There is an old comedy sketch where someone is chastised for blurting out, “Your cat is dead.” The fellow is told he should have led up to the bad news gradually – “Your cat is on the roof.” Then, “Your cat fell off the roof.” And finally….
That is what I want to do with this story, cushion the blow.
For Robin, who is not just Batman’s sidekick but also his son in the current iteration, has been killed off in the latest Batman Incorporated, part of DC’s “New 52.”
Or am I simply guilty of buying into marketing hype here? Is it really news anymore when a comic book publisher kills off a superhero? That’s practically a regular part of every franchise’s lifecycle. These heroes don’t stay dead.
David Betancourt of the Washington Post’s “Comic Riffs” column predicts both a replacement Robin (possibly female) and a resurrected Robin in the fullness of time —
Let’s not forget who Damian is: Although he’s halfWayne, he’s also half al Ghul. His mother, Talia, is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, one of Batman’s greatest foes. A man who has stayed alive for centuries using Lazarus pits. Lazarus pits that have the power to bring someone back from the dead.
As unwise as it may seem for DC to kill Damian at all — let alone so soon — it’s even more unwise to think that we’ll never see him again.
[Thanks to Martin Morse Wooster for the story.]
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This gives me a great idea for a superhero comic! Unrenewed Contract Man! Under the threat of having all commercial tie-ins with his image cancelled, he knows he may fade away into limbo for real this time, forever… unless he can scare up sponsorship, fast! Lessee … I’m winging it here … next he stages phony crimes that he can bust up, and still seem like a viable superhero. But he spends most of his time giving Power Point presentations in the offices of Corporate America. He can’t afford a first rate public relations firm, so he hires a seedy PR guy to get his name in the news more often — his fist “boy” sidekick. This has definite possibilities.
It’s shaping up well. Write it for F770’s March issue!
DC is killing Robin again? That trick never works.
Taral, Stan Freberg already did a version of that, “The Flackman and Reagan”, on the album Freberg Underground!, in 1966.
Taral, as long as you don’t make the mistake of seeking out and listening to Freberg you will doubtless come up with something quite different.
I don’t mind that comics change with each generation, as I was still wondering often why the guys in BLACKHAWK were still fighting WW2 in 1967. Or how Robin remained at the age of 12 for three decades. (“When do I start shaving, Batman?”)
The Freberg recording is good, but accesable to only those who know their history. Otherwise you’ll need repeat listenings.