THE COMPLETE ROBIN TOUR

Batman & Robin.  These characters are bound together in the public conscience just the same as Tom & Jerry, Laurel & Hardy, or Starsky & Hutch.  They just go together. 

Robin was the very first superhero sidekick, debuting in 1940.  Robin was created with the notion that a juvenile sidekick might give the youngsters reading comic books a character they could more closely relate to.  Another benefit to having a sidekick is that it allows writers to present more dialogue and less exposition.  

Batman's original Robin was Dick Grayson, a circus aerialist whose parents were murdered.  Bruce (Batman) Wayne takes the boy in, trains him in hand-to-hand combat, and provides him with the tutelage to become a master detective.  Batman then provides him with a superhero costume and begins taking him out to fight crime in the mean streets of Gotham City.  In today's society, the notion of putting the life of a 12 or 13-year-old child in harm's way to battle evil-doers seems... well... a little nuts!  But it was a different era. 

Most casual comic book readers or television watchers are aware of Dick (Robin) Grayson.  But how many would know there have actually been over a dozen characters who have assumed the Robin mantle?  On this tour, we'll take a look at the many Robins to appear in the pages of DC Comics since Dick Grayson's debut in 1940.

THE ORIGINAL TEEN TITANS MEMBERSHIP TOUR

When I began my comic book journey at the ripe age of 9 (in 1973), I gravitated much more to group-themed titles.  The Legion of Super-Heroes was my first exposure to the medium, and from there, I quickly branched out to the Justice League of America, the Fantastic Four, and one of my all-time favorite groups... the Teen Titans.

When this group's adventures first started being chronicled the characters were very early teens.  But, by the time I was first exposed to the Teen Titans, they were hip and community-minded older teens, some in college, teaming to battle social injustice in addition to villainy.  Their group had several members who had no actual superpowers and their rank also included the first African-American character I saw represented in comic books.  As a child growing up in a very non-diverse small community in Maine, I found them all thrilling. I wanted to be one of them when I grew up!

Over the decades there have been numerous iterations of the Teen Titans or simply the Titans.  This tour will only be limited to the members, and some history, of the original version of the Teen Titans, published by DC Comics from 1964 through 1978.