The third Robin, Tim Drake, stands in stark contrast to his immediate predecessor, Jason Todd. The boy genius made his debut in Batman #436 in August 1989, the creation of Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick. Where Jason had been brash and violent due to his life spent running the streets of Gotham, Tim instead proved to be both brilliant and far more restrained in his methods.
The son of Jack and Janet Drake, Tim came from the same kind of upper-crust lifestyle that gave the world Bruce Wayne. Visiting a circus as a young kid, Tim had a chance encounter with someone who would become a significant mentor to him – Dick Grayson, who was performing at that circus with his family, the Flying Graysons. A few years later, Tim, proving to be extremely intelligent, deduced the identities of Batman and Robin after witnessing gymnastic feats that were clearly similar to those performed by the Flying Graysons. Inspired by the Dynamic Duo, Tim began training himself in both martial arts and various detective skills to improve himself.
By the time Tim was 13, he saw that Batman had become brash and somewhat unhinged in the aftermath of Jason Todd’s murder. With his mother and father left dead and paralyzed, respectively, Tim sought out Batman in an attempt to intervene, with Bruce eventually deciding to take on Tim as his new protégé. But Jason’s death continued to resonate with Batman, who was determined not to make the same mistakes with Tim – he sent Tim away for an intensive training period, and Tim wouldn’t take on the mantle of Robin until after proving his capability to Batman by saving the hero from the Scarecrow.
For 20 years, Tim served as Robin, even taking on the solo defense of Gotham City following Bruce’s retirement as Batman after the events of Knightfall. He later co-starred alongside other teen heroes in titles such as Young Justice and Teen Titans, forming a close friendship with Superboy/Kon-El along the way. But following the swift deaths of his father, his best friend and his girlfriend between 2004 and 2006 (in Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis and Batman: War Games), Tim decided to leave the ghosts of his past behind and get a fresh start in Bludhaven, fighting alongside Nightwing for some time. He also redesigned his Robin outfit to feature a red and black color scheme, in honor of his fallen friend Superboy.
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