Duke Thomas

Everyone loves comic book trivia, but with decades of comics behind, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in comics in our continuing video series. You think you know comics? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we're taking a look at Robin, the Boy Wonder!

The lead story in All Star Batman has been getting a lot of attention for the over-the-top action of Batman and Two-Face on a road trip that finds them pit against bad guys like Gentleman Ghost and the KGBeast. And look, I'm not saying that Batman dismantling the Black Spider's arms with a chainsaw and then riding off in an 18-wheeler isn't something we should be talking about, but it's important that we don't overlook the backup story either, where Scott Snyder, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire are putting Batman's newest ally through a training program called the Cursed Wheel. ComicsAlliance spoke to Snyder and Shalvey about how they've developed Duke Thomas as a character set apart from Batman's family of sidekicks, the striking visuals of the Cursed Wheel, and the challenges of showing us what Gotham City looks like in daylight.

Q: There's hasn't been a new sidekick in years. What happened to the concept of the sidekick? -- @RedEarth18 A: I'm not sure that sidekicks are really all that in danger of extinct, but I do think you're right to say that sidekicks aren't as prominent as they used to be, and I think there's a reason for that. And a lot of it has to do with how you define the term.

Since the dawn of the Silver Age, legacy characters have been a staple of superhero fiction, and having a new character step into a well loved role can open up new opportunities for writers and artists to tell different kinds of stories. In The Replacements, we’ll look back at the notable and not-so-notable heroes and villains to assume some of the most iconic mantles in the superhero genre. The first truth of Batman is that he was never alone, he always had help and he's almost always had a Robin by his side. Bruce Wayne has always needed the lightness of Robin to balance the darkness of Batman, and despite some tragedy along the way, the title of Boy (and Girl) Wonder is one of the most enduring legacies in the DC Universe.