Preview: DC taking the Bat-mythos back in time, with Batman and Robin: Year One

A new maxi-series from DC Comics will roll the legend of Batman and Robin back to the first days of their Bat-family-ties.

The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder

First debuting in 1940’s Detective Comics #38, Robin presented a big change for the Batman comics and character. As fans know, the Dark Knight had previously worked alone, and his adopted son Dick Grayson not only expanded the Bat-family of the first time, but he also lightened up the Bat’s image.

At this point it’s been over 80 years since that fateful first teaming, and quite a bit of history has gone by. That includes Dick Grayson having left his Robin togs a long time ago, having evolved into Nightwing, a superhero who’s become a legend in his own right.

DC Comics though, is ready to hit rewind and head back to those first days to tell some fresh tales. While it will star Batman and Robin, according to DC Comics Batman and Robin: Year One isn’t really a story about either one. Instead, its tale will be a story about Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, focusing on just how unprepared the world’s greatest detective was to be a dad.

Check out the unlettered preview below for a taste of what’s to come, and make sure to hit your local comics shop on October 16th, 2024. That’s when Batman and Robin: Year One #1 (of 12) will hit the stands.

In Batman and Robin: Year One, while Bruce Wayne adjusts to the realities of adopting orphan Dick Grayson, a mysterious new crime boss called the General has come to Gotham to claim the city by disrupting and destroying its other mobs. But what is his connection to Two-Face? Batman and his new sidekick, Robin, are out for answers, but it’ll take everything they have to navigate both sides of their relationship as father and son and dynamic duo, with Dick Grayson’s present and future hanging in the balance!

“While Batman and Robin are the stars of this tale and get most of the panel time, at its heart, this isn’t a Batman/Robin story, it’s a Bruce/Dick story,” said Mark Waid. “It takes place only a month or two after Bruce adopted Dick, and it’s sinking in for Bruce that he has no idea how to be a father to a kid that age. He has no role model—his own father was long dead by the time he was Dick’s age. Nothing he’s ever done has prepared him for this, and Alfred—wise as he is—doesn’t have much experience here either.”

“Dick is everything Bruce is not—impetuous, flamboyant, reckless,” said Chris Samnee. “But he’s also precise; he can stick a landing. He’ll take orders when they make sense to him, but he’s keen to improvise, testing his role within the Dynamic Duo. The first pages you’ll see will showcase how they’ll be acting, and reacting, as they adventure out into Gotham City on patrol together. We’re so excited for this story to finally be told.”

DC Comics press release