#also they'd find a way to be dramatic w/out him fjdkas;l if anything he'd probs wanna hoard the drama to himself

[duketectivecomics]

Okay. I just got into Duke's comics and I am really interested in his powers. Like how do they work? Like can he just make light/shadows swarm? Because I am just imagining one of his siblings/Bruce just looking at him very hard and he's like fine, I'll make you a dramatic entrance you dramatic bastard. But I have no idea if that is supported by his current power level (I asked this to another blog and they said to ask you)

Hey anon! I'm currently still working on my own comprehensive meta on Duke's powers (which is taking awhile for both various fandom-related and irl reasons, but rest assured that i WILL be giving y’all my In-Depth Thoughts™ eventually)

For now I'll direct you to the meta tag on my blog as there's a few posts in it right now from others who have broken down/interpreted Duke's powers! There’s lots of great ideas floating there so I hope they’ll be helpful to you

But to answer ur Qs As Is without going TOO far in-depth:

1) “How” always feels like a loaded question when it comes to explaining Comics Science™ but... They Work because Duke has a metagene (which was activated rather overtly during Dark Days: The Forge/The Casting, altho one could argue that it was also being showcased during All-Star Batman, but again.... something to get Into in my meta post). The ‘science’ of the metagene in DC comics is that its a part of a character’s genetic code that allows them to manifest powers of varying degrees. To use a parallel, Metas are the DC equivilant of Marvel Mutants, but usually without as many overt social inequality metaphors (there was actually a point where people were lining up to Become metas in the 52 comic, but that’s neither here nor there lmao). The science explanation beyond “its in their DNA” is going to be a little lacking bc comics don’t care abt strict scientific explanations.

tl;dr - its comics. don’t over think the How and worry more about the What & what these powers mean for the narrative

2) Light not so much (he’s made quick flashes of light to distract enemies in Batman & the Signal iirc) but he’s definitely been shown using his shadow powers to surround people in Batman & the Outsiders (its a minor arc for him where he and Cass experiment with that ability with varying degrees of success too, and its brought up again in the Dark Nights: Death Metal ‘Robin King’ back-up, but hasn’t been used again in canon just yet, as far as I’m aware) Given that his shadow powers are still so new, and given that he’s so open as a character to experimenting with his powers, it’s not outside the realm of possibility!

3) i know its not strictly a Q, but with those two points in mind now: Duke already has given his family some Dramatic Entrances (again, see Batman & Outsiders and Robin King), so if anything by this point, it’s kinda old hat to him :D

I’d be a little careful in ur line of thinking there, though...

Granted, I don’t know what you have in mind beyond what you’ve sent here obviously (whether it be you’re gathering research for a fic or wanted to check in before making a comic or maybe even just want to justify a headcanon but), just be mindful that duke’s not solely here to prop up his family members! Duke’s a successful combatant on his own and he IS supposed to be a daytime vigilante, not a nighttime one, afterall! And mayhaps he wants to give HIMSELF a dramatic entrance eh? Ever thought abt THAT lmao

In all seriousness though, hope this helps, hopes the meta tag helps you, and cant wait to see what you do with Duke! :D