Robin the Boy Wonder is the eager, youthful sidekick of Batman, the Caped Crusader, the vigilante crime-fighting alias of millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. Introduced in 1940 as orphaned acrobat Dick Grayson in the DC comic book series Batman, Robin was played by Burt Ward in the 1966 television series on ABC. As played by Burt Ward, Robin has a cute, boyish face, clean-cut, brown hair, and a compact, athletic physique which fits perfectly with his character's acrobatic background. His colorful outfit, with his dark green mask, gloves, and booties, his bright, red shirt, his shiny, yellow cape, his tight, green panties, and his form-fitting, flesh-color leggings, certainly catches the audience's attention.
Due to his youth, inexperience, and smaller size, the Boy Wonder is clearly the weak link in the Dynamic Duo, which their opponents often seek to exploit. Robin is also cocky, enthusiastic, and overly eager to prove his independent crime-fighting abilities, especially to Batman. He is often in trouble and in need of rescue.
This week's villain is Joker.
In the first episode, claiming that he needs funds to make up for his embezzlement, Bruce Wayne convinces the Joker to produce counterfeit money with the promise of a bank position. Robin enters the scene by himself, catching them in the act, and calls off any backup, insisting that he can handle the situation himself. Then, fighting the Joker's robot henchmen alone, the outnumbered Boy Wonder is eventually overpowered and tied to a conveyor belt, leading to a giant press printing comic books.
In the next episode, Alfred, posing as Batman, enters the scene and disrupts the proceedings with a gas pellet, causing Joker and his henchmen to flee. Left behind, Bruce Wayne unties Robin while Alfred uses a portable fan to clear the gas.
Favorite shots:
For fans of Robin peril, this pair of episodes is one of the best.
As in "Riddler's False Notion", "Cat and the Fiddle", and "Spell of Tut", it appears that sending Robin on a solo mission is failure waiting to happen. However, in the prior episodes, Batman made seemingly reasonable judgment calls with theoretically realistic chances of success, except for the practical reality that the Boy Wonder is unusually susceptible to blunders and bad choices which get him into trouble. In this case, even the theoretically realistic chance of success appears to be absent.
Robin enters the scene by himself, catching Joker in the act, and calls off any backup, insisting that he can handle the situation himself. The Boy Wonder's desire to apprehend the clown prince of crime single handedly and to claim sole credit for bringing in the Joker certainly qualifies as a blunder and a bad choice. However, with Bruce Wayne posing as one of Joker's accomplice and the elderly Alfred posing as Batman, Robin had no backup to call to help him in the upcoming fight.
Fighting the Joker's robot henchmen alone, the outnumbered Boy Wonder is eventually but inevitably overpowered. While Robin has proven to be a helpful assistant in a fight, the youthful sidekick has a poor record fighting by himself, especially when he is outnumbered. The Boy Wonder is certainly energetic and quick on both the offense and the defense. However, Robin's fighting style appears to be very exhausting, and he seems to have difficulty delivering the knock-out blow and to sustain major damage when he is on the receiving end.
Robin is tied to a conveyor belt which leads to a giant press printing comic books. As usual, the handsome, athletic sidekick looks too young and cute to kill, especially in his dark green booties, his bright, red shirt, his shiny, yellow cape, his tight, green panties, and his form-fitting, flesh-color leggings. However, I was personally curious whether he would have produced an equally attractive comic book.
Fortunately, in the next episode, Alfred, posing as Batman, enters the scene and disrupts the proceedings with a gas pellet, causing Joker and his henchmen to flee.
Later in the second episode, Joker announces that Bruce Wayne is engaged to marry his moll Josie, prompting the city to declare the millionaire mentally incompetent and taking him away in a strait jacket. With Alfred posing as Batman again, Robin pursues and frees Wayne.
This blog is intended to promote the appreciation of Burt Ward's portrayal of Robin in the 1966 television series "Batman". You may purchase both episodes at the following link:
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