Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Titans season 4, episode 11, “Project Starfire.”Tim Drake’s first outing as Robin in Titans season 4 is a worse origin than in the comics. Tim Drake was introduced to the Titans cast during Titans season 3, helping the team restore order to a Gotham City in chaos. He was promised a chance to join the team afterward, but the show was slow in developing Tim into the costumed hero he was born to be.
Tim spent most of Titans season 4 in a supporting role, honing his combat skills while beginning a romance with STAR Labs scientist Bernard Fitzmartin. Tim was finally given a costume and permitted to go into the field alone in Titans season 4, episode 11, “Project Starfire.” Unfortunately, Tim’s first solo mission as a superhero in Titans did not live up to his legacy from the comics.
Tim Drake’s First Robin Mission Is Better In The Comics
While Tim Drake was originally established as Bruce Wayne’s neighbor, he did not don the Robin suit until Batman #442. Part of the serialized story A Lonely Place of Dying, the issue found Tim Drake taking to the field of battle with Alfred Pennyworth’s assistance after both Batman and Nightwing disappeared while hunting for the villain Two-Face. While Batman was initially reluctant to take on a new partner after the death of Jason Todd, he was forced to admit that he would have died without Tim Drake’s assistance and agreed to give him a chance.
A Lonely Place of Dying is widely regarded as a classic Batman story. Beyond its historical importance as the first story featuring the Tim Drake Robin, it is generally agreed to demonstrate precisely why Batman needs a Robin to keep him grounded and help him in his war on crime. The story also showed why Tim Drake was worthy of the Robin mantle, showcasing his drive and his detective skills.
Titans Left It Too Late To Make Tim Drake Robin
While Titans did a similarly fine job of demonstrating Tim Drake’s intelligence and how he figured out Batman’s secret identity, it also took far too long to develop him into a worthy Robin. Granting that Titans‘ take on Tim Drake was even more of a thinker than a fighter than in the comics, it still would have been better to have him take on the Robin mantle at the end of Titans season 3, pitting him against the fallen Red Hood. This would have been both a thematic passing of the torch and far more exciting than Tim being given a suitcase and being sent to question to an informant.
Titans’ series finale airs Thursday, May 11, on HBO Max.
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