What do you see as the future of Tim Drake?

[Seattle Freeze]

I like Damian, not for who he is, but for the potential of who he can become and because of his affect on Bruce. Damian is a wonderfully conflicted character who is caught between 2 worlds and 2 parents.

As for Red Robin, I would like to see him seperated from the Teen Titans. Batman Inc is a wonderful opportunity to use some of Batman's proteges and set them up as part of his bat network. If Teen Titan were to be discontinued, I think I would like to see Tim set up as bat franchise.

[Motherboy]

I happen to enjoy Damian's addition to the Bat-family, but I also highly empathize with fans of Tim not warming up to him as a character. Damian has earned a lot vitriol for his behavior with the former Robin. While I think seeing Tim respond to Damian's baiting to be beneath him, he is young enough and still has a reasonable amount of grudge with this kid that makes it understandable.

That said, Damian is actually performing the role of Robin in ways that I think no longer apply to Tim Drake. He is being forced to learn and grow and make mistakes and learn again--and sometimes in a very humbling fashion. Tim had a bit of a learning curve himself in his early days, but I honestly feel his overall creation was too complimentary, too smooth and on-the-nose modern with Batman, so as not to 'crimp his style'. In the 90's, editorial got a B&R without Batman having to really nurture/mentor the Robin role.

And I'm not talking about getting Tim beefed up on physical combat skills. That's important, but seeing Damian with Dick in Morrison's take on the dynamic was a nice throwback to days when mentors had a positive impact on their student's development.

I look at Tim's entire career with Batman, and while there may have been some poignant moments very early on, that whole relationship went sour for me the more creators were pushing the books into a dark and dysfunctional place, as was the trend. By the time War Games came, you had a Batman trying to manipulate Tim, use Steph as a pawn, and create a destructive environment that would lead to her death and several others. I went on a hiatus from the Bat books for a few years out of complete disgust.

DC might think they were being edgy and cool, but they failed to realize they were writing Bruce Wayne as a psychopath with no concern for the minors in his care. I almost feel like Damian is poetic justice as it forces Batman to have his sh*t together.

Awesome post. Excellent points. I understand some readers having a distaste for Damien's animosity toward Tim, but I always read into it that Damien was threatened by Tim's natural competence as Bruce's second.

Anyway, I'd like to see Tim serve out three years with the Titans, spend the next eight as the Oracle/Master Strategist for the independent, associated-with-but-not-subservient-to-the-Justice-League Titans, which then become the new Justice League. Then Tim returns to Gotham to become the next Batman, after Bruce is killed by an unknown super-villain. Tim spends the next 10 years hunting for Bruce's killer as Batman, kicking in bar door after bar door and yelling "Who killed me?!!". Joining him is Dick Grayson, who has re-assumed his role as Robin, and Damien Wayne, who is also Robin.

Because Dick can't be under Tim in the hierarchy, the name of the book is changed to "Robin & Batman with Robin". And then everything explodes.

[Seattle Freeze]

They killed Batman once, they shouldn't do it again. My feeling is Bruce Wayne IS Batman same as Peter Parker IS Spiderman. Whereas I think Bruce could appoint Tim as his successor, I don't think the need for Tim to replace him should ever come to pass.

Even look at Batman Beyond. I can't imagine it being as good with Bruce gone and Terry left alone.

[Motherboy]

They killed Batman once, they shouldn't do it again. My feeling is Bruce Wayne IS Batman same as Peter Parker IS Spiderman. Whereas I think Bruce could appoint Tim as his successor, I don't think the need for Tim to replace him should ever come to pass.

Even look at Batman Beyond. I can't imagine it being as good with Bruce gone and Terry left alone.

I always felt like a storyline in so futuristic a landscape couldn't be within Bruce's lifetime. I did like the Morrison interpretation, with Damien in Bruce's place. It certainly seems more in character for Damien to be a reclusive old Scrooge than Bruce.

EDIT: This is not the topic. Anyway, I suppose I'd vote for Tim as an Oracle-type guy, but with Nick Fury-esque side-adventures chronicled in a singles book.

[SeventhTrump]

Who says Tim Drake needs to be a lead character? I would rather see quality aka well written with solid character development in a few stories a year, regardless of what book they occur in, rather than a shoddy monthly title where there are nothing but complaints.

What I have always found interesting about Tim is that he was the "regular guy" who wanted to help Batman BEFORE there was tragedy in his own life. This was a fresh perspective, at least for me, and I enjoyed watching Tim grow and his development with Lady Shiva, King Snake, etc. The most interesting part for me though was when Bruce sent Tim out to *train* JPV at Knightfall and then left him to deal with JPV without support. That aspect of his relationship with Bruce should have been material for a lot of stories but they never materialized.

That's the Tim I want to see grow. One who worked his way into Robin, got shoved into situations he was not prepared for and yet overcame. There is a place for him in the new DC, but it should be one that connects the regular reader who is not a billionaire, trapeze artist, olympic gymnast, 10 year old assassin, etc. He is the link between what passes for normal in comics to those who enjoy seeing "one of us" trapped in a very strange land.

Just IMHO.

[godisawesome]

Hey everybody, since this thing deals with Tim's future, I thought I'd go ahead and ask this question:

How many future versions of Tim Drake in print have you guys found?

I've found three so far of him as some kind of Batman, one from Geoff Johns as part of the Titans of Tomorrow, one from Damion Scott in Solo #10, and the little hypothetical Batman from Red Robin #24.

The only other one I know about is Joker 2 from Batman Beyond.

Kind of ironic that Tim's been a future version of Batman and his worst enemy.

(PS- Anyone know who I contact to find out why the "insert image" button in the response box won't work?)

[[Trigger]]

I guess I'll start with a more fleshed out version of what I said in the other thread..

What I would love to see for the future of Tim Drake as a character is the introduction of his Neon Knights project as a global youth support entity with branches set up in the more troubled cities in the world, such as Gotham, Madrid, Hong Kong, etc. Bring Tiffany and Tamara Fox back into the picture and have them run the day to day aspects. As the wealthy adopted son of Bruce Wayne, Tim can travel around the world trying to convince young men/boys and women/girls that there are other options than violence/drugs/etc..Personally I loved the story where Tim talked a college student off a ledge and joined him for breakfast..IMO that's who Tim should be, not the cold, calculating asshole he's become recently.

Now as for action, surely when someone came to town, threatening to convert your endless stream of disadvantaged/abused children/teens to use as ground troops, the bosses are not going to take it lightly. They would put more pressure on the youths, as Red Robin, he can protect them, fighting off thugs and super powered criminals. They would also target the organisation itself so he'd also be protecting his staff/friends.

With brances in multiple cities, it really opens up the possibilities for a diverse range of new characters to be introduced and for left out characters to be brought back into the fold. Interesting character interactions, such as Tim/Red Robin gathering allies in the gangs, let's take Hong Kong for example, this could bring back Lynx who could be with the Hong Kong based Golden Dragons as a low level member who is a mole for the Neon Knights. Tim's strategy could be to help her climb to the top of the gang and she can provide intel on the group's movements.

Cross-overs with Batman Inc characters would be easily done too, have a branch of the Knights set up in Paris, making it easy to bring in some Nightrunner stories. The more the Knights grow, the greater the threats such as the League of Assassins, Court of Spiders,etc..

Is a little late and that's about all my brain can come up with atm ;p.


EDIT: Oh and I voted for other, if you hadn't guessed.

Almost forgot, I'd also love for it to be set up similarly to Ultimate Spider-Man, with each of his identities being as important as the other, give Tim a life back.

You know I had a similar thought. I found it weird how there was a Batman Inc when a lot of people keep telling me there can only be one Batman, and that's Bruce. Multiple Robins has already been established. It would be interesting what he could do with the Neon Knights. Could even lead to a male version of the Birds of Prey. Only thing is a group full of Robin types doesn't seems as impactfull as a group of Batmen

[Jer]

I would like to see Tim Drake lead Checkmate as the black king, and on the side he sanctions a new "Outsiders" team as his special elite black ops team.

[HawkBoy]

I would like to see him as Batman

[ILoveVibe]

he'll go into porn of course

[Knight of DC]

I would like to see Tim Drake lead Checkmate as the black king, and on the side he sanctions a new "Outsiders" team as his special elite black ops team.

Huh. Weird enough, I had the same idea for an elseworlds tale.

[MajorHoy]

They killed Batman once, they shouldn't do it again. My feeling is Bruce Wayne IS Batman same as Peter Parker IS Spiderman.

Unless Spider-Man is Miles Morales (Ultimates universe). Or Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099).

But, seriously, I don't know what Tim's future will be, and I probably won't see / read it, either.

I dropped Teen Titans when it got to The Culling, and after I read Batman and Robin 10 (just bought it today), I may not see him in a story ever again.

[Congo Jack]

I thought what they did with Drake in BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER was pretty great. Not that DC would do anything remotely similar now, but it was a good story.

[Captain Jim]

Personally, I'd like to see Tim get his own book back again.

[MajorHoy]

he'll go into porn of course

And, in a weird way, this does make sense.