Some say he is the original Side Kick or Junior partner of an Adult Crime fighter. In many ways he is, many of the later "junior" partners of Heroes owe their existence to the template of the Boy Wonder. Although the character has been around since the 1940's surprisingly Robin or the Original Robin has stayed very true to his beginnings.
Orphaned as a young child and "adopted" by a millionaire playboy, who was also Orphaned by an act of crime too , Dick Grayson became and still is one of the most loved and sometimes under rated heroes of the DC Universe.
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| Here is my updated version of Detective Comics 38# feature the debut of The By Wonder. |
For years he was the light relief to the Darkness of his mentor and partner The BAT-MAN. However, it was not until the late 1950's and early 1960's did Robin start to spread his wings and have adventures on his own. Young teen readers of the DC Publications could identify in Robin. He was not a super powered hero, or had any real special powers at all. All he had was his brains, acrobatic abilities learnt from his Circus parents, and sense of doing good. This added to the training in both body and mind from his guardian gave Dick Grayson every thing he needed to succeed.
When in 1964 Robin teamed up with Aqua lad and Kid Flash it became obvious that he was the less powerful member of the trio, but instead of letting his powers do the talking, he used the gifts learnt at the side of the Worlds Greatest Detective to show his team mates that some times brain power is better than super powers.
When the group again teamed up with the Addition of Wonder Girl the Teen Titans were born. Some called them The Junior Justice League, but unlike the JLA, the TT adventures were basically grounded in helping the younger members of the population. Some of their early adventure now seem dated, as they reflected the time they were written.
Even as the membership of the Teen Titans grew, and the line up changed, the one thing that stayed the same was Robin was always team leader. Even if at times this caused up set with other members who felt they could do a better job, sense in the end won through as Robin proved he was the Man or Teen for the JOB.
When the TT finally disbanded in the 1970's mainly due the corr members all deciding that they wanted to go out into the world and discover who they were. As Most of the original TT's ( and a lot of the later additions to the TT's) all had one thing in common, they were either Orphans or did not have contact with the real parents. Their mentors and guardians had been crime fighters, so they had joined the "family" business, and as a result had spent more time as heroes than as themselves. They all knew how to be Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy and Wonder Girl, but did not completely understand who or how Dick Grayson, Wally West, Roy Harper and Donna Troy fitted into the real world.. This break from the Hero Business gave Dick a chance to go to college, Roy to learn more about The Queen Empire, Wally to try to reconnect with his family and Donna to start her own business as a photographer. The TT was more than just a group of crime fighters, they were a family, and this bond would continue into the coming years. As for Aqualad aka Garth, his future had always been assured as at that time his adopted father Aquaman had plans for him to be his heir as King of Atlantis, or be a future protector of his legacy.
Here are the Original Teen Titans in their other identities saying goodbye to each other as they plan to move on to the next stage of their life.
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| Good Bye to The "original" Teen Titans and Hello to Wally, Donna, Dick, Roy & Garth. |
Although Garth seldomly needed to wear civilian attire, I depicted him as he would be when not in his super Hero roll as Aqualad.
Next Time I will discuss how as Robin's leadership of the "New" TT's his relationship with The Dark Knight started to show cracks and strains.
Until Then ENJOY !
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