THE WONDER YEARS

AS ROBIN CELEBRATES 80 YEARS OF TIGHTS AND FIGHTS WE PAY TRIBUTE TO THE ULTIMATE COMIC BOOK SIDEKICK

- NICK SETCHFIELD

HOLY OCTOGENARIAN!

Kid sidekicks aren’t exactly designed to celebrate their 80th birthdays, but Batman’s partner-in-peril has survived a lifetime of deathtraps to reach that milestone. Sure, he may have been killed along the way, but that’s a mere blip in the career of a pop-culture immortal.

“Robin’s a narrative ambassador,” comic book writer Devin Grayson tells SFX. “Batman is a hugely compelling character with strong, immediate impact and Shakespearean depths, but there’s an unapproachable quality to him that can leave you looking for a way in. Robin creates that access point. Though clearly a loner, Batman has invited Robin to be part of his stories and in doing so implicitly invites the reader along, too.”

Forget the orphan-spawning tragedy of his origin tale: The Boy Wonder was really born out of pure creative necessity. “The thing that bothered me was that Batman didn’t have anyone to talk to, and it got a little tiresome always having him thinking,” recalled co-creator Bill Finger. “I found that as I went along, Batman needed a Watson to talk to. That’s how Robin came to be.”

As well as offering opportunities for Bat-banter, the character also targeted younger readers potentially put off by the grim, uncompromising tone of the Dark Knight’s early adventures. A blatant wish-fulfillment figure for the bubblegum crowd, his presence would temper Batman’s obsession, humanise this creature of the night.