With the Absolute Universe Expanding, Where’s Robin?

The Absolute Universe is expanding, with Absolute Flash, Absolute Martian Manhunter, and Absolute Green Lantern about to join the library of Absolute DC books. Meanwhile, Absolute Superman, Absolute Wonder Woman, and Absolute Batman are all expanding their casts, introducing characters that played a huge role in the mainline lives of the Absolute heroes. Absolute DC is on fire with a crossover on the horizon. It’s the bestselling line of books in the comic industry, and has made DC a serious contender in the sales wars for the first time in years. Absolute DC has been doing amazing work, but there’s a huge character missing from the Absolute Universe and their absence is telling: Robin.

Robin is one of the most important characters in the history of comics. Dick Grayson was the first teen sidekick, creating an entirely new type of superhero, and beginning the concept of “legacy characters”. Robin is a massive part of the Batman mythos and the character’s conspicuous absence has fans wondering when the character will appear. However, a better question might be to ask how they will introduce the Absolute Robin? Absolute Batman is quite different from the mainline Batman books, and these differences give DC a chance to do something unique with the character.

Which Robin Should Be the Absolute Robin?

Robin added something special to the Batman mythos. Robin can be credited with much of Batman’s popularity; before Robin came along, Batman stories were violent and dark, but afterwards, they became more kid-friendly. This definitely helped Batman’s longevity, as kids have been buoying the Batman fandom for decades. In-universe, Batman credits Robin for bringing light into his life in his darkest days and helped him to become a better person. Looking at Absolute Batman’s life so far, he could definitely use a Robin.

However, it’s also really hard to see Absolute Batman go to the circus and watch the Graysons die, then somehow take in young Dick Grayson. However, Dick is still a great place to start and there’s a way to do the whole thing without the circus. Absolute Batman is written by the creator of the Court of Owls, Scott Snyder, and it was established in those first few Court of Owls stories that Dick was meant to be one of the Talons, the undead soldiers of the Court. Many fans are wondering when — Snyder, DC, and fans like the Court of Owls too much for it to be an “if” — the Court of Owls will show up in Absolute Batman, especially because Absolute Gotham being run by the Owls would definitely be the kind of thing that Darkseid would do to torture Batman in the universe he created. The Absolute Court of Owls could be the vehicle for Dick Grayson to enter Batman’s life.

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Imagine this — at some point in the future, the Court of Owls decide that this Batman is becoming a problem for Gotham’s most powerful citizens and decided to send their deadliest assassins after him. Young Dick Grayson has been trained all his life to be a Talon, and his final test is if he can kill this “Batman”. Dick hunts Batman down and the two of them have a battle. Maybe Dick doesn’t want to be a Talon and during the fight decides to defect. Maybe Batman knocks him out, feels bad for the kid, and decides to deprogram him. Either way, BOOM! Robin.

Damian Wayne obviously doesn’t work because this is a much younger Batman and Tim Drake doesn’t exactly feel right for the role either. Three of the other Robins would also make for good choices. The first is Jason Todd. Todd was a street kid, so it would make a lot of sense for Absolute Batman to recruit him. Stephanie Brown could also be Robin, starting out working for her father the Cluemaster, and then defecting to Batman’s side. Finally, Carrie Kelly, the Robin of The Dark Knight Returns could also become Robin, using a pretty similar approach to TDKR, with her joining his fight after seeing him begin to clean up the city.

Absolute Batman Needs Absolute Robin

Absolute Batman has succeeded because the book keeps finding new ways to use old characters and ideas. Robin is one of the most important characters in the Batman mythos, so it’s honestly a no-brainer for there to be an Absolute Robin, and much like in the real world, the best choice is Dick Grayson. Grayson works not only because he’s the first Batman anyway, but also because he has the most story potential because of his connection to the Court of Owls.

Sure, there is potential to bring in one of the other Robins, but Dick is the one that would be most interesting. Robin has to be something new in the Absolute Universe, and bringing in Dick as a Court of Owls assassin turned Robin is definitely new. It would change the way Robin worked in the Absolute Universe, leading to the kind of out of the box storytelling that has so far typified the Absolute Universe.