The Comics Alliance Halloween Costume Countdown: Robin, Part One

Halloween is just around the corner, and here at ComicsAlliance, and one of the best parts of the month is gearing up for a night of costumes! It’s the one time of year when even people like me who could never cut it in our Best Cosplay Ever feature can drop by the local department store and walk out with the ability to dress up as our favorite characters.

But is that really a good thing? I have my doubts, which is why I’m spending every day taking on the store-bought costumes inspired by our favorite things. Today, we're taking a look at Batman's sidekick as we rifle through the bizarrely popular line of Robin costumes! Seriously, I think there are actually more variations on this one than there are of Batman himself.

Option 1: Young Justice Robin Costume

I never really got into the Young Justice cartoon, but I actually like this design for Robin and think it translates to a Halloween costume pretty well -- even if, you know, a Robin suit with dark colors is going to require more Power Rangers-approved reflective tape for safety than you might have on hand. What I don't like, which should be apparent if you've been following the Costume Countdown all month, is the friggin' terrifying plastic mask that gives you a blank, expressionless face capped off by actual human eyes underneath. Is it just me? Did no one else think that was a weird and kind of horrifying technique for making costumes that really lets you understand why the Joker flipped out and bashed it with a crowbar until it was dead? Or is that the point?

If it is, it's working, because I just imagined an entire crowd of silent children turning in unison while wearing these, and now I'm not going to get any sleep tonight or ever. Probably best to just move on to the domino masks.

Option 2: Adult Deluxe Teen Titans Costume

You know, I don't really think it's funny to make a "Robin's Dad" costume when Robin's dad is dead. Oh, wait, was there an episode where Robin was hit with some kind of aging ray and also a sit-ups ray and also a weird-loose-skin-around-his-elbows ray? That would explain this one.

Option 3: Robin Muscle Chest

Hey, did you know you could buy just the muscle chest and wear it as a costume? And did you also know that these are advertising photos that are meant to make these costumes look as good as they possibly can? I just put in my order -- I hope mine is also about a foot too short!

Option 4: Ultra Supreme Robin Costume

I mentioned this briefly when I covered the similar Batman costume, but the movie Batman and Robin came out 15 years ago. Even with its bad reputation, I'll buy that someone bought the super-expensive Batman costume because, you know, it's Batman, but there is no way in Hell that anyone has ever been motivated to pay hundreds of dollars to dress up as Chris O'Donnell's Robin.

There is only one scenario in which I can imagine someone buying this, and that's as a purely spiteful act of revenge for a friend suggesting a Batman-themed group costume and then immediately claiming Batman for himself. Nothing'll throw off a party like Schumacher, and that's coming from someone who thinks that movie isn't that bad.