Robin, one of the central characters in the Batman comics, first appeared as a bisexual hero.
Robin's homosexual theme touches on the sixth issue of the Batman: Urban Legends anthology, published on Tuesday, August 10th.
In the story, Robin and Bernard Dowd fight together against enemies.
The latter does not know that Robin is his longtime friend Tim Drake, and mentions that he and Drake were on a "date" (at least that is how Bernard perceived it).
Then Robin is aware of her feelings.
“Have you ever had an insight when something ephemeral called and teased you?
When did you seem to know that you should be at one with your mind, but not everything seemed logical?
People keep asking what I want.
But I could not understand in any way.
Whatever it was, it always seemed out of reach - up to this point;
up to this very moment, ”the character thinks.
Later, the characters bring some clarity to the relationship: "Tim Drake ... do you want to go on a date with me?" - asks Bernard Dowd, to which his friend agrees.
Fragment of the comic "Batman: Urban Legends"
© DC Comics
The sixth issue of the anthology was part of the story "The Sum of Our Parts", in which Robin confronts the villain who kidnapped Bernard.
The script was written by Megan Fitzmartin, the visual component is the artist Belén Ortega.
Tim Drake is one of several characters to have tried on the Robin costume (some other superheroes and supervillains from the comics also have different alter egos).
It appeared in 1989.
As Polygon's Susana Polo notes, after the introduction of another Robin (Damien Wayne), Drake did not have any outstanding traits, unlike the rest of Batman's assistants.
“The best part about working with a well-established IP is that the character stories have a lot of plot twists that have already been made up for you (and often people are much smarter than you). The events of The Sum of Our Parts are due to Tim being who he is. I really love this character, and when I re-read everything I could to pay tribute to Robin, it became clear that Tim needed to share this story with us, ”Megan Fitzmartin told the publication. The author noted that it took her some time to tune in to create the story of the coming out.
Fitzmartin also emphasizes that Drake has not yet made definitive conclusions about his sexual orientation.
She also did not intend to conflict with earlier comics, according to which Robin was in a relationship with the superhero Stephanie Brown, known as Spoiler.
“I wanted to pay tribute to the fact that being aware of sexual orientation is a journey.
To be clear, his feelings for Stephanie were 100% real, just like his feelings for Bernard.
However, Tim is still trying to understand himself.
I don’t think he can find a word for this ... yet, ”Fitzmartin said.
Comic fans are discussing the new twist on social media.
“It is very inspiring that Tim Drake finally comes out.
DC didn't want to make Robin gay from the beginning, but after years of activism from writers and fans, it still happened, "said a Twitter user.
However, not all bloggers share his joy.
“I don't understand why DC would make Robin bisexual.
Seriously, what does this have to do with the comic book series? "
- wrote one of the authors of the platform.
Another user noted that the news about Robin's sexual orientation isn't all that surprising when you consider how his suit looks.
People surprised that robin's bisexual when he dressed like this: pic.twitter.com/1UAITUVZEf
- Busted ah Adida (@naiathelion) August 11, 2021
Robin is not the first superhero whose orientation the authors decided to reconsider.
In 2015, Catwoman Selina Kyle, who has featured in Batman comics since 1940, was introduced as a bisexual character.
Batwoman, or Katie Kane, went through a similar transformation in the mid-2000s.
She became a homosexual Jew.
In 2019, a series was released, in which the main role was played by the representative of sexual minorities Ruby Rose.
After the first season, the artist left the project.
She was replaced by black Javisia Leslie, who plays Ryan Wilder (another superhero alter ego).
Both Leslie and Wilder also belong to the LGBT community.
Marvel did not stay aside from experimenting with the orientation of the heroes.
In June 2021, Disney + premiered the series "Loki", from which it became known that the main character is a gender fluid (that is, has a fickle gender identity) and bisexual.
Director Keith Herron claims that she considered maintaining such a line a very important task.
In March 2021, Marvel authors revealed a new alter ego for Captain America.
It was a teenager Aaron Fisher - an open homosexual.
Gender and orientation issues aren't just about comic book characters.
So, in 2020, James Gunn and Tony Cervone said that in the movie "Scooby-Doo" and the animated series "Scooby-Doo!
Corp. "Riddle" accordingly wanted to make the central character Velma Dinkley a lesbian.
However, some fans opposed such a reading and rewriting of the character's history.
In addition, some new heroes are now initially being developed as members of sexual minorities.
In late July, Disney introduced an episode of the Owl House, featuring their first non-binary character, Raine Whispers.
In the same project, for the first time in the history of the studio, the main bisexual heroine, a teenage girl Luz, was introduced.
In the United States, the animated series is recommended for viewing for children over six years old.
In Russia, "House of the Owls" is considered suitable for audiences over 12 years old.