Warning! Contains spoilers for Robins #1.
Long-time Batman partner Tim Drake, the third Robin, has on a long journey of deciding what codename he should settle on. Currently, he’s decided to return to Red Robin, the mantle he claimed when Damian Wayne became “regular” Robin. But that hasn’t stopped young Damian from viciously mocking Tim for the most embarrassing name that he sported for a little while in recent years – “The Drake.”
Robins, by Tim Seeley and Baldemar Rivas, was the winner of DC’s Round Robin Fan Tournament, where fans voted on a new DC miniseries. The first issue, released on October 16, 2021, begins a story that puts all the former Robins together to pursue a mysterious villain who claims to be the “original” Robin. The principal conflict set up in the first issue is the question of whether or not being Robin has had a positive impact on the young heroes’ lives.
However, before the main conflict gets going, the story begins with the Robins taking down the gang known as the Anarkies. While trying to defuse a bomb set up by the thugs, Damian shouts at Tim to step away, instinctively calling him by his real surname, Drake. Tim responds by telling the current Robin to only use codenames, but Damian responds by pointing out the obvious fact that Tim literally used to use “Drake” as a codename.
Tim ignores the comment, but it’s hard to argue with Damian’s stone-cold logic. Tim’s old codename is pretty silly and arguably downright dangerous. Firstly, the name has become sort of a punching bag, even to the point of being made fun of by Harley Quinn in-universe, due to its lack of creativity and because it usually refers to a male duck (clearly a more impressive bird than a robin). But secondly, even if the duck-name didn’t have the silly connotation that it does, that still doesn’t erase the fact that Tim was fighting crime using his legal name, despite very much still having a secret identity. The fact that this never occurred to Tim, who has the reputation of being the smartest Robin, is somewhat astounding.
One has to wonder whether or not this means Tim’s secret identity is in danger of being completely compromised now that his brief time as “The Drake” has come and gone. After all, if Harley Quinn knew about the codename, then it may very well be public knowledge, and Red Robin will theoretically have to go to extra lengths to hide the fact that his old superhero name is the same as his real name. But as long as Damian gets to keep making fun of him for it, the current Robin will probably be satisfied with the way things have gone.