Tim Drake had grown up idolizing the Batman. A brilliant young mind, Tim earned his place by the Dark Knight's side by deducing Bruce Wayne's dual identity, and then proving his own ingenuity. When Batman's back was shattered by the criminal known as Bane, and Jean-Paul Valley (alias Azrael) took over the mantle of the bat, it didn't take Robin long to realize that it is not the Batsuit that makes the man. As Batman, Valley insisted that he didn't need a partner, and continued to prove his point by bricking up Tim's private entrance to the Batcave. So, in the debut issue of his own ongoing series, Robin fired up his sleek sports car named Redbird and embarked on a solo career, with the help of writer Chuck Dixon and artist Tom Grummett, not to mention a deluxe embossed cover. The series was an instant success.



Although his relationship with Batman ebbed and flowed over the years, and Dixon left the title after a remarkable 100 issue run, Robin's series lasted 183 issues plus a #0 and #1000000 issue before being given a name change and a reboot. Tim Drake proved a reader favorite and paved the way for other spin-off Bat-family ongoing titles like Azrael, Nightwing and Batgirl.