Robin III Honorable Mention: The New Titans #81 (December, 1991)

Tim’s new look as the third Robin is explained on the letter’s page.

I have this issue.

Written by Michael Eury, inside DC #7 reviews the history of Robin’s costume and how it got an upgrade upon the completion of Tim’s training.

Notes of Interest:

1) I’ve used “WTF?” appearances in the past (for Malcolm Reynolds and Puck) because they have certain appearances that don’t clearly fit within their chronologies. “Honorable Mentions” are when behind-the-scenes facts or details about a character are mentioned within the pages of a specific issue but outside the story within the issue, which is the case here.

2) Denny O’Neil, Jenette Kahn and Dick Giordano masterminded the endeavor.

3) O’Neil commissioned several artists for their interpretations for a new look…and got about fifteen different sketches back.

4) O’Neil, Kahn and Giordano picked the direction to go in (based on Neil Adams’ design), asked Director Tim Burton for his input, and finalized the look.

5) While this issue is Part 23 of the War of the Worlds, Tim doesn’t appear within the story.

WTF? Moment: Why did DC ask for Burton’s opinion? I thought studios took the idea or look of a comic character, made the changes necessary to transfer that look to film, then moved on to production. Here, DC waited to reveal Robin’s new look until after a film director had his say.

W…T…F…?

One could argue that it was because Burton was working on Batman Returns at the time, and was trying to add Robin to the script. Okay. But shouldn’t DC have gone to Burton and said, “Look - here’s what Robin’s going to look like in future issues. Now do what you can make it work on film.”?