Robin explores bisexuality in new Batman comic



[ad_1]

In his 1954 controversy, “Seduction of the Innocent”, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham denounced comics as immoral and called Batman and Robin, in particular, “a dream of two homosexuals living together.”

While Wertham’s research has been debunked over the years, it seems he’s at least partly right: In the August issue of “Batman: Urban Legends,” released Tuesday, Robin agrees to date another. boy.

The Robin in question is Tim Drake, the third of at least four young men to wear the green and red tights alongside the Caped Crusader. With Batman’s biological son Damian taking on Robin’s mantle in recent years, Tim has suffered some sort of identity crisis.

He’s even taken a variety of hero names – Red Robin, Drake – but still tries to find himself. In “Batman: Urban Legends” # 4, released in June, Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, tells Tim “what you find will change you.”

The current screenplay, “Sum of Our Parts”, sees Tim reconnect with an old friend, Bernard Dowd, who last appeared in “Robin” # 140 of 2005.

As the story unfolds, Tim’s feelings for Bernard seem more than friendly: seeing him for dinner, Tim thinks, “I feel like it’s been years but he still has. looks… he still looks… ”before the couple kissed.

Bernard is kidnapped by a new villain, the Chaos Monster, and Bernard hints during their daring escape that he knows Tim is Robin, saying he wished “we could have ended our date.”

The couple get to safety, and at the end of the issue, Tim tells Bernard, “I thought a lot about that night and I – I don’t know what that meant to me.” Not yet. But I would like to understand.

Bernard then asks Tim for a legitimate date, which the young hero accepts.

Because “Urban Legends” is an anthology series, readers won’t see the next episode in Tim Drake’s story until “Batman: Urban Legends” # 10 releases in December.

If he turns out to be bisexual or even bi-curious, Tim will be just the last member of the Bat family to hoist the rainbow flag: in 2006, Greg Rucka reinvented Batwoman as an out of the ordinary lesbian. . Since then, anti-heroes Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy have been described as romantic partners. Catwoman has been portrayed as bisexual, and lesbian police detective Renee Montoya has frequently patrolled the streets of Gotham, both as a cop and as the enigmatic superhero The Question.

Tim Drake is reportedly the first cisgender male hero in the Bat titles, however. In the past, he’s been linked with another benefactor – Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, the daughter of the Bat Cluemaster villain.

“I wanted to pay tribute to the fact that sexuality is a journey,” “Urban Legends” writer Meghan Fitzmartin (“DC Superhero Girls”, “Future State: Robin Eternal”) told Playserver. “To be clear, his feelings for Stephanie were / are 100% real, as were his feelings for Bernard. However, Tim is still figuring out himself. I don’t think he has the tongue for everything. . for the moment.

Fitzmartin, who worked on the story with artist Belen Ortega and colorist Alejandro Sánchez, told Gameserver that the idea came from his discussions with Batman title editor Dave Wielgosz.

Fitzmartin and Wielgosz “talked about where Tim Drake was versus where he was at the time and came to the conclusion that it had to be a story about identity and Discovery. What was the next step for Boy Wonder? “

After simmering on it, she offered Wielgosz to take Robin out or at least explore her sexuality.

“Look, I don’t know if this is something that can happen, but this is the story,” she told him, Polygon reported, “because it’s the only story that can be. . “

Fitzmartin credits the story’s approval to Wielgosz and Batman writer James Tynion IV, who contributed to the June LGBTQ “DC Pride” special.

To pursue NBC output on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram



[ad_2]

Source link