Friday 8 May 2009

Robin. Why?

Standing at the altar, Batman began to regret asking Robin to be his Best Man...

The other night while watching the Batman TV series I heard Dick Grayson, aka Robin, actually say 'Holy Venezuela Bruce!' (I kid you not), and in between shuddering and wishing the 60s had never happened I remembered this cartoon I'd drawn.

A pen and ink sketch as I've not had the time to colour cartoons in properly of late. I'm nowhere near good enough to ever draw comic books, but if I were then Batman would be the one I'd draw, which is why the Batman here is fairly well done but the Robin could be any guy in a mask and cape. But as a lifelong Bat-fan I've never understood Robin, nor really liked him. Outside of the garish 60s series he makes no sense in any way, and certainly not in the modern and most accurate interpretations. His incessant childish chirpiness mixes with Batman's moodiness like oil and water and ruins any drama. Why would Batman, a psychologically scarred superhero capable of taking down any villain by himself, need an accomplice in the form of a teen acrobat? As a moving target to distract the attention from himself? And when you have a cool superhero name like 'Batman', why go and ruin that by placing it next to the name of a diminutive garden bird? (And no, I'm not one of those people who think they're gay. Aquaman however...) Their pairing makes no sense. Batman and Robin go together like chalk and some kind of anti-chalk substance: Batman's costume blends into the shadows - Robin's looks like it's designed to blend in at a day care centre. Batman is the world's greatest detective - Robin is the world's greatest douchebag. Batman is an adult, trained for years in martial arts and all sorts of offensive and defensive fighting styles - Robin is a thirteen year old kid who can do somersaults. Oooh, take that, Riddler!

Anyway, Robin rant over. Hope you enjoy the cartoon.


1 comments:

Christopher said...

"Batman's costume blends into the shadows - Robin's looks like it's designed to blend in at a day care centre. Batman is a the world's greatest detective - Robin is the world's greatest douchebag."

:D brilliant.