IN a move sure to infuriate hardcore nerds who are used to strictly heterosexual heroes – but to the amusement of many other fans who have pointed out homoerotic allusions over decades of comics, movies and shows – Robin, the Boy Wonder, has come out (according to canon) as LGBTQ+.
In the latest issue of DC’s ‘Batman: Urban Legends’, Tim Drake – the current version of the Robin (to the newbies, there have been multiple Robins in the past 80 years of Batman stories) – is shown accepting a date invitation from his friend Bernard, having just rescued him from a villain.
“Ever have a lightbulb moment?” Drake ponders. “Like something out in the ether has been taunting you, teasing you. Like you know you’re supposed to be on the same page as your brain but not everything made sense. People keep asking me what I want. But I couldn’t grasp it. Whatever it was. It always felt just out of reach. Until now. Until right now.”
Meghan Fitzmartin, who wrote the comic, told Polygon that she was not prepared to put a label on Drake’s sexuality, who has also been shown dating female superhero Spoiler.
“I wanted to pay tribute to the fact that sexuality is a journey,” Fitzmartin said. “To be clear, his feelings for Stephanie have been/are 100% real, as are his feelings for Bernard. However, Tim is still figuring himself out. I don’t think he has the language for it all … yet.”
NPR critic Glen Weldon – who has written a book on the history of Batman – said the development was not surprising.
“In Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), the late filmmaker Joel Schumacher did everything he could to transform that queer subtext into a butchy, leather-queeny text,” Weldon wrote.
Schumacher – who was an openly gay director (he died last year) – more than any other, tapped into the gay subtext of the relationship between Batman and Robin. While in some depictions, the relationship has more of a mentor-mentee dynamic, those two movies blurred the lines a bit.
However, the much more successful Batman movies directed by Christopher Nolan in the 2000s (known as the Dark Knight trilogy) notably avoided committing to including Robin – at least until their literal conclusion.
Drake is just the latest superhero to be written as LGBTQ+, including Batwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy.
These female characters have become more prominent in recent years, with the former having her own live-action show and the latter two having a relationship on the animated series ‘Harley Quinn.’
Who knows when the reveal from ‘Batman: Urban Legends’ will make the leap to other mediums. – The Vibes, August 12, 2021
