The trouble with DC having a title called Batman and Robin is, well, they've got to have a Robin. If the cover to this month's issue is to be believed, that new Robin could very well be The Dark Knight Returns' Carrie Kelley.

However, series writer Peter Tomasi sort of stops that train of thought in its tracks in an interview with The New York Post: "What you'll find out once you crack the book, is that she's not exactly the 'new Robin,'" he said, though he adds she'll be around "a helluva lot longer than one issue."

How exactly can TDKR's Carrie Kelley be around, given that Batman is under 50? Tomasi doesn't exactly explain, though he says this version is actually a shade older than the one who appeared in Frank Miller's classic 1986 series.

"She's a college kid who's got spunk and speaks her mind," he said. "This is not an alternate-earth Robin, this is simply a girl named Carrie Kelley, who we learn knew Damian, which in turn weaves her into the fabric of the DC Universe for the first time in 25 years."

The impact of the "WTF" moments on this month's DC covers have ranged from complete fakeouts (Action Comics) to series-changing retoolings (Stormwatch). And according to a recent interview Tomasi did with Comic Book Resources, the plan for B&R is to have the series take on a Batman team-up theme, with Red Robin being the first to come on. So it's hard to say just how much of a role Kelley will play in the series going forward.

Even so, Tomasi guarantees that Kelley is in DC's New 52 Universe to stay. The issue, from Tomasi and artist Pat Gleason, hits April 10.

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