DC: Tim Drake’s Robin Officially Comes Out as Bisexual
DC has confirmed what fans have been suspecting for some time – it’s a big, positive move for comics.
This article contains spoilers for Batman: Urban Legends #1-6 and Young Justice season 3.
Yesterday, Batman: Urban Legends #6 hit shelves, and it confirmed what fans have suspected for a while: that Tim Drake is bisexual.
Tim & Bernard in Batman: Urban Legends #16, courtesy of DC Comics
Written by Meghan Fitzmartin with art by Belén Ortega, the issue sees Tim rescuing his friend Bernard from a creature known as The Chaos Monster. The creature attacked them as they were reconnecting after a few years apart.
Bernard & Tim giving off sparks in Batman: Urban Legends #4, courtesy of DC Comics
Tim’s arc in Urban Legends has involved a lot of introspection. But in issue #6, while fighting alongside Bernard, Tim has “a lightbulb moment”, and he knows what he wants.
Who is Bernard?
Bernard first appeared in Robin #121, written by Bill Willingham of Fables fame. Not much was written about him, other than that he was a Batman conspiracy theorist and he had the hots for Tim’s stepmom.
Tim & Bernard doing more bromance than romance in Robin #121, courtesy of DC Comics
Why did fans identify Tim as bisexual?
Tim’s official romantic history includes long-term relationships with Stephanie Brown (a.k.a. Spoiler) and Cassandra Sandsmark (a.k.a. Wonder Girl). But when Superboy Connor Kent died in the events of Infinite Crisis, Tim’s grief over the loss of his best friend struck a chord with his fans, who speculated that Tim’s passion for bringing Connor back went way beyond platonic friendship.
Get you someone who tries to clone you 99 times and then hugs you like this, from Red Robin #9, courtesy of DC Comics
Why is queerness so important in the Batman family?
The comic book conspiracy theory book Seduction of the Innocent had a massive impact on the comic book industry. One of its main accusations? That Batman and Robin were gay lovers.
The original Robin sure was a damsel in Batman (1940) #65, courtesy of DC Comics
To the best of public knowledge, the original Batman comic had no gay intentions, despite the evolution of certain colloquial terms like ‘gay’ and ‘boner’ popping up through the pages. And the two sharing a bed…
But the pre-Cold War fears of homosexuality, communism, and the rise of a new, independent youth culture brought comic books into the public eye. The book Seduction of the Innocent turned comics into an easy scapegoat for conservative anxieties. Many golden age comics didn’t survive the subsequent Comics Code Authority, which culled the industry of titles that they believed would have a bad influence on kids.
Tim Drake in the animated Batman series, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Comic book sales for the Detective and his sidekick began to suffer. “Proving” Bruce & Dick’s straightness became a priority for Detective Comics– so Batman married Kate Kane (Batwoman), and the Robin at the time, Dick Greyson, got a Batgirlfriend.
The Batfamily is a queer family.
Gotham seems to attract more major queer characters than other superhero cities in the DCU. In the extended cast of characters, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Batwoman, and Renee Montoya (The Question) are all canonically bisexual or lesbian.
The whole Bat-Family in Detective Comics # 1000
Catwoman, who recently married Batman, is known to have had romances with women. Tim Drake is essentially one of Bruce’s sons, and his coming out as bisexual is another significant queer family event.
In real life, queer people are often not fully accepted by their biological families. People in the LGBTQ+ family often find and form their own families, or as writer Armistead Maupin calls it, “their logical family”. The Batfamily is DC’s biggest chosen family, and it’s also its most prolific.
Wonder Girl and Robin just became an item in Young Justice season 3, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Will Tim’s Young Justice Robin come out?
HBO Max lifted the heart of every fan when they announced the 4th season of Young Justice. Tim and Cassie became an item in the last season of the show, but Tim left the Justice League, leaving a confused and hurt Cassie behind. The show has been heralded for its treatment of teenage identity and relationship issues. Will this new discovery for comic book Tim Drake influence his character development in the show?
Dark aesthetic, fashion hoodie, and combat boots? Oh yeah, he’s bi. Courtesy of Warner Bros.
We’ll have to wait until the Young Justice premieres on October 21st. Until then, stop by your local comic shop to snag a copy of Batman: Urban Legends!
