While Batman's son didn't have the most conventional childhood, the Robin isn't going to stand for the Bat-Family's hypocrisy for much longer. Blackest Night: Batman #2 reveals Damian Wayne's real feelings regarding how everyone looks down on his unique upbringing.
Over the years, there have been a number of young heroes who fought by Batman's side as the Boy Wonder, the most recent of which is Bruce's son, Damian. The result of a tryst between Batman and the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, Damian spent the first few years of his life under the guiding hand of his mother, Talia al Ghul. Talia believed that Damian was meant to inherit the Earth, and trained him from infancy to be one of the toughest fighters the DC Universe had ever seen. Damian's formative years left an impact on him, and it took him several years to break himself of Talia's conditioning.
Damian Can't Stand The Bat-Family's Double Standards
And while some members of the Bat-Family may have a thing or two to say about Damian’s early years, the young hero is ready to call out any hypocrisy. In Blackest Night: Batman #2 by Peter Tomasi and Ardian Syaf, Dick Grayson has assumed the role of Batman, just in time for the Black Lantern Corps to launch an assault on the DC Universe. As former Batman villains return from the grave to haunt Gotham once more, Dick and Damian, along with the noble spirit Deadman, break into a private armory to get their hands on some suitable weapons. After Damian confirms his mother helped him train with serious firepower, Dick makes a snarky comment about the odd youth Damian's had. Not one to take insults to his honor, Damian reminds Dick that his own childhood wasn't exactly traditional, either.
Damian has a great point. After tragedy befell Dick at Haley’s Circus, it wasn’t long before Batman made him Robin and began taking Grayson out as a crime-fighter. While the time Dick became Robin depends on the continuity, he was almost certainly a minor, as was the other young men to take on the Boy Wonder’s mantle. Clearly the Bat-Family has a pattern of exposing young people to dangerous situations, but Talia’s decisions regarding Damian’s upbringing receives far more criticism than Bruce with his Robins.
Batman Is No Different From Talia al Ghul
While there’s an argument that Batman trained the Robins to be fighters for justice while Talia raised Damian to be a conqueror, it’s undercut by how much danger Batman put his sidekicks in. In fact, one could say that Batman’s line of work was much more dangerous as Damian lived in a controlled environment while Jason Todd died under Bruce's care. Damian isn’t responsible for the way he was raised, but he’s often looked down on by others for his unusual childhood. But the troubled Robin is absolutely right that anyone who’s lived under Batman has no room to talk when it comes to an unconventional youth.