Cain and about the events of Murderer/Fugitive aren’t ever fully articulated, but given #37, I think we can draw some more definitive conclusions. This issue follows the thread given previously in #33, opening with Cain sending Cass a knife for her birthday. With it, she finally connects the dots that Cain is indeed her biological father, something that was speculated, but not fully confirmed before now. In her anger against everything he’s done to her, they close this issue with a rather dramatic shot of her doing everything possible to destroy the knife, leaving it unclear if she’s truly successful, however.
In later issues when Cass reminisces on her past and on those who have influenced her, Cain is always one of the shadows included. Unfortunate as it is, Cain will always be part of who Cass was, but from this point on in her series, she starts to let some of that anger go. Cain doesn’t decide her future. She does.
Juxtapose this idea, however, much later in #65, when Cass begins to suspect who her mother might be, but wants confirmation. This is what kicks off the final arc of her series, and effectively brings one of the longer running storylines to a close. Cass goes to Gotham to ask Bruce, who also has had his suspicions, but can’t confirm that Shiva is her mom. Since Cass is in town, she goes to train with Onyx (another former assassin-turned vigilante), and whether she’s doing it on purpose or because Shiva is on her mind, she begins to incorporate Shiva’s moves into her fighting, which Onyx points out. All this comes to a head when she confronts Cain for an answer, which he refuses (and we finally see her fully beat his ass lmao). Once again, she doesn’t express anger with Bruce or take out her frustrations on Onyx, but instead levels the blame entirely on Cain, and uses him as an outlet once she’s reached a breaking point.
Another moment to point out is in #67, when the Birds of Prey help Cass along in tracking down Shiva, and when Cass and Dinah train in the meantime. Dinah shows off her new moves (Shiva’s moves) to Cass, and Cass reacts badly, nearly choking Dinah out as she demands to know how Dinah learned those moves. She learns that Shiva’s been looking for a student/heir, and later on that she’s been working with the League of Assassins to help her to that end. I feel this moment highlights a growing trend, that feelings left bottled up will eventually spill over if they’re not properly acknowledged. Would Cass have otherwise reacted so poorly to Dinah showing her ‘new moves’ otherwise? But I digress.
Given that their first confrontation was in this same vein, of Shiva looking for one to either end her reign or take over her legacy, it’s kind of poetic for them to end on this note. The series concludes with Cass facing off against Shiva for the last time, Cass the unmitigated victor, with nothing left to prove to either of her parents or to herself. She’s finally at peace with her past, and that leaves her present a wide open mystery.
This, however, brings us to a topic that still bears exploration...
III - The Edge™
Because no matter how much Cass is able to hold back, even in her quest for justice. No matter the anger that she feels towards her parents. I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the times that Cass has been pushed back to the worst possible edges.
The first, and most prominent of which, occurs in #15, when Cass is hit by a machine that causes her to hallucinate the Joker killing Bruce. The entire purpose of the machine was to push people into ‘deciding’ to kill others, and for most it would knock them out for a few minutes/hour before they would wake up and be compelled to commit a killing spree. For Cass, it was a matter of seconds that she ran through the scenario presented by her subconscious, and to make that ‘decision’. Cass is introspective at the end of the issue, and her concern for Bruce is made very clear. Her emotions towards that ‘decision’ however… is a lot less understood.
Now another issue I want to bring up is #19, a lot less for it being an issue where Cass’ outright anger is employed, but as another extreme case with high emotions. Cass hears that a man has been sentenced to die, and, believing that all life should be spared, actually goes to the trouble of breaking through the chamber where he’s being held and stops the process in its tracks. She truly does want to believe that anyone can be redeemed, and it’s an admirable part of her character. Ultimately, her efforts are for naught, the man is still sentenced to die and Cass is now forced to contend with a system she does not agree with. It’s an interesting idea to explore and highlights her idealism, but ultimately it’s not as fully understood or even really acknowledged, in my opinion, by the fandom at large. (Which is why I wish I had highlighted it in my previous meta, but I’m getting off topic again.)
Recalling that her ‘Perfect Year’ occurs during this next example, in #21 she almost kills the villain Shadowthief in her preparation for her first deathmatch with Shiva, and immediately regrets the lapse in judgement when she realizes what she had done. Stephanie was luckily nearby to help her resuscitate him, but it was nonetheless a very telling moment and lapse. It’s a harrowing reminder of what Cass IS capable of. Though she’s been preparing and training for a fight to the death, she’s still absolutely abhorred by the thought of taking another life. She’s not angry during this battle, she’s more playful than she’s been in a lot of issues leading up to this, actually. But the point remains, Cass will always be capable of taking another life, what she lacks is the willingness to knowingly do so, and now will always have a fear of the possibility.
With that we circle back around to two of the drug-induced cases, first in #46 where Cass accidentally ingests Soul. The stream of consciousness that materializes on the pages, shows that she HAS picked up on everything that everyone around her feels/sees in her, and that she’s internalized it to some degree. Cass does manage to fight through most of it and held her own against the drug runners she was fighting. Something to note, though, is that this incident is preceded by Cass learning that Babs and Dick are once again at odds, so once Babs sends Dick to check up on Cass, she responds (still in that drug-induced state mind you) by kicking Dick out a window on Babs’ behalf. Given that Cass has no previous history of turning on allies, (& won’t again until the incident with Dinah much later) even when frustrated or in disagreement with them, this moment certainly needs to be kept very carefully in context.
Following this issue, we see a slight personality change from Cass, where she’s becoming more reckless and frustrated. In #48 this culminates in her ignoring both Babs and Bruce’s calls, she ends up comprising his human trafficking investigation, and Bruce grounds her from being Batgirl in the meantime. #49 shows her going against Bruce’s wishes and operating in Babs’ old suit, something that angers Bruce when he discovers this.
This story arc finds its conclusion in #50, where both Cass and Bruce are gassed with Soul and they fight a pretty brutal battle while under its effects. They have their famous heart to heart after, where Bruce asks ‘once and for all’ where Cassandra’s loyalties lie. Bruce later posits that this fight was the ‘therapy’ that Cass needed bc “what other therapy will she understand?”.
While his heart may have been in the right place, this idea, that Cass can only respond to fighting and express herself through violence, is ultimately not a very healthy one. Cass’ default is already training and fighting, so any further strain that she puts on herself becomes something more akin to self-flagellation than anything near to a proper coping mechanism.
IV - Conclusion
And that’s where the parallel between Cass and Bruce really reaches an uncanny similarity for me. Because they pour everything they can into the mission, often to the detriment of their mental and emotional health. While Bruce’s degrees of self-awareness for his anger may vary by writer, Cass’ is fairly consistent across her Batgirl run. The outlets given to her were so few to begin with, and any effort to examine her emotions or to express herself through other outlets is… simply not given to her for all too long over the course of her series. It’s a rather tragic, and ultimately heartbreaking thing, because so soon after her series ends… DC seemed to decide the best thing to do with her, was to turn her into a villain.
I said at the beginning that Cass is not a naturally angry character, but it does need to be acknowledged that she’s absolutely capable of anger, and that that anger is often not expressed in the healthiest of ways. Whether this development is seen and acknowledged by the fandom at large, however, well… while that’s looking less and less likely by mainstream batfam stans, I am hopeful that Cass fans continue to highlight this aspect of her character in the content they create. And that I, too, can remember to acknowledge this in future fan content that I make as well.
At long last; another recap of my 90s Gotham reading! (or rather the notes that I took along the way) Still mostly focused on Helena & Tim atm, but change for that is on the horizon...
TW for brief mentions of sexual assault &, uhh, canon typical violence
Tim
Mostly what I wanna focus on is Robin II: Joker’s Wild which... feels like an arc that’s coming in Too Soon and only serves to Prove that tims Up to Snuff.
It’s an entertaining enough read on its own, as a story that allows Tim to Hold his own against a Major™ villain. But it’s much too soon into Tims tenure as a Robin imo, and much too soon for him to have a distinct voice yet for me. It’s just... odd.
I suppose thats some of the appeal for early Tim, I can totally see him as a character here that’s supposed to be an easy way for a reader to project himself onto (he’s a Teen™, he’s a Nerd™, but even one of the Jocks™ in the story briefly point out how easy it’d be for him to be Popular™) and ofc he’s an easy way for a reader to then live vicariously through him.
having read 90s YJ already though... I can already say that I like him infinitely more in that setting than I do rn with how Dixon has handled him thus far...
again. not gonna be one of my fav robins. but i can see the meta appeal of him for others
Helena
We finally wrap up the latter “half” of the Huntress solo run and #13 opens right up with Helena rescuing a girl who’s just been sexually/physically assaulted. Takes the girl to a crisis center and meta textually is definitely taking the situation to heart bc of her own unresolved trauma which oooof
Crisis worker offers to take her on as a client which 🥺🥺🥺 (name’s Dr Evelyn Rosen, note for future randy to WRITE SOME FIC ABT THIS ACTUALLY)
at first Helena going to therapy seems like a ruse just to jacks the doc’s notebook to find out the gang’s hideout and exact VENGEANCE for the girl mentioned earlier, but later issues we see she’s still regularly attending therapy which!!!!!!!! amazing!!! wish we’d see MORE of that kinda thing for these heroes tbh!!!!
there’s a hero who steps in during this arc calling himself the Waterfront Warrior. he steals a spotlight but also the credit for stopping some gang violence, which Helena is Big Mad abt aksjks like girl do u want to be in the shadows or NOT MAKE UP UR MIND AKSJ
(He turns out to be Helena’s landlord but he’s also got a Tragic Backstory™️ and genuinely wants to Do Right by his renters and by his neighborhood just 🥺🥺🥺)
Arc ends with uplifting note abt doing what you can and it just wow. Can’t wait to see how Bruce ruins this alsjaksjsj
Batman comin to HELENAS city and she is having NONE of it. OH HOW THE TURNTABLES
okay, read thru this all VERY quickly, some stuff to note is that the kid whose family was killed by one of the gangs last arc that i finished was the one driving part of the plot for this final arc. Helena’s kinda??? implied to be taking him in too???
she’s also framed as being much more victim-focused/empathetic compared to bruce in this story which... hmm
there’s THIS panel which is gonna live in my brain and which REALLY wants me to meta abt bc okay hear me out...
(Context jic its not obvs but also bc i forgot to screenshot the panel before it, but she essentially said something along the lines of “i was half expecting (batman) to say...”)
At this point, Tim’s just starting to find his footing as the new Robin in replacing Jay, so like... Similarly............... Helena could kinda be seen as like.... Taking Babs’ place. Not in a COMPLETE 1 to 1 ofc, but still just!!!! idk!!!! knowing that Babs would’ve been finding her footing during this time period as Oracle... Knowing that they’re similar enough in age here (w/ Helena essentially being an early 20-something taking An Extended Gap Year from college, and Babs’ implied to be around this same age)
idk!!! i like the idea of them having contention outside of them??? (supposedly bc i havent read it myself just yet) having beef bc of Mutual Love Interest in Dick which??? that shits always so boring goddamn.
and esp knowing that obvsly in NML helena just straight up takes the Bat-symbol on bc Batman is MIA just!!!!
idk!!! idk!!! its weird!!!!!! but also im gonna be thinking abt this alot now actually!!!
Do y’all think that maybe the reason why Keystone HAS a flash museum... is so that the Rogues have a Bigger/More Antagonistic Target to hit instead of the thousands of smaller hits they could be making across the city?
That’d be kinda ingenious actually... yeah maybe it’s not 100% that a rogue would hit the museum INSTEAD of a bank/jewelry store but like... also them doing it bc “FUCK THE FLASH” like... I can See It
