DC Pride: Tim Drake Special

DC Cultural Anthologies

by Meghan Fitzmartin, Belén Ortega (Penciller), Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque (Penciller)

The breakout story from Batman: Urban Legends collected in one volume for the very first time, in time for Pride Month!

Tim Drake’s search for a missing friend kidnapped by the villains known as the Chaos Monsters leads Tim to realize his identity as a bisexual man.

Collecting the Tim Drake stories from Batman: Urban Legends #4-6 and 10, with a brand-new story that sees Tim teaming up with his former Young Justice teammates and the Batgirls, beginning Tim Drake’s 2022 path!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, LGBT, Queer, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

72 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 14, 2022

Reviews

[Noah]

Bad vibes get off of me, outta here with that fuckery / Treat my goals like property, collect them like Monopoly (Monopoly – Ariana Grande & Victoria Monét).

For those caught unawares, last weekend, the second foray in James Gunn’s DCU (DC Universe) called Supergirl came out and was a catastrophic bomb. We’re talking lower than Morbius and The Marvels, two movies that were the benchmark for which we compared every other box office failure! Now, I don’t want to talk about this too much because the gross anti-woke crowd got a hold of the story and are spinning the narrative into a conversation around one of those “culture wars” things and I am not about any of that bullshit. But if it sounds like there's a particular kind of glee behind my words, that's only because there is... I love watching these big superhero movies crash and burn. Those Russo Brother clowns all on Instagram throwing shade at Martin Scorsese because their shitty Avengers movies made beaucoup bucks as if that argument means literally anything when you're analyzing art. Have they made anything half as impactful as The King of Comedy or Mean Streets? Nah, I don't think so. And as you’re probably well aware by now, I also find James Gunn really annoying because he thinks he's a true artiste in a way that's almost worse than schlocky hacks like that dastardly looking fellow Shawn Levy or "man whose only movie before Spider-Man: Homecoming was a movie about a dude who starts turning into a real life clown after putting on a cursed clown nose," Jon Watts. Also, what the hell is a "real life clown?" A real life clown is still a man in a clown suit!? Anyway, I truly believe Mr. Gunn is a one trick pony with an insanely huge ego despite the fact that he only makes mid-tier capeshit movies and has the sense of humor of a toddler (“poopy fart” humor, if you will), but one thing I don’t fault him for is dedicating more projects to the weirder characters that exist within the DC pantheon. The talk of the town has unfortunately shifted to the point where people are saying that DC movies should only feature the most popular characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman! And while I never mind seeing those characters, indulging in the quirky side of things is exactly why Marvel was able to succeed for a decade where everybody else, including this current DCU, has failed.

I, for one, would especially love to see a depiction of Wonder Woman where she’s not being played by a war criminal! But yeah, comic books are so damn weird, and if we’re not even going to consider letting oddballs and freaks run the show, then what’s the point in even putting these character onto the big screen? See, where the MCU went wrong wasn't that they shined the spotlight on C-tier characters like Moon Knight or She-Hulk, but rather that they now exist in too many different mediums. For me, it’s really that simple. I'm of the mind that none of these characters have enough story to them to exist in a full length television show, and considering I’ve seen all of those garbage Disney+ shows and only enjoyed about two hours of each, I fully subscribe to the theory that if they were all movies, then I’d walk away content and happy. Like, if you have filler episodes in a six episode show, then either you’re a bad writer, or there’s just not enough interesting stuff to glean from the character. Hey, maybe I'm wrong, I'd love to be proven wrong! So, when this new DCU is dedicating itself to a mishmash of animated cartoons, video games, live-action shows, and movies, then I’m just wondering why anybody’s surprised that this universe is already imploding on itself. thPeople were already tired of doing content homework for Marvel, so why the hell did James Gunn think people would be willing to put in even half as much effort for DC, a company that has a reputation of only releasing bad movies!? I can't stress enough how all of their most recent movies outside of Batman have been absolute garbage! Now, I’m no expert on this stuff, but do you want to know what I think they should have done? If they wanted to commit to this whole cinematic universe thing, then they should have centered everything around Batman. I mean, why not? They literally already had a critically acclaimed movie that made a boatload of money with 2022’s The Batman, so why not use it as a jumping off point? Sure, everybody’s always like, “Um actually… The Batman is super serious, super realistic, and other comic book-y things wouldn’t fit into its narrative!” and blah blah blah… but have you actually seen that movie? It’s interesting and it takes itself seriously and that’s cool and fine, but don’t try to sit there and tell me it’s realistic.

“Bernard was a friend of yours from school.”
“Right, yeah. I think… I think I’ve always kind of known. I mean. It’s hard to have personal enlightenment when you’re battling Super-Villains in tights every night.
“I am aware.”

There's nothing with The Batman outside of pretentiousness and typical director animosity towards the superhero genre that actually removes the opportunity for telling sillier stories. I mean, it's always funny when people want their comic book movies to be serious and true art, and it's like... you know you can watch movies for adults, right? Phantom Thread is right there waiting for you! It reminds me of how George Lucas always used to piss off Star Wars fans by telling them that Star Wars are films for kids and you just have to wonder why people can't wrap their heads around that fact. Nobody cares if you like children's media, but once you're walking around in red-faced anger about the stuff, then I think it's calm down time. So yeah, the real reason why I think creating a universe around this Batman movie would work is because they’ve already done it before. Ever heard of Batman: The Animated Series? It’s a cartoon that was well-regarded and ran for years (Kevin Conroy is the best Batman to this day), and then they made a Superman show where he had a couple of fun crossovers with Batman, and then they made a Justice League show expanding from the universe created in the first two shows. Why they can’t just do any of that again is beyond me. I mean, at least base it around Batman, because that’s how you get butts in seats, my guy, that’s how you do it! Sure, I'll go watch a Batman movie, but do you really think I'm going to go out and spend money on seeing what Rick Flag Sr. is up to? Nope, no way. Besides, Frank Grillo's best performance is still The Purge 3. Well, maybe all of this is just a selfish plea of mine because if this DC universe doesn’t continue, then I’ll never get to see a bisexual Tim Drake on the movie screens. The horror! Well, I don’t look to cinema for queer representation anymore and it’s not like I’d have faith that James Gunn would properly and sensitively portray it, but it would have been nice to see Tim Drake up there kissing dudes and such. Anyway, until then, I’m happy enough with reading the comics whenever said comics deem it pertinent enough to feature some gayness. It's worked well enough so far, because that’s how I picked up DC Pride: Tim Drake Special! Now, even though Tim Drake was always my favorite Robin, I never actually knew he was bi until I came across this specific comic book. A real shocker, this one was. Hey, don’t blame me, I’m a Marvel guy!

So yeah, this comic was fantastic and Tim Drake being queer has skyrocketed him up into my list most favorite superheroes. It helps that the story of this comic wonderfully blends the usual comic book action and detective fiction with Tim’s own narrative arc of coming to terms with his sexuality. Because the thing is, these characters are always extensively larger than life and it’s often hard to get a foothold in understanding what they’re going though as people, so we often just enjoy the spectacle. That’s why Superman always works best as an aspirational figure or why people always get so excited whenever there’s a Batman comic that emphasizes his detective prowess, because there’s a chance that we’ll be getting to see a softer and more vulnerable side to a character that’s otherwise the poster child of stoic masculinity. And in that regard, Tim Drake definitely doesn’t have that issue, as he’s much more emotionally stable and lighthearted than Batman, and because of this, giving him a struggle with his sexuality doesn’t just give him more nuance outside of being a caped hero, but it also allows him to escape the shadows of being the “middle child” to everybody else in the Batfamily. What I enjoyed about this comic was the fact that it wasn't just a lovely celebration of being queer, but also that it was a relatable enough exploration of what it’s like to come out as bisexual specifically. I think there’s a misplaced stereotype believing that bisexuality is the “easiest” of the queer identities because we bisexuals can “just” go be in a heterosexual relationship and “pass” as straight people. You know, like Pod People from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But what that idea fails to take into account is that when you go through life never coming to terms with crucial parts of your identity, you walk around hollowed and empty. You know, like the Pod People from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. So, by having most of this comic’s story following a Tim Drake that’s insecure around his ex-girlfriend because he doesn’t feel either “straight enough” or “gay enough,” it deeply resonated with me. And I really can’t say that about most of the comic book stories I read, now can I? It's always "punch, pow, kaboom" the end! Well, there’s a first for everything, because I can take solace in saying it out loud that DC Pride: Tim Drake Special was everything I could possibly hope for in a comic that so proudly proclaims itself as Pride.

I probably won't come if there's not a fee / And if they try come stoppin' me / I swerve both ways, dichotomy.

[ringo]

tim drake best boy fr

[Gordon]

So I read these in Batman: Urban Legends originally and they didn't do much for me, because I don't think monthly anthology books work too well, 'cause it's just 8 pages of nothing, spaced out throughout 4-5 months, and you just don't get the same effect. It's not like 2000AD where those are weekly anthology books, so you can take the story in a lot easier. Instead you're reading a snippet, then waiting a month+, and reading a few more pages of filler, and so on. So this definitely works better as one completed story. It has heart, and to be honest, I think it comes across as more real all together compiled as one, than in Urban Legends. In UL I think it came across way more forced than it really is — I can't really explain it — but it does.

But if you're going to read Tim Drakes coming out party, then this is the way to go

Also the two panels of Tim coming out to Bats is beautiful.

[Renan Fontes]

I'm really glad they collected Tim's Urban Legends issues into a single volume. While not without some flaws, they're some of the best stories to come out of the book and flow well in one complete package. The new story was a bit weak, though. Cass and Steph's voices feel off, ESPECIALLY Cass. I have no clue what the hell happened there. Tim and Step discussing their relationship isn't particularly satisfying, either.

[Lucas]

I LOVE TIM DRAKE

[jude]

Despite the flaws it was still a pretty good read. I like how we really got to know Tim on a more personal level through reading this. We get to see how he thinks and handles the struggles he faces. Though I didn’t like the pacing and the last story with Tim and Steph left much to be desired. It felt like a half done story, but the rest of the book was pretty good.

[Calvin Pallett]

Tim drake my beloved

[Jameson]

Come on. Going through puberty and constantly changing clothes in front of Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne… Tim Drake would have realized he was bisexual a thousand issues ago! They’re two of the hottest characters in all of superhero comics. Especially Dick.

Retcons usually suck but sometimes they lead to good stories somewhere down the line. Stories about superheroes suddenly “turning” gay usually suck but… some day they may lead to good stories? (Northstar and Midnighter weren’t suddenly modified so they don’t count; still waiting for Bobby Drake to settle somewhere more cohesively between 50 years of frat boy and 7 years of drag queen before I risk my eyeballs on an Iceman story again.)

But go back and read Northstar’s coming out story. As dated as it is, the coming out aspect is realistic. There was a question mark about Northstar from the get-go. While obviously some gays do surprise people (these very same people will quickly pretend they always knew for reasons (ergo?) it’s not represented in media much), these surprises are harder to swallow after a character has been around for decades and we’ve been privy to their innermost thoughts. Any push back is seen as homophobia, unfortunately. Any criticism at all is seen as homophobia.

How would I like to see it handled? Like Northstar or Midnighter. Either the Question Mark route or the And So What route. Anything other than just magically changing a fundamental characteristic of a long established character. The problem is DC and Marvel aren’t very successful with creating new characters so they have to mangle their more recognizable characters to fit this new mold they are champing at the bit for. Why they are forcing their own hands to be as quick as possible about it, one can guess, but it doesn’t make for a better story.

Instead of this dreck, how’s about a fully thought out story arc in Tim Drake’s own title? Or, better yet, drop little hints for a year or two. Make Bernard a side character who graduates from subplot to A plot. Imagine a story with the balls to show even a blink-and-you-miss-it panel of Tim being turned on by Dick? Or Bruce? That would be legendary. Do something other than “oh my God, I’m gay, and I have a lot of catching up to do, let’s pull a complete 180 with how I dress and talk because being gay in 2022 is a personality and not a sexual preference.”

Yet, this story isn’t like that so maybe they’re learning. I bet Tim Drake will be sporting capri pants any day now but I hold out hope that he’ll retain more of his old character and this newly discovered aspect will be deftly integrated with the Tim Drake we’ve been reading about for years and years now. If representation matters, Marvel and DC would have homosexual characters. Homosexual gay, not Gay gay. Not every gay, and definitely not every bisexual man, is on fire. Like Iceman. The majority of gays are not stereotypical. There are gay punks, gay tough guys, gay librarians, gay bodybuilders, gay Republicans, gay pharmacists, gay athletes, gay Zamboni drivers, etc. Midnighter has even become more of a stereotype in recent years! With the Modern Gay Approved Haircut, even.

But this could easily have been a quality product. The art, of the chapters that deal with Tim’s sexuality, is not at all terrible, just a little too cutesy and “girl’s romance/yaoi.”. Like yaoi it appears designed for women, not gay or bisexual men. The dialogue is far from great but it’s readable, and the plot is Superhero Plot 148: serviceable. However, the story is extremely rushed. Everything about it is rushed and shoddy. Then the book is padded out with a totally different art style and a lame filler story that barely touches on Tim’s coming out. (And what’s up with his non-coming out to Bruce? I love the idea but it was clunky. At least add a panel of Tim looking sheepish, like “of course Batman knew.”) It’s like editorial was in a rush to get Tim Drake out of the closet as fast as possible so they slapped these short stories together, threw an ugly cover with an ugly title on it, and called it a day. Order up! More gay-bait ready for… who, exactly?

I don’t know if other gay people are actually buying these comics or just tweeting about representation, but for me it has long felt like pandering. Anyway. If representation actually was what mattered here more gay characters would be two things: 1) non-stereotypical and 2) gay. I mean, bisexuals are way OVER-represented in comic books. Maybe it’s the current “I have no personality so I’m x, y, and z fad” but it’s ridiculous.

I’m not sure who the target audience for this particular package is. The number of yaoi fans who read Batman must be very niche, no? Even if that’s what they were going for it could have been developed better so it didn’t feel like a half-assed gimmick rushed together for Pride month.

Hopefully Tim Drake will break the mold and remain recognizable. Whether his bisexuality is a baby step out of the closet remains to be seen. Overall, not a good package even though the creators of the actual coming out story did a decent job with two short comics. Not recommended whatsoever even as a curiosity. Better off getting the floppies.

(Also: it’s time to admit the gay pride flag is ugly when it’s slapped on products without a matching color scheme. And with the added colors, it’s never been uglier. Not to mention all the ugly ways corporations exploit it.)

[Jessica Willis]

My first real dive into Tim Drake and I enjoyed it! There was a good balance of case and character drama 👌 I'm definitely wanting to read more of the Bat-family members I'm not as familiar with - Tim first after this, but I'm interested in Steph and Cass too

[Hades Martín]

Nothing extraordinary, but a good read if you have time to kill.
I think my favourite part is not the Bernard thing and realising Tim is bi, but that his family (batfam) was around. Going to see Dick like the older brother he is, avoiding Steph like the teens that just broke up that they're... and also trying to help his father, Bruce. The style was mostly good, but by the second half it just... not the best, or at least I don't like it, too cartoon. I don't like when they break the style, but that's just my opinion.
About the content itself, the story, I wasn't quite invested in it, it wasn't anything new. Detective case, fighting a villain, solving another mystery, that's it. Not that I'm complaining, the focus is on the relationships between the characters here (not only Tim and Bernard, but everyone, with Tim as a focus). You have to sacrifice a part of the story to have some balance.
Overall, if you like the bat-family relationships and you enjoyed Wayne Family Adventures, for example, give this a read. Just one issue, it's not too long, good for a single issue, and they're not out of character. Not villainized, they're human, which is good if you're used to the "always happy and turning out ok" Wayne Family Adventures, or to the usual dysfunctional family in the rest of the comics.

[Theo]

This was not good. The writing was all over the place, the stories disjointed, and the art disappointing. Also ACAB.

For those saying there are too many bisexual characters in comics, we bisexuals make up the majority of the queer community. We're also less likely to be out due to biphobia from straight and gay/lesbian monosexuals, along with the other reasons people don't come out. It makes sense for characters with 30+ years of comic history to come out as bisexual to 1) not discount past relationships and 2) because changing sexual identity is too nuanced for most people to handle IRL and comics are often terrible at nuanced conversations.

[Kastie Pavlik]

I missed the first part of Tim's story because I was late to the Urban Legends party. I'm really happy they put together this omnibus collection. It highlighted the things I liked in the stories that I did read and gave me insight into what I missed. Some of the art is iffy. Some of the writing could be better. Some pacing is jerky. But Tim is such a sweet kid and an amazing Robin, and we get to see his heart shine brighter with everything all together here.

[Kay ☾]

Enjoyed this collection of Tim Drake stories. Not sure if I would pick up any of the series since I have a lot to read.

[Sid]

who is the best robin and why is it tim drake

[Benjamin Kimble]

I definitely enjoyed this one more than I had expected to but it still had problems. I felt like Tim Drakes voice and inner monologue was pretty good throughout but most of the other characters felt odd from their normal selves. Yea like everyone said, it was all a little rushed and I’m not happy Tim broke up with Steph it all could have been handled a little better. Belén Ortega was great on the art for most of the characters, especially Tim. I’m definitely looking forward to the Tim Drake solo series coming out later this year, so we’ll see what that holds.

[Jennifer Baratta]

Tim Drake

Tim Drake is bisexual.
He avoids talking to Stephanie about him and they're relationship. Bruce Wayne is depressed and angry. Richard Greyson refuses to help him anymore. Bernard and Stephanie meet up with Tim on the last page. The artwork was beyond outstanding. The writing was beyond outstanding too.

[Jim]

Yeah Steph and Tim break up. Next day he introduces her to his lover and she's hugging and kissing. Yeah cause that's realstic. That alone makes it one out of five. Worse than that not Starfire crap.
Idk where they found this Hack. This whole team and who ever signed off on this should be fired
Jim Lee needs to step down from Management, he's clearly not Todd Mcfarlene

[james]

tim drake u r so beloved by me

BATGIRL AND SPOILER APPEARANCE LIKE WOAH WOAH WOAH THIS RLLY IS A PRIDE SPECIAL

[danabelle]

okayyyyyyyy that shit was ASS

[cas]

gay people win again

[Nico D.]

I love Tim, and I love the idea that he's bi. I can't express my joy enough at that. There's things to like here: It's a book, and it's focusing on Tim! That's super cool! The art is mostly gorgeous, with great colorization and some awesome action panels.

The story is kind of mixed. Ostensibly the plot begins with Tim trying to track down a bunch of "runaway" teenagers who he believes have been inducted into a cult. In truth, the "plot" is fairly barebones where that's concerned, with neither the antagonist or the stakes getting enough page time to feel particularly exciting. The primary focus of the story is Tim's sense of self-discovery. Now, I stan a good character focused story, but parts of this one missed the beat for me.

The biggest elephant in the room is Stephanie. Her break-up with Tim gets some lipservice, but we don't really learn why they broke up. Last I recall, they were pretty happy together. I could see how Tim, who internalizes things until he's blue in the face, could feasibly push her away when he's concerned about his potential bisexuality, but it feels like a total cop-out not to let us see the actual break-up itself. This collection of Tim stories could have really benefitted from a newly written epilogue which had the two break up, which would have tied in better at the end when Steph and Tim finally have to face each other again.

Tim's realization of his sexuality, though it feels completely natural to the character (don't @me), does feel like it could've been built up a little more at the beginning of the book. It's understandable that each story feels rather abbreviated, primarily due to originally featuring in an anthology series, but it doesn't help some of the themes the author is trying to convey with Tim's journey of self-discovery land the way I think was intended.

The short time each story had to work with is really notable in how it treats Bernard. Bernard is a pretty deep cut in Tim's old supporting cast, so it's cool to see him envisioned here. Unfortunately, he's sort of just a bland Nice Guy Romance Interest who supports Tim with whatever he needs, without much definition to him as a person. He comes off as fairly bland (other than when he inexplicably has the martial arts skills to fight off some cult members) and so far there's very little chemistry between him and Tim. I'm really hoping he gets some more time to develop and be more of a character in the future. All this book does is make me wish Tim would go back to Steph and have an open relationship (she can date Cass on the side, and Tim can date Conner).

You also gave us a book where Tim comes out as canonically queer and include a scene where he holds hands with Conner because you hate us and only want to tease forever. I'm on to you DC.

[Adrian Santiago]

La primera historia, dividida en 3 partes, está horrible de simple, básica y plana.
A través, obviamente, de un "culto" Tim tiene que "decidir" si es solo Robin o también Tim Drake. Así que obviamente el culto secuestra ramdom al wey con el que tenía una cita, al momento de pelear justo el wey es el que iban a sacrificar, random el wey sabe pelear, random le ganan a 20 weyes grandotes con cuchillos para "demostrar" que el amor lo "puede todo" y bien random acaba la historia.

Que en general la historia de Tim está padre, poco se habla de la bisexualidad en personajes de cine, tv y cómics; pero ojalá hubiera una mejor trama para Tim/Red Robin.

Las otras dos historias están mejor planteadas (y en partes autoconclusivas). Tim habla de sus sentimientos por un chico con Batman (dicho sea de paso en esta historia me llamó más la atención la implicación de que cuando Bruce no tenía dinero posiblemente le pidiera apoyo a Selina Kyle); y después con Spoiler para terminar presentándole a su wey. Tampoco son grandes historias pero es un buen avance (ya mejor sin mencionar lo irreal de que de pronto "todos lo sabían" o "todos lo apoyan" sin nada de peleas, burlas u homofobia) o que de pronto el poli nuevo tiene su primera conversación con Tim (como Robin) sobre como él también pasó un proceso de "aceptarse" y blabla.

Sobre el romance hay más en la portada variante que en todas las historias juntas, pero al menos lo hay. También es una especie de fan service; porque el personaje que de pronto pasa a ser "no heterosexual" sigue siendo el héroe, guapo, de dinero, caballeroso y masculino; pero su contraparte sí es siempre el nerd de pelo rosa y medio "amanerado" que se enamora del protagonista por "quien es" y no por ser superhéroe, millonario y cosas así.

[emma]

that was…okay

so i read the original urban legends stories back when they came out monthly. i was there to witness tim coming out and it was great. love urban legends 4-6 amazing showstopping never seen before. the christmas story in ul 10 was cute but i remembering feeling disatisfied with it. like we didnt actually get to see tim coming out to bruce and bruce being all awkward yet supportive with it because lets be honest hes an awkward guy and an awkward dad and it wouldve been so funny to see.

i think my biggest disatifaction with this book though is from the only bit of new content we got. tim teaming up with bart and conner again yay! but why are they there if this is ultimately a story about tim coming out to steph? but also tim doesnt come out to steph it just appears she has heard through the grapevine for some reason. would have loved to see tim come out to at least someone i guess. wanted to see conner’s reaction (because its a mixture of happy for you bro and damn i had a chance this whole time?) yes im a timkon till i die i dont care.

love me cass cain content but also why was she here? her and tim’s sibling relationship is so precious to me but like they didnt even interact here so i mean okay go girl give us nothing. i guess its just dc really pushing the dual batgirl agenda. everyones personalities just felt off in this story i dont know. also conner being friends with steph is just wrong. life is so much more fun when they hate each other i think.

[Martin]

I bought it when it came out as I wanted to read this sort of prequel to the new Tim Drake ongoing series. But it was before I realized who will be the artist on that Tim Drake ongoing series and I finally passed on it. So I finally read this months later, and it was an ok compilation of 3 short stories with Tim Drake as the main character.

Though I do not believe that Tim could have been around Dick Grayson (Nightwing) for so many years without realizing he likes boys too!

I cannot personally rely if that is a plausible way for someone to discover their preferences, but as a comics reader I can only wonder if there wasn't a better way (maybe take more time through a main ongoing title) to introduce it / show the change (the character exists for over 30 years)?

[Aethena Drake]

I have been an unapologetic Tim Drake fan since I started reading Batman. He is one of the reasons I still read Batman comics. This story collects the Tim Drake story from the Batman Urban Legends series.

This collection is a nice story. Some moments felt a little disjointed. I felt like I was missing some tidbits that would explain how Tim reconnects with Bernard. I have quite a few comics to catch up on so I probably did miss something. I also wanted a little more insight into the villains Tim was hunting.

I did enjoy the interactions Tim had with Barbara, Bruce, Dick, Stephanie, and Detective Williams. The art by Ortega was lovely.

A must read if you are a Tim Drake fan.

[Ross]

Take a B-story from 'Batman:Urban Legends' and pretty it up...
BAM! Instant DC Pride special issue!

Characterization is a little off on some of the characters, but they are characters that never have a consistent voice no matter who is writing them. Other than that, it was nice to have a Tim Drake story that wasn't him being '4th wheel Robin'

Bonus: Yes, Oracle. Nobody else wants to call him 'Drake' either. Bad codename gold star.
Bonus Bonus: Could there be a teamup with his boyfriend in the future? Hmmm

[James Rodrigues]

The Tim Drake stories from Batman Urban Legends are collected in a special issue, chronicling the character coming to terms with his bisexuality and sharing it with his loved ones. The Batman story is wonderful, as Tim grapples with pleasing his father while they find understated ways to show each other how much they mean to them. The Steph one feels undercooked, needing some more issues to round things off. Regardless, this is a wonderful collection for an important part of my favourite Robin's story.

[Marsh Myers]

An excellent compilation of some of the Tim Drake / Robin books centered on his much-touted coming-out story. Writer Meghan Fitzmartin handles Tim's personal awakening very compassionately, as he simultaneously struggles with his guilt from breaking up with Stephanie Brown, and discovering his feelings for an old school friend, Bernard Dowd. Those feelings come to a head when a strange cult kidnaps Bernard. Tim sets out to rescue him, only to find that Bernard's pretty damn capable of taking care of himself. Excellent artwork by Belen Ortega.

[Brooke Goodwin]

Where excellently balanced, badass comic book meets a YA LGBTQ+ romance!

I love Batman and the whole Bat family, and the fact that DC released a Pride comic around Tim Drake/Robin - I knew I had to read it! It was actually something I stumbled across in a store one day.

This book is just adorable, and there’s nice character growth, all the feels of a cozy Bat family, and the illustrations are incredible! I will definitely he re-reading this in June for Pride!

Also, can we get more of this???

[Vic]

In general I really liked the story and Tim finding out and accepting that he also likes boys BUT I dislike how they wrote his relationship with Bernard It has literally no chemistry and imo it kind of feels forced there was no need to make it so rushed maybe they will fix it in different comics but honestly right now I kind of don't care about their relationship

so in conclusion I love that they made Tim canonically bisexual but I wish they had written it better