It seems to me that DC seems to be taking very similar steps in the New 52 to introduce Tim Drake, in his Red Robin persona, as they did with Dick Grayson as Nightwing back in the 80s.

The Costume:

Tim has been reintroduced in the New 52 with a costume that I find similar to Nightwing's debut in the Teen Titans. The two costumes give off similar vibes with the yellow accentuations. Aside from the wings on Red Robin's costume, they both feel similar. Another important aspect of the dramatic costumes is that it sets them apart from Robin.

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Team Leader:

Another way that Tim and Dick have been made similar since the New 52 reboot is that they are both shown to lead a "new" team of younger heroes. Nightwing took over leadership of the Teen Titans when he was first introduced, forming a team of sidekicks that had not been seen before. In the New 52 Tim is seen forming a team of young heroes known as the first of its kind. This similarity is used to show Tim's leadership abilities and connection to the DC Universe in a similar way that DC handled Nightwing's departure from Batman.

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Robin Replacement:

Both Tim Drake and Dick Grayson have also been replaced in similar ways. For Dick, it was Jason Todd that next took over as Robin, whereas Damian takes over for Tim. Both of these replacement Robins have similar personalities, and both are drastically different from the preceding Robin. Both Jason and Damian have darker, more rebellious attitudes than the ones before them. By choosing Jason and Damian to replace Dick and Tim, DC is encouraging followers of the previous Robin to buy their new book and continue following their adventures, rather than just be complacent with the new Robin.

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There are many similarities between Nightwing and Red Robin and their departures as Robin. Could this be DC's purposeful method of trying to build Red Robin to the same level of popularity that Nightwing currently enjoys? Do you think that in the next few years we will start to see Red Robin make his way into DC animated adventures to continue boosting popularity?

There is one huge critical flaw in your theory.

Tim Drake is more popular than Dick Grayson in all but one metric that Tim can never broach. Dick is only more popular in the mass media because they refuse to introduce him to the public at large as the character that he is rather than some amalgam of Jason, Tim, and Dick where Dick in the public eye is more akin to Tim.

Somebody actually managed to make this look good?!!! Not as good as his old costume but still

Interesting analysis there are certainly some similarities but at least Lobdell has been trying very hard to make sure their personalities don't seem to similar

@BlackArmor: haha I had to include that picture as it is the best representation of Tim's new costume that I've seen. This picture has convinced me that if they would just get rid of some of the unnecessary arm bands and change the majority of yellow in his costume to black, it could look good.

@BlackArmor said:

Somebody actually managed to make this look good?!!! Not as good as his old costume but still

Interesting analysis there are certainly some similarities but at least Lobdell has been trying very hard to make sure their personalities don't seem to similar

That is the best I have seen Red Robin for the New 52!

There are definitely similarities between the approach, which I personally think is a problem as there are enough similarities between all the Robins as it is. Its bad enough Tim's using a name that his two older brothers used first.

IDK, the DC animated universe has always been a little tricky, but Tim was in The New Batman Adventures back in the day. And he's a part of the team in Young Justice right now. I don't think they're going to have him become Red Robin though. In fact I don't think we'll see Tim as Red Robin unless its in a movie or they create a series of Bruce/Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin.