Sometimes, it's tough to be a bird (boy)
This is from Robin #12, by Chuck Dixon and Phil Jimenez
This little teaser scene has nothing to do with the story I'm relating here, but it's kind of adorable. In the midst of the Prodigal storyline so Dick is Batman and Alfred is AWOL, and Tim is commenting to him on how complicated his life has been since he started seeing Ariana;
Tim and his then girlfriend Ariana are having a night out at the movies, where their enjoyment of a movie (Some sort of testosteron-y sequel involving a shoot out, an 18 wheeler on fire and a rather OTT motorcycle)... Sadly, in the DCU as in real life, there's usually a couple of loudmouthed idiots spoiling the fun... In this case a couple of hecklers in the row behind making fun of the the fact it's a sequel and the actor is just saying the same thing as last time... Tim, movie buff that he is, is not happy....
Oh yeah, this is going to end well.....
Round two's a coming... but not in a good way. This delightful pair of mouthbreathers are indeed waiting outside, and Tim finds he has something of a dilemma, what with a secret identity to protect....
At this point, whilst manfully reminding himself that "The secret" has to be come before all else, a couple of security guards break up the beating.
Tim isn't that bothered about himself (or so he claims), but is feeling pretty humiliated since "The Secret" meant he couldn't protect his own girlfriend....
I should mention again that this is in the middle of the Prodigal storyline, so it's Dick as Batman.
Tim acknowledges that Dick is right, and Dick, pulling the cowl up and, as Batman, adds "I can relate".
I had to make a few trims more than I'd have liked in order to include this little gem of a double page spread. The colours are a little over-bright for my taste, a little muting would have helped it a lot. and I was never a huge fan of Jimenez giving the Bat-cape the shoulder-points, but it's a nice little encapsulation of a typically "quiet" night in Gotham City.
But Tim still doesn't feel THAT much better... because...
Dick comments that he always felt bad for Bruce having to pretend to be Bertie Wooster, and that he never really tried too hard to be Dick Grayson which was in his eyes, the easy way out. (To be honest I have no clue what Dixon meant there, though Dick had to dial down his skills in earlier years too, he's never maintained that much of a distance between his two ID's, even Dixon mentions this later in a NML story, essentially Dick Grayson is NIghtwing is Dick Grayson) He notes, to the now so-tired-he's-fallen-asleep in the BatmobileTim, "But you were never the kind to take the easy way on anything, were you Tim?"
This is also the issue which introduced Dana, Jack Drakes physical therapist and eventually to be Tim's stepmother. And Tim decides to go and see Ariana again...
Tim's eyes look very odd here, I think it's trying to sort of convey the Robin mask, but it looks like he's got two very badly bruised eyes (Which he had before, but the last page doesn't show), on the other hand I love Tim's gleefully evil little smile as he spots the flaw in the bullies thinking...
Ninja training... sometimes it's the coolest thing ever!
This little teaser scene has nothing to do with the story I'm relating here, but it's kind of adorable. In the midst of the Prodigal storyline so Dick is Batman and Alfred is AWOL, and Tim is commenting to him on how complicated his life has been since he started seeing Ariana;
Tim and his then girlfriend Ariana are having a night out at the movies, where their enjoyment of a movie (Some sort of testosteron-y sequel involving a shoot out, an 18 wheeler on fire and a rather OTT motorcycle)... Sadly, in the DCU as in real life, there's usually a couple of loudmouthed idiots spoiling the fun... In this case a couple of hecklers in the row behind making fun of the the fact it's a sequel and the actor is just saying the same thing as last time... Tim, movie buff that he is, is not happy....
Oh yeah, this is going to end well.....
Round two's a coming... but not in a good way. This delightful pair of mouthbreathers are indeed waiting outside, and Tim finds he has something of a dilemma, what with a secret identity to protect....
At this point, whilst manfully reminding himself that "The secret" has to be come before all else, a couple of security guards break up the beating.
Tim isn't that bothered about himself (or so he claims), but is feeling pretty humiliated since "The Secret" meant he couldn't protect his own girlfriend....
I should mention again that this is in the middle of the Prodigal storyline, so it's Dick as Batman.
Tim acknowledges that Dick is right, and Dick, pulling the cowl up and, as Batman, adds "I can relate".
I had to make a few trims more than I'd have liked in order to include this little gem of a double page spread. The colours are a little over-bright for my taste, a little muting would have helped it a lot. and I was never a huge fan of Jimenez giving the Bat-cape the shoulder-points, but it's a nice little encapsulation of a typically "quiet" night in Gotham City.
But Tim still doesn't feel THAT much better... because...
Dick comments that he always felt bad for Bruce having to pretend to be Bertie Wooster, and that he never really tried too hard to be Dick Grayson which was in his eyes, the easy way out. (To be honest I have no clue what Dixon meant there, though Dick had to dial down his skills in earlier years too, he's never maintained that much of a distance between his two ID's, even Dixon mentions this later in a NML story, essentially Dick Grayson is NIghtwing is Dick Grayson) He notes, to the now so-tired-he's-fallen-asleep in the BatmobileTim, "But you were never the kind to take the easy way on anything, were you Tim?"
This is also the issue which introduced Dana, Jack Drakes physical therapist and eventually to be Tim's stepmother. And Tim decides to go and see Ariana again...
Tim's eyes look very odd here, I think it's trying to sort of convey the Robin mask, but it looks like he's got two very badly bruised eyes (Which he had before, but the last page doesn't show), on the other hand I love Tim's gleefully evil little smile as he spots the flaw in the bullies thinking...
Ninja training... sometimes it's the coolest thing ever!