
But as time went on, that characterization became embarrassing--especially after Burt Ward's "Holy hand grenades, Batman!" portrayal of Robin on TV. Superhero comics in the 1970s swerved away from that camp, trying to show heroes with deeper and more realistic personalities (even as they continued to find themselves in unrealistic situations).
Furthermore, when Dick Grayson had solo adventures or led the Teen Titans, he stopped being the comic relief. Sure, he still had a sense of humor, but in the New Teen Titans series of the early 1980s the character who cracked lame jokes was Garfield Logan, a/k/a Changeling (previously and later called Beast Boy). So what could scripter Marv Wolfman do with Robin's famous puns?

There was a new young Robin at the time, the first Jason Todd. He tended to be more serious than Dick Grayson had been in previous decades, but superhero comics overall were more serious. More interesting shifts in Robin's sense of humor began with the introduction of the second Jason Todd after DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-86).

In short, Jason Todd's character stopped embodying some of the traditional "Reasons for Robin." And in late 1988 comic-book readers decided to kill him off.

Tim Drake as Robin still lightened Batman, but with emotional openness, not with broad jokes. On his teams, first Young Justice and then a reconstituted Teen Titans, Tim's Robin tended to be straight man. It's unclear how humor will play a role in his new identity as Red Robin.

What sort of humor can Damian brings to the Batman magazine? So far it all seems to be at his expense; we readers are encouraged to snicker at Damian's ego and excesses. Can he avoid the fate of the second Jason Todd?
NEXT WEEK: What Robin's jokes have come to mean for Batman.
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