It seems like Damian has replaced his role in the Bat family and outside of it. The only thing I can think of is Tim starting Young Justice again.

Or DC can just make a Red Robin book. I'm sure Tim is popular enough to sustain his own solo series.

@rdclip: i agree id read and like to read up on Tim Drake. Damian is kind of erasing him honestly, he's the new teen titans leader and that was really one thing that made Tim stand out out now its gone.

@lapresagio: Tim as a member of the Teen Titans is relatively new. Prior to that, he had a long running solo Robin book and he was (and still is) a very beloved character. As well as the OP said, he was in the great original Young Justice book.

Either way, Tim in TT was ruined during the terrible N52 TT book. Damian TT feels fresh at least and doesn't seem like DC desperately trying to salvage the wreak of n52 TT.

Idealy, DC could give Tim a solo book and move him from Gotham. In 'tec they did say he was planning on going to college in another city. DC can just follow up on that. Bring Steph along and there you go--a fresh direction to the character rather than rehashing what he's been doing for the last decade.

We will have to see what happens with him in Rebirth when he finally comes back. After The Button events, Batman may end up hanging up the cape. Maybe Tim will return and take over.

I think he should descend from heaven and smite the pretender to his name: Damian.

@eto said:

@laughingbatman said:

We will have to see what happens with him in Rebirth when he finally comes back. After The Button events, Batman may endup hanging up the cape. Maybe Tim will return and take over.

What if in Doomsday Clock, Dr M just says "The Batman was supposed to die with your father" and erases him?!

@laughingbatman: .....

Omg.

There is no contingency plan for that. Interesting scenario, but I dont think it will happen.

I'm expexting something epic from johns. More of a pilosophical debate between Supes and Dr.M

Dont know why.

Also, art by Gary Frank. HECK YES

Lol I highly doubt it too, but that'd definitely shake things up!

@rdclip: As far as i know that has never been an issue, its just either that no one wants to write him or that DC doesnt want people to write him. Has been the case since the new 52 started.

That's because they are pushing Damian. Trying to make THE Robin.

Can Tim truly do that? He hasn't seen the light since new52 started. How well did his Red Roin run do?

Make him a Red Lantern

I sense sarcasm here, however it does make me think he may be a good blue lantern

@laughingbatman: Hey anything is possible. I never figured Supergirl would be a Red Lantern or that Superman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Black Adam would join the Sinestro Corps.

Guys stop being silly. We don't need another red lantern Supergirl or anything else that' shortlived. Tim Drake needs a serious purpose and place in the DC universe.

@redwingx: I think there are enough Tim Drake fans that his solo book could sell at least 20k a month. Certainly within at least as much as a low performing DC book like Cyborg or Blue Beetle.

For many long-time readers Tim is their Robin and, although I like him, Damian is a very polarizing character with a lot of haters.

I'd actually like to see DC play up his detective skills and just make Tim Drake P.I.

No costume. No coat or hat either. Just a well dressed, young detective who solves crimes. You could still have super villains and play up his super hero skills and connections but make it a little more grounded.

Just a thought.

Is there any writer in DC that can write mystery stories? Like ive read the entire DC line at the moment and i dont think anyone there is smart enough to write something like that. Heck, i dont think they are capable of writing meaningful character development at all.

I think Scott Snyder is a great writer. Also, if Jeff Lemire ever came back I think he could pull that off.

In all honesty though, I've stopped reading most current comics, so I can't really comment on who in DC is a good writer.

@Soulaf: There are great writers it's just that most of the really good comic writers seem to be more interested in working on creator-owned books than corporate properties.

Give him his own team?

@stumpy49er: Scott snyder hasnt written anything but shlock in almost a decade.

@rdclip: Yeah, thats my point kinda.

Lately ive been reading Dago and the depth of the characters and the stories far surpasses anything i get from the big two or any independents at the moment tho. They are cool stories, with intrigue and heart, they arent predictable but always leave you with a lesson, and they are all important to the character.

I agree something needs to happen for him. What I'm curious about is whether this whole thing about Oz is part of some future move to bump him from 2nd tier character to A-lister. If you look through a lot of his runs he's a guy who's almost always being given some sage prophecy about how critical a figure he is to the future. I'm talking about not just the Oz thing but also the conclusion to the "7 Days of Death" arc in Red Robin, and I'm pretty sure there was a prophetic thing about him in both New 52 TT and Batman Beyond pre-Rebirth. Part of me wonders if Johns didn't pick him for the disappearing act in 'tec because he's going to get some big role in the future.

If on the other hand they're stashing him because they don't know what to do with him.., well that's a shame and I'd love to see him in some new role. One idea that be kinda fun... has The Question shown up at all in Rebirth? I don't want Drake to be paranoid, but it might be fun if Drake became kind of a roving Rorschach/Question-esq PI who just kinda wandered around with lots of team ups 'superhero PI' type character.

That'd be good

Having now seen his return from 'death'. I feel more strongly than ever that Tim needs his own book. My personal preference would be him going off and forming his own team, because I think n52 TT, for all its flaws, showed more sides of his character in a team dynamic than say the pre-n52 Red Robin run. But honestly, I'd read any book whether it was a solo series (love the Tim Drake P.I. idea) or team, hell just make him a consultant or consulting detective and have each new story arc be a different team up.

I'd like to see him team up with Nightwing. Maybe he could make a new identity, something that actually separates him from the Bat family, not just something similar to 'Robin'. He could possibly become the new Batman, but I do stick with my thought that Dick is the only person who could actually replace Bruce, Tim could do a good job if written well.

Think there is some truth to this. Tim is a character that works really well as part of a team, but if left alone he just seems to be come a bit too much like Batman. Tynion and his Tec' team also highlighted his intelligence as a team tool, but I kinda feel like he is a bit redundant on that team as long as you have both Batman and Batwing there as well.

Actually when I read this comeback issue, I was actually struck with how this return, much like his passing, is put up as much more important to the people based in Gotham, while to the Teen Titans it's more of an afterthought. I mean, yes naturally it's more important to Bruce and the others, and it's also on top of Tim's priority list. But you'd think the Teen Titans, his closest friends in costume, would also have a reaction.
Take the small funeral panel in this issue, you see Bruce, and you see some woman I dont know who is, and you see the other Robins (past/current) and I guess it's Spoiler as well. We dont see the Titans, even if they were present (as noted in the last issue before Rebirth). I dont know, maybe it's just me that thinks Tim's significance beginning and ending with the world inside Detective Comics is a bit limited.

@johnclark43: True.

Anyways, because of this, I really think Tim should return to Teen Titans at some point. Since when written properly, then he's great on a team... while Damian, really isn't. Tim's like Nightiwng in that he works well with other people, while Damian is basically Bat-jerk all the time. Damian should go back to a duo role, either with Batman or with Jon where it seems easier to balance him in a reasonable manner. (Currently it might be more Percy's fault than anything since he's basically writing all the TT issues as a 'Damian vs Team').

@hemehero: I agree, he needs a new identity. Tynion's nostalgia trip to his Robin days has been fun and its nice to have his backstory back to what it should be, but I had the green shortsleeve costume and I hate him basically sharing the Robin identity with Damien of all people. If you're not going to make Red Robin unique than give him something that is. Hell, at this point, I'd be ok with him taking up the mantle of The Question.

@outside_85: Two things, first up I definitely agree regarding the team. In fact, when he's in a team his being sort of Batman-lite is actually an advantage to when he's solo where I agree it can become a bit of a bore. In a lot of ways he's like all the good parts of Batman in a team (his fearlessness, loyalty, devotion to his team, intelligence, and ability to inspire complete loyalty and support from those far more powerful than himself) with the drawbacks toned down somewhat (the scheming and hidden agendas).

In terms of his passing as it relates to Teen Titans, don't forget the last issue of New 52 Teen Titans was that team mourning his death (which creates its own weird continuity issue given that he died in the Rebirth continuity where none of that team seems to have existed). Since Rebirth we don't even know if Cassie, Connor, or Bart, let alone Bunker or Skitter even exist. And as for the current Titans lineup that mimics his pre-New52 team... they've all be so de-aged that I think it would be weird if they even knew him. Beast Boy and Starfire were the senior members of the team during the Geoff Johns run, now they're basically 15/16yos and give how young theyve made Starfire (who should nominally be on the same maturity level as her former fiancee Dick Grayson), I prefer to think of them as not really knowing about Tim aside from Damien.

@outside_85: The only time I've ever liked Damien was in the Morrison Batman & Robin run where he had a fun kind of odd couple thing going with Grayson, and even that I was only slightly above 'meh' on. I pretty much despise his character in any other context outside of being a villain (Batman Beyond, he's quite good). But I'm not sure I want Tim returning to Teen Titans, that feels like a step backwards, almost like a regression, especially (again) how much they've deaged characters who once were his peers or even senior to him.

Tim is back, and there is mention of Conner returning as well.....maybe a team up book between those two plus Spoiler? Now that I say that, it sounds like another Trinity/Red Hood and the Outlaws team....maybe more detective based?

@eto

@laughingbatman: I get where you're coming. It depends on the team roster and who's writing it, nevertheless.

All in all it could work but it should be different than the Outlaws of course. RHATO is life.

Now that all of Lonely Place of Living is over, I feel more and more strongly that Tim needs his Nightwing-moment. I'm not sure if he's 18 yet or not, but he's of age to heading off to college and its time for him to really find an identity of his own. Don't get me wrong, I loved every page of Lonely Place of Living, it was an incredible nostalgia trip to see him in what I will henceforth think of as his 'throwback uni' and it was great that Tynion restored Future Tim and somehow even managed to humanize him as an anti-hero you can almost sympathize with. I love literally everything that Tynion has done with Tim Drake since the start of Tec Rebirth, he's restored the character to his absolute best in pretty much every way. I'm fine with him continuing his affiliation with his Gotham Nights, but its time Tim got his own book.

My personal preference would be for a team up, apparently, Connor Kent Superboy is about to come back, but why not Cassie Sandsmark and Bart Allen? I don't want Tim to go back to Teen Titans, because that feels like a regression to a stage in his development he's now outgrown. One thing that might be fun would be to bring back an Outsiders book, and have Tim lead that team, hell Brian Michael Bendis could write it, I feel like he might be a good writer for Tim. At this point I don't really care, I just feel like great as its been Tim is a character ready to make a new name for himself the way Grayson did with Nightwing, his history has been restored, he's back to his true character, its time to take the next step forward.