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Robin's first appearance was way back in Detective Comics #38, written in 1940 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. While I may not have even read that issue (god it's old haha), the legacy of the character has stuck with me since my introduction to him on the BTAS double-episode "Robin's Reckoning", which remains my favourite episodes of the Batman Animated Series to this day. I wanted my next piece to be a celebration of Robin and his legacy through these past 75 years, and I couldn't do that without featuring the three most notable heroes (in my opinion) to have worn the mantle.

Dick Grayson is the original Robin, and while I prefer him as Nightwing, he will remain to be the best of the Robins. His synergy with Batman was perfect, and stories such as Robin: Year One, The Gauntlet, and his appearances in BTAS are few of my favourites. He also has the best origin of the Robins, with Batman taking him in not to make him more like him, but to make sure he doesn't go down the same dark path Bruce did. It was no question I would be portraying him in his original costume, and despite the awful choice of lower garments (or lack thereof) it would be a crime to celebrate Robin's 75 years without portraying Dick in this outfit.

Jason Todd is the Robin I'm least familiar with, with his absence from BTAS and few stories of him in the costume apart from Death In The Family. His reincarnation as the Red Hood however is stellar, and I've grown to love his newfound character ever since he came back from the dead. For his costume I opted for his New 52 design to contrast him from Dick, and I found the gauntlets and more militaristic design suited him far better than his original pre-New 52 outfit anyway.

Tim Drake was the Robin I grew up with. He was the Robin in the comics when I first started collecting, and he was my favourite Robin on the show especially when Dick graduated to Nightwing. He was portrayed as a Batman-lite, not as gifted as Dick nor as aggressive as Jason, but intelligent and clever to rival even the level of Bruce. He also has (arguably) the best costume of all the Robins. I ended up portraying Tim in his Young Justice costume (loved that show!), which is a slight fix of his costume before he became Red Robin.

Let's address the elephant in the room: yes I know Damian Wayne, Carrie Kelly, and Stephanie Brown aren't here. To be honest, I don't really view Carrie as a 'real' Robin since she wasn't canon, and I would rather portray Steph as Spoiler or Batgirl (loved her series pre-New 52). As for Damian, Tim Drake was always 'my' Robin, and I'm still quite bitter he took it away from him even if Tim's Red Robin persona eventually grew on me (loved that series too!). Although none of these three are Robin anymore, I decided that they would be the ones I'd feature on this piece as they were the ones to carry the mantle in the majority of the character's 75 year history.

After a long period of working on this, I'm relieved I finally have it all done. Robin is mostly seen as only just a sidekick, or a hostage for Batman to rescue, however as a real fan of the character I can justify how untrue that opinion is. Like Batman, Robin has been through a lot in his long 75 year history, and ever since I watched him hop on his Batcycle in that "Robin's Reckoning" episode I just knew he was going to be a favourite of mine for years to come.

Description
Robin's first appearance was way back in Detective Comics #38, written in 1940 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. While I may not have even read that issue (god it's old haha), the legacy of the character has stuck with me since my introduction to him on the BTAS double-episode "Robin's Reckoning", which remains my favourite episodes of the Batman Animated Series to this day. I wanted my next piece to be a celebration of Robin and his legacy through these past 75 years, and I couldn't do that without featuring the three most notable heroes (in my opinion) to have worn the mantle.

Dick Grayson is the original Robin, and while I prefer him as Nightwing, he will remain to be the best of the Robins. His synergy with Batman was perfect, and stories such as Robin: Year One, The Gauntlet, and his appearances in BTAS are few of my favourites. He also has the best origin of the Robins, with Batman taking him in not to make him more like him, but to make sure he doesn't go down the same dark path Bruce did. It was no question I would be portraying him in his original costume, and despite the awful choice of lower garments (or lack thereof) it would be a crime to celebrate Robin's 75 years without portraying Dick in this outfit.

Jason Todd is the Robin I'm least familiar with, with his absence from BTAS and few stories of him in the costume apart from Death In The Family. His reincarnation as the Red Hood however is stellar, and I've grown to love his newfound character ever since he came back from the dead. For his costume I opted for his New 52 design to contrast him from Dick, and I found the gauntlets and more militaristic design suited him far better than his original pre-New 52 outfit anyway.

Tim Drake was the Robin I grew up with. He was the Robin in the comics when I first started collecting, and he was my favourite Robin on the show especially when Dick graduated to Nightwing. He was portrayed as a Batman-lite, not as gifted as Dick nor as aggressive as Jason, but intelligent and clever to rival even the level of Bruce. He also has (arguably) the best costume of all the Robins. I ended up portraying Tim in his Young Justice costume (loved that show!), which is a slight fix of his costume before he became Red Robin.

Let's address the elephant in the room: yes I know Damian Wayne, Carrie Kelly, and Stephanie Brown aren't here. To be honest, I don't really view Carrie as a 'real' Robin since she wasn't canon, and I would rather portray Steph as Spoiler or Batgirl (loved her series pre-New 52). As for Damian, Tim Drake was always 'my' Robin, and I'm still quite bitter he took it away from him even if Tim's Red Robin persona eventually grew on me (loved that series too!). Although none of these three are Robin anymore, I decided that they would be the ones I'd feature on this piece as they were the ones to carry the mantle in the majority of the character's 75 year history.

After a long period of working on this, I'm relieved I finally have it all done. Robin is mostly seen as only just a sidekick, or a hostage for Batman to rescue, however as a real fan of the character I can justify how untrue that opinion is. Like Batman, Robin has been through a lot in his long 75 year history, and ever since I watched him hop on his Batcycle in that "Robin's Reckoning" episode I just knew he was going to be a favourite of mine for years to come.