Robin Comes Out as Bisexual in Batman Comic After 81 Years The Hollywood Reporter
Robin has come out as bisexual in the latest Batman comic.
Tim Drake – a.k.a. the third Robin – realized he’s bi in the newly released issue Batman: Urban Legends #6.
In the comic, Tim/Robin has a “lightbulb moment” when fighting alongside his friend Bernard Dowd.
“Ever have a lightbulb moment?” Tim wonders in the panel. “Like something out in the ether has been taunting you, teasing you. Like you know you’re supposed to be on the same page as your brain but not everything made sense. People keep asking me what I want. But I couldn’t grasp it. Whatever it was. It always felt just out of reach. Until now. Until right now.”
Later, Tim catches up with Bernard on his porch. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that night and I don’t know what it meant to me,” Tim says. “But I’d like to find out.” Which prompts Bernard to reply: “I was hoping you would. Tim Drake… do you want to go on a date with me?” Then Tim replies: “Yeah … yeah. I think I want that.”
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The story will resume with the next issue coming in December and marks the first time the Caped Crusader’s sidekick has come out since the character was introduced in 1940.
The comic’s writer, Meghan Fitzman, told Polygon that they’re deliberately not putting a label on the character’s feelings as of yet. “I wanted to pay tribute to the fact that sexuality is a journey,” Fitzmartin said. “To be clear, his feelings for Stephanie have been/are 100 percent real, as are his feelings for Bernard. However, Tim is still figuring himself out. I don’t think he has the language for it all… yet.”
The question of The Boy Wonder’s sexuality goes back to the introduction of the character, with Batman’s ward frequently being the target of innuendos and jokes. According to a deep-dive into the topic by Slate, an anti-comics psychiatrist even testified before a Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1954, slamming the Batman comics as “a wish-dream of two homosexuals living together.” Occasionally, Batman comic writers seemed to slyly embrace the idea of Robin being gay, even as DC Comics officially maintained the character was straight. Director Joel Schumacher also famously seemed to toy with the idea in his films Batman Forever (1995) and Batman and Robin (1997).
Tim Drake finally coming out is so inspiring, DC never wanted a queer Robin but after years and years of campaigning from writers and fans it finally happened
A big thank you to Meghan Fitzmartin, Belén Ortega and Alejandro Sánchez for making this moment so beautiful ❤️ pic.twitter.com/xb5YugEYd9
— Neb | 🏳️🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes) August 10, 2021
The Tim Drake character is also getting some live action play. Drake has been added to HBO Max’s live-action Titans series, with actor Jay Lycurgo playing the character in the show’s third season coming Aug. 12.
Classic comic franchises have increasingly made efforts to be more LGBTQ inclusive. The news comes a few months after a version of Marvel’s Captain America made headlines by coming out as gay.
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