PART 4 of BATMAN FAMILY ALBUM: Dick Grayson opens the closet …
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UPDATED 4/2/22: Bob Rozakis turns 71 on April 4! So, this weekend, we’re re-presenting our four-part interview series with the Bronze Age stalwart — BATMAN FAMILY ALBUM — from 2015. Dig it. — Dan
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Bored in class at Highland Park Middle School, it was very easy to let my mind wander and daydream that I was Dick Grayson, bored in class at Hudson University.
Sure, Batman was my favorite but I also identified with Robin, the Teen Wonder. It was very easy to imagine my town as a stand-in for New Carthage, y’know? (Actually, come to think of it, it kind of was — half the kids I knew had parents who taught or worked at Rutgers.)
But, man, that outfit. It looked good on Burt Ward but the older I got, the sillier it seemed in the comics. I was definitely not alone in this because one of the great occasional features of the Bronze Age Batman comics was when readers sent in their suggestions for a new costume for Robin.
You’d see these in Batman and, later, Batman Family. I would just stare at them, poring over the little details, imagining them in action or just choosing which was best — or worst. Some were great, others, well… (It wasn’t until years later that I saw that one of them was designed by none other than Norm Breyfogle, one of the classic Bat-artists of the ’80s and ’90s.)
The Bat-editors went all in for Detective Comics #481 — most of which would have been Batman Family #21 if the two titles hadn’t merged amid the infamous DC Implosion. The issue featured Does the Costume Make the Hero? –– a story about Robin trying out three new outfits that were in reality sent in by readers.
It was a neat little tale, written by Bob Rozakis, with memorable art by Don Newton and Dan Adkins. Robin even got a potential arch-foe out of the deal — the Raven — though he didn’t stick in the long run.
By story’s end, Dick decided to stay in short pants but, as it turned out, not for long: Within five years, He would embrace long johns as Nightwing.
Rozakis had a hand in a lot of those What If? Robin features, so I asked him about it for this BATMAN FAMILY ALBUM installment …
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Dan Greenfield: For several years in the ’70s, before the whole Nightwing thing came in, there was always that debate about Dick’s costume and whether he should change or put on pants or grow a mustache or put on a bandana or wear a disco suit or whatever it was. One of the great features of those books — whether it was Batman or Batman Family — was when fans would draw their Robin outfits and you would run maybe a two-page spread. Were you involved in those selections? Did you have anything to do with that?
Bob Rozakis: Yes, yes. We would get them regularly and Nelson Bridwell and Julie Schwartz and I would sit and say, “All right, this one’s good. that one’s good. Let’s use these.” In fact, one of the stories I did… we just decided we were gonna have some fun. We were like, “We’ve got all these different costumes. How about if he actually has to wear them?” So that was where that story came from. “Let’s come up with some way to get them into the story.” We had a number of people who were very ambitious as far as coming up with these costumes.
Dan: Did you ever think maybe you could sneak it through and actually get ‘em to change it or were you happy with the way things were? That was a fierce debate, about whether or not his outfit should change.
Bob: Oh, no, they were not gonna change the costume. There was too much licensing stuff involved. They could not change the basic costume, you know? He had to look like Robin.
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MORE
— BATMAN FAMILY ALBUM — Part 1: The Coolest Batbook of the Bronze Age. Click here.
— BATMAN FAMILY ALBUM — Part 2: The Ballad of Babs and Dick. Click here.
— BATMAN FAMILY ALBUM — Part 3: BATMAN FAMILY’s Best Baddie: THE JOKER’S DAUGHTER. Click here.
November 27, 2015
I regretted that last-minute mustache five minutes after the mailman picked up the letter to DC. Sigh.
November 27, 2015
Oh wow! That was yours? I remember seeing that as a kid.
November 27, 2015
Are you still In NC Carol? I wonder that every time I see that Image.
November 13, 2017
Still here, though my astrologer advises a move in the near future.
April 2, 2022
Loved that you submitted something. Were you influenced by Ringo perhaps? How did you feel when you saw it in the comic?
I submitted costumes and ideas for Dial-H , Kitty Pryde, and others I’m sure but never saw them in something like this.
April 4, 2022
I was never influenced by Ringo for anything. Least favorite Beatle! 😀 I sent in designs for Supergirl, and a design for Light Lass — which became her costume (more or less; Cockrum altered it a tad) for some time.
April 8, 2022
Wow! I never had the nerve to send anything but a couple of letters!
April 8, 2022
I rather like your design, probably more than any of them. And it’s worth noting how similar your utility belt is to the one George Perez put on the original Nightwing costume. Good job!
November 28, 2015
A comic strip about Dick Grayson’s unfortunate outfits over the years (so many of them!)….
http://toughguygoods.blogspot.com/2014/06/prince-street-news-dick-grayson-fashion.html
November 28, 2015
We actually ran this a while back as part of a Back Issue preview. It’s terrific!
November 28, 2015
One of the perfect things the show got right was Burt Ward’s Robin costume. It’s just perfect, actually. Don’t like any other alterations or versions.
And man! it’s great to see Don Newton art on it, too.
December 1, 2015
interesting always though the only costumes changes robin went through was deciding on his nightwing look and cool to learn that norm bryfoggle himself entered a submission.
April 2, 2022
you all are forgetting Norm Breyfogle–soon to be a Bat artist himself.
April 2, 2022
Also, Supergirl was quite the “Dress up Dolly” herself. Come to think of it, so was Big Boy’s girlfriend Dolly….
April 5, 2022
Robin the Teen Wonder was the only Robin I liked. Love 70s Batman comics. Batman solo most of the time, Robin either solo or teamed up with Batgirl. Such a great era.
April 8, 2022
Wow! Thanks for posting! I remember these! I didn’t remember there had been so many issues of “Batman Family.” Takes me back!
February 24, 2023
I remember seeing these costumes! I really liked the green one used in the story, even though it was pretty far from his regular red and yellow outfit. But having a jet pack would have made a lot of sense for a “Robin”.