The New History of the DC Universe has been giving readers something they’ve asked for for a very long time — the canon history of the Prime Earth of the DC Multiverse. The history of DC Comics’ canon has changed multiple times over the last 40 years, starting with 1985-1986’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since that story did away with the DC Multiverse and changed major parts of DC history, even more changes have been made to DC history. This has wreaked havoc on multiple characters and stories, and until this book, most fans just made up their own head canon for DC.
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The excellent The New History of the DC Universe #1 ran from the beginning of time to the events of the Silver Age of Comics. The New History of the DC Universe #2 kicks off with the debuts of multiple DC characters, with Robin getting his own paragraph in the book. Robin was Batman’s first sidekick, a bright and shiny presence in the crime-ridden darkness of Gotham City. This has always been one of the problems with Robin — his attention grabbing costume stands out like a sore thumb in Gotham, especially since Batman and Robin mostly work at night. There’s actually a reason for this bright colored costume, and it’s the same reason that’s Batman’s costume included yellow.
Robin Was a Walking Target
The yellow in Batman’s costume has always been one of those weird things that didn’t really make sense for a long time. Batman’s costume — be it the blue and grey or the black and grey or the solid black — was meant to blend into the darkness, so having yellow in the bat-symbol on his chest seemed like a dumb choice. However, it was eventually revealed that since this was Batman, there was definitely a reason behind it. See, the yellow was meant to draw the eye and make anyone with a gun fire at that part of Batman rather than his head. It was in his center mass, where it’s easiest to make a shot because it has the most surface area. Batman counted on all of this, and armored up his costume in that area (this was before the entire costume was made of bullet proof material.) Criminals would shoot him in the chest instead of the head or one of his limbs, and he’d be able to tank the shot and put them down. Beyond survivability, it would also build up the myth of Batman — criminals telling other criminals that Batman can survive a bullet to the chest would make him seem invincible. It played into Batman’s MO, intensifying the fear and superstition that Batman wanted to bring out in his enemies. However, knowing this, it makes Robin’s costume kind of terrible.
Robin’s costume is basically all colors that clash with the gothic splendor of Gotham City. Robin can’t sneak around in the open like Batman can (although in recent years, Damian Wayne has added more dark colors to the Robin costume.) There’s always been a joke among Batman fans that Robin was a walking target, one meant to draw the attention of criminals, freeing up Batman from attack so that he could take out the bad guys. Robin was also a great acrobat (well, Dick Grayson was at least,) so he was going to be fast and agile enough to avoid the bullets. However, the whole thing with Robin was kind of mystifying. Batman bringing a young kid who hadn’t been training in combat for years (Dick was definitely skilled because of his circus acrobat background but he was still learning the ropes) out into the dangerous night is the height of irresponsibility. However, The New History of the DC Universe #2 finally shows that Batman was being somewhat responsible (only somewhat because he was still taking a young kid out fighting crime.) Much like his armored yellow Batman symbol, Robin’s cape was bulletproof, protecting the Boy Wonder from the thugs of Gotham City.
Robin Was Much Safer than Anyone Would Have Guessed
Let’s not mince words — Batman bringing young Dick Grayson out the fight crime as Robin shows that Batman isn’t exactly the responsible person he likes to pretend he is. This is a young kid in a bright costume; as great an acrobat as Dick was, he had to be lucky all of the time. A Joker henchman only had to get lucky once. DC has a hero called the Human Target, but Robin lived that name. However, learning that his cape was bulletproof makes the whole thing somewhat more responsible.
Robin’s bulletproof cape was enough to give him coverage over his entire torso. Batman almost certainly taught Robin how to use his cape as a weapon and shield, allowing him to be as safe as possible. We should still definitely question Batman’s decision making skills because of Robin, at least it wasn’t as blatantly irresponsible as it once seemed.
The New History of the DC Universe #2
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Image Courtesy of Madhouse
