Damian Wayne, a.k.a. Robin, has been selected by the community as our latest Character of the Month and honestly, that's pretty surprising since he tends to be a polarizing character. Some think he's confident and lovable. Others think he's abrasive and obnoxious. There's just no denying he has quite an ego and tends to be pretty blunt. Love or hate the kid, we thought it would be fun to take a look at his history of rude yet hilarious comments. If your favorite one isn't below -- which is very possible since the kid has made dozens of hysterical remarks -- go ahead and share it in the comments.
BATGIRL #5
In BATGIRL #5-7, Robin and Stephanie Brown have an uneasy alliance. Okay, calling it "uneasy" really is putting it lightly. I mean, it reaches a point where Damian "jokes" that he wants to stab the heroine. Eventually, he tries to understand why Stephanie puts on the costume and fights crime. Everyone has a good motive or tragedy, so what's her deal? She explains it's not for vengeance, but to inspire others and give them hope. Naturally, that wouldn't really register with someone like Damian -- a kid who has been training with the League of Assassins since the age of 3 -- and when she calls him out for being too young to understand, she also thinks he's looking at her chest (to be fair, it certainly looks like he is in the panel), so she calls him out on that, too. That comment may embarrass some and cause others to apologize, but that's not Damian's style. Instead of giving a reasonable response, Damian fires back with totally uncalled for and amazingly mean reaction: "What 'chest'?" Ouch. Good for Stephanie for taking the high road and walking away. Don't feed the trolls, Stephanie!
BATMAN #657
Have you ever said "hi" to someone and the person completely ignored you? If so, we bet you thought that was pretty rude of them, yeah? Well, it sure beats how Damian responded to the first greeting he received from Tim Drake! When Damian finally met his father and was taken back to the Batcave, Tim had the audacity to do two things. First, he said, "Hi, how are you?" How dare he? The second thing: he's Robin. Seriously, Tim should know better. Damian views Tim as unworthy and adopted. He wants to inherit everything and views Tim as just someone who's in the way. So, when he doesn't respond to Tim's greeting, Tim follows up with a lighthearted comment. If you know Damian, then you know lighthearted just isn't his thing and he makes that crystal clear with his response. The scary thing is, Damian does severely injure the guy several pages later.
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #77
When Supergirl needs help solving a mystery, she seeks out the world's greatest detective, Batman. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't find Bruce Wayne. She does, however, find a Wayne: Damian Wayne. The little dude agrees to help and seems to have no problem rudely reminding Supergirl of the fact she's an alien, not human. Instead of viewing her as an ally, he treats her like another tool in his utility belt. When x-ray vision becomes helpful, he quite literally orders her to do it and comments that Batman and Superman had the same dynamic. Mutual respect between Bruce and Clark? Nah, Bruce was just using him all of those years! Damian may be brilliant and understand far more than many of us ever will, but being polite must be a baffling concept to him.
TEEN TITANS #89
Seeing as Damian is sometimes usually difficult to get along with, Dick Grayson wanted to give him more experience interacting with other young heroes and hoped the wee lad would make a friend or two along the way. So, Grayson brings him to one of his former teams: the Teen Titans. Well, Damian kind of gets off on the wrong foot, but you honestly didn't expect anything else from him, did you? He assumes he's being taken there to lead the team and immediately wants to remove Beast Boy from the roster. He of course expresses this opinion with the utmost amount of "respect."
BATMAN AND ROBIN #6
A villain doesn't need to wear darker colors to be all kinds of frightening. Joker is proof of this and so is Flamingo, a twisted villain who eats faces. He doesn't dress to intimidate; the way he conducts himself and what he does has that covered. He wears bright shades of purple and has pink hair and, with the right writer and artist, the foe is absolutely horrifying. However, Damian disagrees and expresses it in a way that Bruce really wouldn't be proud of. Now, it's possible Damian may be a little intimidated by this threat, but there's about a zero percent chance of him ever expressing that. He'd much rather make a crude comment about the way the guy dresses.
BATGIRL #17
Remember that uneasy alliance between Stephanie Brown and Damian? The two had to team-up once again and it made Stephanie realize she wants to help Damian. Yes, he gives her plenty of grief, but despite their differences, he's still a fellow hero and really just a 10-year-old kid. Sure, he's a gifted fighter with a brilliant tactical mind and what not, but he can't seem to simply enjoy life. She hopes to fix that by taking the little Wayne to a moon bounce. Damian's flipped across the rooftops and all that, but can she appeal to his inner child and make him enjoy one of life's simple pleasures? It looks like he does, but of course he's too cool to admit it and once again brings up his desire to stab her.
BATMAN AND ROBIN ANNUAL #1
"Best! Batman! Ever!" You're darn right, kid! While Batman is away, the Damian shall play! Stepping into a costume that's a total nod to BATMAN #666, Damian goes out to save Gotham City from all of the usual nonsense and craziness that occurs on its streets every day. He may just be a 10-year-old child, but that 10-year-old has no problem obliterating criminals and proving he has what it takes to save lives. If you watch him in action, it's easy to root for him and add him to your list of favorite heroes. How can you not love seeing the underdog beat down the goons? But upon hearing how he responds to the people he saves and expressing what he thinks about the happy kid he just saved? Well, he may lose a few fans. Damian, a simple "you're welcome, but please, call me Batman" would have worked! You can't help but find it a little cute because he's doing his Batman voice, though. You're also wondering what that sounds like, right? We know he can duplicate voices well, so that would be an interesting thing to witness.
Damian has said plenty of rude things over the years, but which comment is your favorite?