YMMV / Robin (1993)

• Abandon Shipping: After Tim and Cass became siblings, though this didn't seem to matter to some.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Tim's indifference to relationships, as well as him never falling for the Honey Pot has created a theory that he is the DC universe's first Asexual character.
• Broken Base: Should Tim remain Robin, or should he finally get a sidekick graduation that sticks? Fans have been arguing about this since Rebirth, and no one is any closer to arriving at an answer.
• Fandom Rivalry: His fans have a rivalry with fans of his successor Damian Wayne as ever since Damian was introduced, many of Tim's fans blame him for his diminished profile, and believe that editorial's unfair bias towards the fifth Robin is the only thing keeping Tim from returning to prominence, while Damian's fans believe that Tim's fans are exaggerating his appeal as a character and accomplishments as Robin, and that he is subject to Chuck Cunningham Syndrome and doesn't work in a starring role outside of a Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World story.
• Ghost Shipping: Stephanie Brown remained someone fans thought Tim should end up with even after her death and before it was Retconed into her Faking the Dead and hiding out in Africa with Leslie.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: The Ho Yay subtext between Tim and Conner becomes this in 2021 when the character is revealed to be bisexual in the sixth issue of Batman: Urban Legends.
• Ho Yay: With Conner Kent for decades, starting in Young Justice when they were the Team Mom and Team Dad of the team. It got really weird after Conner died during Infinite Crisis, not only did Tim start dating Conner's girlfriend Wonder Girl, he also tried to clone Conner. After Conner's return Tim looked happier than he had in years and later on Conner said Tim would always be his Robin and Tim replied that Conner would always be his clone boy.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In one of his earliest appearances Anarky (the masked leader of a Well-Intentioned Extremist anarchist movement) had a copy on V for Vendetta on his shelf. This was years before the movie came out and the whole Anonymous-Guy Fawkes mask-"We are legion" internet movement.
• Iron Woobie: Tim arguably has had the hardest life out of all the Robins. Sure Jason Todd died, but after Tim met Batman: his mother was killed (which Batman tried and failed to stop), his father was paralyzed, his girlfriend was killed (she got better but still), his father was killed, his best friend was killed (he got better but still), his stepmom was presumably killed, his other best friend was killed (he got better but still), his adoptive father was killed (he got better but still), he was the only Robin to be replaced while still using the title, his best friend in his civilian life developed cancer, two of his three brothers have made repeated attempts on his life and his sister framed him for murder. It's no wonder he can be a little moody at times.
• Memetic Mutation: Marcus To was commissioned to do a sketch of Tim eating straight out of a bag of marshmallows. The fandom ran with this and came up with the idea that Tim is an stress-eater who particularly prefers marshmallows, and Marcus was commissioned to do a few other pieces involving Tim and marshmallows.
• Moe: Enfant Terrible the General's little sister Hilary is pretty adorable for the childish innocence she shows while interacting with Robin and giving him information about her brother, whose monstrousness she is Wise Beyond Their Years about, and for the way she protectively holds her little dog to her chest in several panels.
• My Real Daddy: Chuck Dixon often gets this praise from Tim Drake fans, having defined the character, alongside a majority of the Batfamily as a whole, throughout the 90s and early 00s.
• Older Than They Think: Contrary to what Tim fans claim, he was not the first Robin to be referred to as "Detective" by Ra's Al Ghul. Ra's had previously addressed Dick as "Detective" in an inner monologue in the months leading up to Batman Reborn.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Tim/Stephanie Brown fans versus Tim/Cassandra Cain fans versus Tim/Conner Kent fans.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The New 52's origin for Tim Drake is heavily criticized by many fans. Pre-boot, he was an intelligent, nice guy Audience Surrogate with a non-athletic background who had the most "normal" upbringing of all the Robins and became Robin because he realized how important it was for Batman to have a Robin. In the New 52 continuity, he's an arrogant, friendless gymnast who has never been "Robin" and only ever been "Red Robin", he became Batman's sidekick because he wanted a challenge and his last name isn't really Drake.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Lynx is one of the first villains Tim fights as Robin, is a Love-Interest Traitor to him and loses her eye to a Bad Boss for failing to kill him, but only makes a few appearances in this series afterward, when she could have made a decent major rogue and had her Heel–Face Door-Slam in Batman: No Man's Land explored more.
  • The return of Ulysses Armstrong/the General/Anarky II's brother and sister after a Long Bus Trip in Robin #182 has some interesting potential after their friendly interactions with Robin and willingness to side with him over their brother. They are seemingly killed in a bombing after just a brief cameo for no narrative purpose to add some It's Personal feelings to Robin and Ulysses's feud ... which never gets followed up on afterward, making them feel even more wasted.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The conclusion of issue #144 sees dozens of colorful new D-list supervillains (Tapeworm, Redback Spider, Wicker Man, Monsoon, Impervious, Crucible, Fright Knight, Krakatoa, Basketcase, Slipknot, the Jury, etc.) arrive to demand that Robin and some other heroes surrender Thunderhand, who their leader Tapeworm (and presumably the others) had a good Villainous Friendship with and who Ragman just executed and assimilated. This had the potential for some What Measure Is a Mook? moments when the others learned of Thunderhand’s death and the heroes wondered if Ragman should have killed him while also having enough antagonists for a continuous battle that could last several issues. It could have also deeply explored the moral alignment of Warlock’s Daughter (who wants to do good but has been doing bad things ) and Tim’s conflicted feelings about whether to join the Veteran’s hero team. By the end of Issue #145, all of the new villains are defeated after just a few panels of fighting or less apiece (most never reappear afterward). Thunderhand's death is never mentioned by either side, the Veteran’s plot is barely advanced, and Warlock’s Daughter does land on the good side but barely gets a page exploring her actions and decisions.
  • It can be disappointing that Stephanie never encounters some of Tim's friends and enemies, like the General and his siblings, Jason Bard, and the Ghost Dragons during her time as Robin, which would have given them a chance to comment on the turnover of the identity.
• Unexpected Character: The Wild Huntsman, a former Global Guardians member who'd long been in limbo and was last seen disappearing into the mists of time, shows up working with security at a museum in Germany. His presence even surprises Tim.

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