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, Bruce Wayne joins a very exclusive art class which is being given by the Joker, who proceeds to take his students hostage. Because he is too young to drive, Robin takes the bus from the Bat cave and enters the Joker's studio classroom suite by himself. Bruce Wayne joins the fight, but Joker's henchmen subdue him, and the clown prince of crime knocks the Boy Wonder face first into a red, adhesive clay which sticks to his mask, depriving the youthful sidekick of his sight and ability to defend himself. After laughing at the poor boy as he attempts to pick off the sticky substance with his gloves, Joker's henchmen capture Robin and tie him to a spinning beam amidst a multitude of swinging blades.
In the next episode, Bruce Wayne, who is tied to a chair, manages to crawl towards and block the mechanism that causes the beam to spin and the blades to swing, allowing Robin to untie himself and then the un-caped crusader.Favorite shots:
For fans of Robin peril, this pair of episodes is one of the best.
Once again, a Robin solo mission proves to be a failure waiting to happen. However, in this case, and unlike "Riddler's False Notion", "Cat and the Fiddle", "Spell of Tut", and "Joker's Last Laugh", Batman's absence is a circumstance of Bruce Wayne's being held hostage, rather than being Batman's conscious choices. Unfortunately, the Boy Wonder is unusually susceptible to blunders and bad choices which get him into trouble.
First, Robin makes the conscious choice of confronting the Joker and his henchmen by himself, without Batman. He rejects the commissioner's offer of assistance and even withholds the location of where the hostages are being held. While Bruce Wayne is there to help, he is there without costume and utility belt, and could even have been bound and unable to assist. The Boy Wonder's apparent 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.
Because he is too young to drive, Robin takes the bus from the Bat cave to the Joker's studio classroom suite by himself. While the bus ride occurs off camera, the Boy Wonder probably generated quite a sensation along the way, with his crimefighting reputation and colorful outfit. Hopefully, the young sidekick was able to avoid any ignorant ridicule and bullying along the way.
Robin enters the Joker's studio classroom suite by himself. Bruce Wayne joins the fight, but Joker's henchmen subdue him, and the clown prince of crime knocks the Boy Wonder face first into a red, adhesive clay which deprives the youthful sidekick of his sight and ability to defend himself. While Robin is helpful at assisting in a fight, the youthful sidekick has a poor record fighting as the primary combatant. 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..
Joker knocks Robin face first into a red, adhesive clay which sticks to his mask, depriving the youthful sidekick of his sight and ability to defend himself. After laughing at the poor boy as he attempts to pick off the sticky substance with his gloves, Joker's henchmen capture the Boy Wonder. Fortunately, the clown prince of crime resists the temptation of taking advantage of Robin's helplessness by having his henchmen pummel the sightless Boy Wonder.
Robin is tied to a spinning beam amidst a multitude of swinging blades. 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.
Fortunately, in the next episode, Bruce Wayne, who is tied to a chair, manages to crawl towards and block the mechanism that causes the beam to spin and the blades to swing, allowing Robin to untie himself and then the un-caped crusader.
Robin and Bruce Wayne use the blades to immobilize two of Joker's henchmen and use their fists to subdue the others, with the clown prince of crime fleeing the room. However, Joker prevails upon one of the female victims to persuade the other hostages to drop their kidnapping charges while everyone ignores the attempted murder of the Boy Wonder.
While Robin has the crimefighting reputation and colorful outfit, the Boy Wonder still looks like the sidekick next to the taller, more masculine Bruce Wayne, even without his Batman costume. Robin has a cute, boyish face, clean-cut, brown hair, and a compact, athletic physique which fits perfectly with his character's acrobatic background. However, due to his youth, inexperience, and smaller size, the Boy Wonder is clearly the weak link in the Dynamic Duo, even when Batman is absent.
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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