- Residence
- Comics Information
The “Robin” with probably the most tragic origin story has by no means even met Batman, which DC Comics explores in Batman Integrated #3.
Spoilers for Batman Integrated #3!Batman’s household of Robins and different allies every have their very own distinctive origin tales, most of which embrace darkish upbringings and backgrounds which have propelled all of them into heroism. The circus acrobat Dick Grayson turned a sidekick when his mother and father have been killed by a criminal offense lord, Jason Todd was killed by the Joker then turned a murderous vigilante, Stephanie Brown’s violent father drove her to a lifetime of altruism, and so forth. Whereas Robins have all been impressed to work with Batman due to their very own misfortunes, a lately revealed Robin, who has by no means met Batman, comes from related but undoubtedly extra devastating circumstances.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
In Batman Integrated #3 Batman’s pleasant rival Ghost-Maker is revealed to have as soon as had a “better-Robin” as a part of his ongoing effort to show his superiority to The Dark Knight. Years in the past he adopted an unnamed orphan and gave him the codename “Phantom-One.” As a substitute of being a loving father determine like Batman, Ghost-Maker was aloof and brutally educated the boy from sunup to sunset. The tragic conclusion to Phantom-One’s origin got here when Ghost-Maker left him to die on a mission, claiming that his sidekick was a failed experiment. So whereas Robins have had dreadful beginnings, Phantom-One’s lack of his mother and father, historical past of dehumanizing abuse, and eventual abandonment makes his character probably the most tragic out of all of them.
Batman: Each Bat-Household Member, Ranked By Intelligence
The distress of this Robin-like character is explored even additional in Phantom-One’s full backstory in Batman Integrated #3 by Ed Brisson and John Timms. Much like Stephanie Brown’s personal supervillain father Cluemaster, Phantom-One’s mother and father have been a pair of small-time tremendous villains who discovered pleasure in terrorizing the rich. The “Mr. and Mrs. Menace” duo have been, nevertheless, finally killed by Ghost-Maker himself. Upon studying that the villains have a son, Ghost-Maker took the chance to lock away the orphan for 2 years in his mansion to coach him in martial arts and different helpful expertise in vigilantism. For the next three years Phantom-One fought alongside Ghost-maker within the subject till the evening he recklessly chased down the villain Palladium and was left critically injured in an explosive lure.
Phantom-One Has It Worse Than All The Robins
Phantom-One basically being punished for being too desperate to show himself to Ghost-maker has motivated him years later, to actual vengeance upon his former mentor and the various skilled criminals who taught each him and Batman the talents they wanted to turn out to be the world’s deadliest vigilantes. It could possibly be argued that Phantom-One won’t be the sidekick who has suffered probably the most, however it’s price noting that he shares many tragic parts with the origins of different Bat-Members of the family: his remoted coaching resembles Cassandra Cain’s childhood beneath her father, his shared attribute of getting third-rate tremendous villain mother and father with Stephanie Brown, and his obvious resurrection is very like Jason Todd’s transformation from Robin to Red Hood.
Phantom-One is likely to be one more entry in Batman’s lengthy checklist of characters who function his darkish parallels or twisted reflections, however he’s not fully devoid of advantage and story potential. A Robin who seeks to forestall folks as expert as Batman from being created is an attention-grabbing motivation that can certainly take a look at Ghost-Maker and Batman Inc.’s personal dedication to their “no-killing” rule. Phantom-One may additionally function a commentary on rampant criticism that usually cites Batman’s seemingly unethical indoctrination of orphans into vigilantism as a deplorable character trait. Author Ed Brisson could also be calling out such criticisms with this story that overtly applies these accusations to new characters who mirror the dynamic duo. Whereas this pseudo Robin might not be to everybody’s liking, his contributions to Batman’s mythos have but to be absolutely seen, however readers received’t have to attend an excessive amount of longer as Batman Integrated’s story continues.
Batman Integrated #3 is on sale now from DC Comics!