#if not all

[hornystiel]

me voting in all those tfw build-a-bear polls sexy edition: my mishafucker is showing

[yantao-enthusiast]

normalize never watching shit. like no idea what the hype was about voltron or supernatural or teen wolf but i know bitches were gay or something and that’s all i need to know

[cookie-run-haven]

I'm honestly fed up with the company AND the fandom right now

[hehosts-moved]

i feel like i always write goro working and never relaxing

[toobsthetubb]

Whenever I think too much ab Sam and Max

[androxys]

Tim in Training (Tim Drake - The Eras Tour Part 2: Batman #443-454 & Detective Comics #610-#617)

Welcome back to the Tim Drake: Eras Tour! You may have forgotten about this series, but I can’t. To recap, last time we talked about his point of origin in A Lonely Place of Dying. He’s the plucky kid detective who figured out Batman’s secret and sought out Dick Grayson to become Robin again after the death of Jason Todd. A Lonely Place of Dying ends with Bruce tentatively giving Tim a conditional thumbs up to begin training to maybe be Robin… eventually.

This brings us to the Tim In Training Era, which I think is one of the most fascinating and under-explored time periods for young Mr. Drake. Both his parents are alive yet absent, leaving Tim either in boarding school or in Wayne Manor. Tim isn’t Robin, but is actively being trained for the role. Breakdown below.

(Batman #443)

This page is from Batman #443, the comic published immediately after the final issue of A Lonely Place of Dying. It establishes the current status quo for Tim with regards to Bruce and Alfred. He’s currently at Wayne Manor, receiving Bruce’s philosophy/verbal teaching on the way to be Batman or Robin. However, Bruce makes it very clear that this is staying philosophical.

Tim: “So when do I get to go out with you as Robin again?”

Bruce: “You don’t. Not for a long time.”

When Tim tries to argue, Bruce continues:

“You proved you have the makings of a good partner. That’s not the same as being one.”

This page also suggests that while Bruce is talking with Tim, Alfred is conducting a good portion of Tim’s other training, and Bruce is withholding himself. Alfred is also the one taking him back and forth from school and Wayne Manor, suggesting that while Tim does see Bruce, he’s seeing as much—if not more—of Alfred.

(Batman #444)

(Batman #444)

These next two panels show Tim in the Batcave, doing two different types of training with Bruce. At first, Bruce is walking Tim through detective work and reasoning, training Tim for the mental tasks ahead. Then they switch, with Bruce encouraging Tim to do more of the physical training too. Still, this doesn’t look like vigilante training, exactly. Tim’s working on the parallel bars, which is a far cry from Bruce teaching him how to fight or parkour across rooftops.

Another very important part of these panels, though, is Tim talking about his parents. Obviously, Jack and Janet Drake are absent for Tim to be spending so much time at Wayne Manor. We know from A Lonely Place of Dying (and from the last issue) that Tim goes to a boarding school. Here, Tim straight-up confirms the distance between himself and his parents.

Bruce: “Tim... have you spoken to your parents about your being here?”

Tim: “Actually… I don’t know where they are now. My dad’s a corporate exec and they go all over the world. They haven’t called in a while.”

Bruce: “Do they do that often? Not call?”

Tim: “It’s no big deal. They’re so busy. I guess they forget.”

Tim then goes on to allude to the marital problems that his parents have been having, and how he thinks this trip is their attempt to save their marriage. Not a picture perfect home life for the up and coming Boy Wonder at all. Thankfully, Bruce is saved by the bell before he has to have an actual emotional moment with the boy.

(Batman #445)

Bruce is a presence in Tim’s life, for sure, but it’s definitely not as if he’s any sort of immediate father figure for Tim. Bruce is an emotionally distant professor, for Tim, which is emphasized by the ways that he does or doesn’t tell Tim things. Such as the fact that Bruce has completely left the country—Tim learns that from Alfred. Here too, Tim reiterates that he has no idea where his parents are, and that his own father also doesn’t tell him much. Something something the parallels.

As a side note, I’m transfixed by the way early comics had no idea what Jack Drake and his company did. He’s a corporate exec, he does business, he does archeology, he passes out medical supplies, whatever. I know the Doylist answer for this is that the details were likely still getting ironed out, and/or Jack Drake’s precise activities were subject to the flexible facts of comic books, spread across different writers. But there an interesting Watsonian perspective that would have Tim just know… literally nothing about what his parents do. He could be completely wrong about medical supplies, or he could be right. The fact that he has uncertainty speaks volumes about Tim’s relationship with his parents and their lives. Anyways.

(Batman #448)

Eventually, Bruce gets back from Moscow, and in Batman #448 we see Tim in the Batmobile. He’s still in training, but now he’s accompanying Batman into the field, so we’re getting a sense that he’s progressed a good ways in his training. As Bruce said back in Batman #443, he’s not going to put Tim out until he thinks he’s ready. While Tim still hasn’t earned Robin, he’s obviously been putting in the work.

(Detective Comics #616)

Over in Detective Comics, right after Batman #448, we get another glimpse of Bruce’s top notch communication skills. Believing that the Joker may have resurfaced—he has been presumed dead since Bruce crashed a helicopter with him in it during Death in the Family—Bruce immediately freaks out and gets Alfred to send Tim away.

Here is some really good Bruce characterization, I think. He cares deeply about this boy, who is not his son, but who he has been spending time with. He knows that Tim wants to become Robin, to wear the suit that his own son died in. Bruce has been creating an emotional distance from everything that entails, and the moment he gets a sign that something could really go wrong for Tim—in fact, the same danger that killed Jason—he immediately ramps up that distance. He provides no explanation, closes Tim off, and simply tries to send him away. Because to Bruce, he’s making sure that Tim is safe without any of the messiness of dealing with those emotions at face value. So he has Alfred take Tim out of the city, Alfred who Tim has been spending time with, who Tim was encouraged by in A Lonely Place of Dying—someone who I would wager Tim likes, trusts, and sees as a respected authority figure.

(Batman #450)

Ultimately, it wasn’t the Joker in Detective Comics #616, though he was soon to return to the Batman comics. Joker returns in Batman #450, which Bruce handles by paying for Tim’s entire class to get on a plane and get out of Gotham. Bruce is responding to the threat of the Joker in the same way as he did previously, but to an even more exaggerated extent. He questions whether or not it’s a good idea for Tim to be training for Robin at all, though he certainly doesn’t seem to remember that Tim hasn’t been very good at letting Bruce stop him.

Tim will be away for the entirety of this story, with Bruce wrestling with his role in Jason’s death and his reluctance to let another child end up that way… though he also doesn’t dispute Tim’s fundamental truth that Batman does need Robin.

So Tim is in this limbo space where he’s being trained for a role that he wants, and is getting ever more prepared for, but which Bruce can’t quite convince himself to give. At this stage, Tim is being held at an arm’s length by just about everyone, since neither his parents nor Bruce are demonstrating great communication skills. Tim takes this as normal, for better or worse, which is its own commentary on his home life before he started weekending at Wayne Manor. Still, Tim seems to be sitting on the edge of becoming Robin, just waiting for that last push. Tune in next time for that little push: Tim’s Rite of Passage and his bout against the Master of Fear.

[mossmittens]

[willinghands]

i think r/BenignExistence is my favorite subreddit 🥲 i love these pleasant little glimpses into strangers' lives

[thenameisgul]

[xtygian]

May I add the recent "up to interpretation" drama regarding Sulemio because apparently it's only applicable to them. Guel's brother ain't even up to interpretation.

It’s always just about the writing hm… but somehow the same critcism comes up every time there’s a sapphic ship….oh well…

The more i hear those arguments the less convincing they become….

[marisatomay]

This Pride I hope that all of you never ever forget that no amount of sanitizing your sex life or sanding down of your LGBT edges will make bigots accept you. So, don’t debase yourself by capitulating an inch to them, especially in ways that throw your fellow community members under the bus.

[shobiolovechild]

there are 2 kinds of mangaka when drawing: the ones that hate woman and the ones that love woman

And, guys...

i think ryoko kui really loves woman.

[icedhotcocoa]

okay guys but in all seriousness the trump attempted assassination is going to rally the right like crazy. voter turnout will be going up. it is more crucial than ever that you SHOW UP AND VOTE IN THIS YEARS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

[yayawantstodraw]

I apologize for calling Macklemore cringe

[forystr]

ALL EYES ON RAFAH. WE WILL NOT FORGIVE. WE WILL NOT FORGET.

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