15 June 2008

Shocked, Shocked!

I'm conferencing once again, so today's weekly Robin is a pointer to the "Shocked Robin" cover generator.

Back in 2004, folks on the Collectors Society bulletin board noted how many issues of Detective Comics and Batman from the 1950s showed Robin in the lower right corner, looking shocked.

Of course, for variety there were also some covers on which he appeared in the lower left corner, looking shocked.

I came to the same conclusions about this pattern as Mark Engblom at Comic Coverage:

  • It reflects Robin's role as surrogate for the young reader, observing Batman's plights with concern.
  • It was extraordinarily lazy of the DC editors who designed those covers.
Some folks at strix.org.uk responded by creating a "Shocked Robin" cover generator. It invites us to upload a scene, any scene, for Robin to be shocked by.

Since I can also be extraordinarily lazy, I took advantage of that offer to boost this blog's Oz content.
So what other works of art, book covers, or family photos could get an extra charge of drama from a shocked Robin in one corner?

2 comments:

J. L. Bell said...

Bill S. takes up the challenge.

Anonymous said...

And well done, Bill! I laughed in the library!