DC Comics Confirms That Robin Is Bi And It Rules

A few days back in Batman: Urban Legend #6, Tim Drake, the third Robin, came out as bisexual to the surprise of no one. No … this isn’t a crack about how all Robins are queer because A) I just wanted to joke about how Batman’s sidekick literally has “bi” in his name, and B) STFU. Actually, this attitude is precisely why DC confirming that Tim dates boys too rules so much.

Jokes about Robin being anything other than heterosexual have been around for decades, and the reason why they’re so obnoxious is that (and I know this will shock you, so brace yourselves) Batman and Robin cannot hear idiots making them, but LGBTQ+ folks can. And all they hear then is people apparently thinking being queer is the antithesis to being cool or kicking ass. DC’s latest reveal effectively pulls the rug from underneath that joke. Now, comic fans can point to a specific issue and go, “No, no, you’re right – Tim likes boys too. Look how cute he looks with his boyfriend. Oh, and here he is doing a backflip that would break your legs if you even thought about doing it.”

But I know what some are thinking: “Why do they have to make an established character bi? Why are they shoving woke issues down my throat? Why did that woman mace me when I told her, AS A COMPLIMENT, that I’d like to make her into a body pillow, and why did I get an erection after the pain caused me to crap myself?” I can answer one of those questions.

Making a character as famous as Tim Drake bi guarantees that more people will read the comic and, if they’re also bi, see themselves in the character. Representation matters, and mainstream comics are JUST catching on to that. More importantly, Tim being bi fits into the character’s story perfectly. It doesn’t retcon anything, like the time he dated Stephanie Brown, who also, weirdly, went by “Robin” for a second, making their relationship a form of masturbation. Also, Tim has canonically spent a lot of time looking for his own identity. He started out as “Robin,” then he was “Red Robin,” “Batman,” and briefly “Drake” (only here, it wasn’t weird that he dated teenagers.) This may not mean much to you, but I promise, a lot of queer kids will identity with Tim’s quest to find his true self.

As a bonus, DC chose the absolute best Robin to represent bi people in comics. All the other Robins are cool, but Tim is the most human and emotionally stable. Like, Jason Todd and Damian Wayne would be the absolute worst people to come out because they are too volatile, and … what’s the right word here? Horny for murder. And, frankly, “the murderous depraved bisexual” has been a tired trope since 1985. 

Thankfully, DC chose wisely, and now bisexual comic fans have a cool brand-new icon … as long as Tim’s bisexuality doesn’t get forgotten in later issues cause, you know, weirder canonical things have been ignored in Batman comics. Remember when Alfred was a fat, bumbling amateur detective? Strange days they were; very strange days.

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Top Image: DC Comics