Dick and Kory weren’t just a couple — they were narratively built for each other. Marv Wolfman and George Pérez crafted them with parallel arcs, emotionally and thematically. Dick, the disciplined human struggling with identity outside Batman’s shadow. Kory, the exiled alien princess learning humanity, freedom, love. They grew together. Their relationship was emotional, spiritual, ideological — not just romantic. They were equals who challenged and bettered each other.
And then editorial got messy.
Enter Babs, whose original purpose was not even romantic, but Batman's girl counterpart and suddenly she’s being wedged into a love triangle like it’s CW drama. Not only that, but they deaged her, rewrote her dynamic with Dick from “older mentor figure” to “quirky same-age love interest.” That’s not evolution, that’s surgery on continuity with no anesthesia.
They butchered Dick’s history with Kory just to make room for a status quo that’s more palatable to a Bat-centric branding. They erased an engagement, deep emotional growth, and cosmic-scale love just to reduce her to a “fling.” That’s not just disrespect to Starfire, that’s disrespect to decades of storytelling.
It’s no coincidence that Dick and Kory’s relationship flourished when they had autonomy outside the Bat office. The Titans gave them space to be messy, raw, radiant. And it’s telling that when creators have the chance to write them freely (like in Titans, DCeased, Injustice, Future State) they gravitate back to DickKory. Because it works.
