Warning: Spoilers for Batman: Urban Legends #10!
When it comes to the storied Bat-Family of Gotham City, Tim Drake aka Robin is a fan-favorite, and now he’s just admitted that coming out as bisexual was sidelined all because of his crimefighting lifestyle. Seeking inner happiness and reflecting on his personal life has made Tim realize a lot as of late, so let’s hope Batman takes a cue from his bat-colleague with this one.
Admitted to in the first story of Batman: Urban Legends #10, “A Carol of Bats,” by Meghan Fitzmartin and Alberto Albuquerque Jimenez, this short centers around Tim Drake arriving at The Garage only to find Batman attempting to wrap himself up after being stabbed. Helping him out by stitching his wound, Tim asks Batman for help on a case that will allow them to do some real good in Gotham, something Tim thinks the unusually broody Batman needs at the moment.
Setting out to quell some unrest in the Gothamites that are looting and scaring away people at the local church, Batman and Robin take to the streets to remind these citizens that just because they’re scared and angry doesn’t mean what they’re doing is right. Eventually able to peacefully stop further violence against the church and help some of Gotham’s less fortunate citizens at the same time, Robin has a brief chat with Batman afterward about his recent bisexual realization and how fighting crime has slowed this realization down.
Saying, “Bernard was a friend of yours from school,” Batman initiates a conversation in the most direct yet vague way possible in regards to Tim's new relationship. Responding by saying, “Right, yeah. I think… I think I’ve always kind of known,” the subject of Tim’s sexuality is broached in a way that gets him to admit something that helps to explain why it took him so long to fully embrace his sexual preferences. Continuing to say, “I mean. It’s hard to have personal enlightenment when you’re battling super-villains in tights every night,” Tim confirms that by focusing so much on his night job, it effectively stopped him from truly getting in tune with himself and who he is outside of the spandex, pushing back the official reveal of his bisexuality, a fact about Tim that fans have more or less known about for quite some time now.
Coming out as bisexual earlier in the Batman: Urban Legends series, Tim and Bernard’s budding relationship is only a surprise to fans that haven’t read Tim’s original solos series from the 90s where it was danced around whether or not their friendship is more. And being the main Robin at a time when Damian Wayne and Red Hood hadn’t yet made themselves known, him never fully acting on his bisexual feelings due to the heavy workload of being Batman’s only sidekick makes total sense, now made even more apparent as Tim has distanced himself from constantly being at Batman’s side over the years.
So while it’s good to see Tim finally come to terms with who he is as a person as he tries to embrace happiness in his personal life, being Robin makes it tough to take a moment to slow down and do so in the first place. Tim Drake is a Robin unlike any other, but that doesn’t mean he has everything worked out the way he wants or needs it to be just yet.