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bitimdrake · 3 years

Note

Hey, I read one of your fics on ao3 and you offered timelines in the notes? I'd love to know where to even start, but one for the batfamily focusing on the Robins would be really nice. Thanks!

At all times I would love to ramble on about DC comics timelines, yes, absolutely. Possibly relevant to your interests: the Dick Grayson specific timeline I did earlier.

As for where to start, that depends on you! Personally, I felt compelled to read things in order--but most people just pick a character and read piecemeal. If you like the latter approach, you can very likely search for “[character] best stories” and get some good recommendations. If you like the former--or if any particular item/period of time on this long list appeals to you--feel free to come back and I will give you more details of which issues specifically to read.

(And my real rec for anyone just starting batfam comics is to ignore everyone telling you to read Batman: Year One. They do not have your best interests at heart. Never read anything written by Frank M*ller. Also, you don’t need to read it; I promise you already know everything it has to say. If you want to start at the beginning-ish, consider Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet and Robin: Year One for some of Dick’s early time as Robin.)

Onward to my very long, probably more information that you wanted, timeline for the Post-Crisis era, because this is a post-crisis supremacy blog. This isn’t so much a reading list, but I have included references.

The Early Years

Dick Grayson’s parents are killed by Tony Zucco. In some order or another, he is taken in as Bruce Wayne’s ward, becomes Robin, and works with Batman to have Zucco arrested. (Refs - original: Detective Comics vol 1 #37 from 1940. This has been retold an uncountable number of times, e.g. Robin Annual #4, 1995.)

Age - Dick is anywhere from 8 to 12; like I said, this story has be retold so many times. To make the timeline work with Tim’s later introduction, I tend to declare him 11 here.

Batman and Superman meet and learn each other’s identities. (Refs - original: Superman vol 1 #76 from 1952. This has also been retold, e.g. Superman/Batman Annual #1 from 2006.) Robin and Superman also become friends :)

The Justice League of America forms. Batman is usually a founding member, but sometimes not, depending on which of many retcons are currently in place.

Dick forms the Teen Titans with Garth/Aqualad, Wally West/Kid Flash, Donna Troy/Wonder Girl, and Roy Harper/Speedy. (Refs - original: The Brave and the Bold vol 1 #54, 1964, then flashbacks in Teen Titans vol 1 #53, 1978, then The Brave and the Bold vol 1 #60, 1965; and onto Teen Titans vol 1, 1966-. Partially retold in Teen Titans: Year One, 2008.)

Ages - Dick is in his early teens, as are all his friends.

Barbara Gordon dresses up like Batman to mess with her dad at a costume party, ends up actually fighting a crime, and decides to stick around as Batgirl. This could probably be placed before the Teen Titans and/or JLA form without messing up the timeline. (Refs - Detective Comics vol 1 #359, 1967; retold in Batgirl: Year One, 2003.)

Age - Depending on your choice of retcon, Barbara is either a few years older than Dick and in her late teens, or the same age as Dick and in her early teens.

If you chose the version where Babs is older (hell yeah), then Dick has a crush on the cool, older Batgirl. If you chose the version where they’re the same age (meh), then they dated as teens and went to prom together.

The Teen Titans split up. (Ref - Teen Titans vol 1 #53, 1978.)

Dick goes to Hudson University (Ref - Batman #217, 1969) ...but drops out after the first semester (Ref - Detective Comics vol 1 #495, 1980). Yes, Dick was in the same semester of college for a full irl decade.

The 80s

Dick forms the New Teen Titans with Raven, Wally, Donna, Koriand’r/Starfire, Victor Stone/Cyborg, and Garfied Logan/The Changeling/Beast Boy. (Ref - New Teen Titans vol 1, 1980-). Dick splits time between the Titans in NYC and working with Batman in Gotham.

Bruce quits the JLA and forms the Outsiders here, because he is going through an edgy phase and also wants to be in charge. (Ref - Batman and the Outsiders vol 1, 1983.)

Some time later, he leaves the Outsiders and joins a new Justice League. (Refs - Batman and the Outsiders #32, 1986; Justice League vol 1, 1987.)

Bruce notices Dick is growing up and starting to move on, so preemptively fires him to avoid being left. (Spectacular parenting there.) Dick becomes Nightwing. (Refs - Batman #408, 1987; Tales of the Teen Titans vol #44, 1984; and flashbacks in Batman #416, 1988. Retold in an imo worse version in Nightwing: Year One, 2005.)

Age - Dick is 19.

Very soon after, Bruce finds recently-orphaned street kid Jason Todd stealing his tires and, after a failed attempt to get Jason safe elsewhere, adopts Jason himself and makes him Robin. (Refs - Batman #408-409, 1987.)

Age - Jason is 12. That makes Dick ~7 years older than him.

I can’t remember if Dick had already moved to NYC or only moved after being fired, but either way, he ends up living there. He also gets into a long-term romantic relationship with Kory (Starfire). (New Teen Titans.)

Dick rarely returns to Gotham during this period, but he does meet Jason and, though still mad at Bruce, gives Jason his blessing. (Refs - again, Batman #416; retold in Nightwing: Year One.)

Bruce quits another Justice League.

By this time, Barbara, working as a librarian, has become much less active as Batgirl, but still has some chances to work with with Robin!Jason.

As a civilian, Babs is shot by the Joker and paralyzed. (Refs - Batman: The Killing Joke, 1988, but don’t read that and instead read a story actually about Barbara and her recovery in Batman Chronicles #5, “Oracle: Year One”, 1996.)

Bruce grows more worried about Jason and benches him for his safety. Jason runs away to find his mom. Jason dies. (Refs - Batman #426-429, “A Death in the Family”, 1989. Dick finds out in New Titans vol 1 #55, 1989.)

Age - Jason is 15.

A mysterious new hacker, Oracle, starts to work with the Suicide squad... (Refs - periodic issues from Suicide Squad vol 1 #23-38, 1989-1990.)

Tim Drake tries to convince Dick to become Robin again, fails, and is instead encouraged to become Robin himself. (Refs - “Batman: A Lonely Place Of Dying” crossover with Batman and New Titans, 1989.)

Age - Tim is 13. This makes him almost exactly 2 years younger than Jason, 9ish years younger than Dick.

Batman meets and eventually recruits mute mechanical genius Harold Allnut. He lives in the Batcave?? Comics ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ (Refs - Batman #448 Detective Comics #615 Batman #449, Batman #458, 1991.)

Tim’s mother dies and his father is put in a coma. He stays with Bruce for a few...months? weeks?...until his dad wakes up. The Drakes move into the manor next door to the Waynes, and Tim leaves boarding school to go to public school instead. (Refs – Detective Comics #618-621, Batman #480-481.)

Helena Bertinelli starts operating in Gotham as Huntress.

Stephanie Brown first appears as the Spoiler for a single story arc to thwart her dad. (Ref – Detective Comics vol 1 #647-649, 1992.)

Age – Stephanie is later stated to be a year older than Tim, making her 14 or 15 here.

(Did my section for the 80s stretch into 1992? Yes. Shut up. The Batman 80s last until Knightfall, okay.)

Non-Stop Story Arcs

Bruce meets Jean-Paul Valley, a nice college student who is semi-brainwashed to become the super-violent vigilante Azrael, and takes him under his wing. (Refs – First appearance in Batman: Sword of Azrael, 1992.)

Tim starts dating his first girlfriend, Ariana Dzerchenko. (Ref – She first appears in Robin III, 1992, but they start dating off-screen.)

New villain Bane breaks Bruce’s back. Bruce appoints Jean-Paul Valley as Batman in his place. This will prove to be a terrible idea. (Ref – “Knightfall“, 1993.)

Stephanie reappears as Spoiler, working alongside Robin to foil her dad again. irl, Stephanie became a supporting character in the Robin book here, so she starts to appear more consistently, mostly with Tim. (Refs – Robin vol 2 #3-5, 1994.)

Bruce, still with a broken back, goes traveling Europe on a rescue mission. Alfred despairs for how little he’s looking out for himself and resigns in protest. In Gotham, Tim is locked out of the cave by an erratic and dangerous JPV-as-Batman (a.k.a. “Azbats”), who is getting progressively more violent. (Harold, apparently, is just hiding in one of the side tunnels during this time.) (Ref – Knightquest, 1993-1994.)

Meanwhile, Dick and Kory’s relationship falls apart, they almost get married and then don’t, and the New Titans split up.

Bruce, magically healed, returns to Gotham and takes his mantle back from JPV with Tim and Dick’s help. (Ref – KnightsEnd, 1994.) JPV is kinda sorta maybe better now, though, so he gets to keep working in Gotham as Azazel.

Bruce immediately decides he wants a vacation and Dick becomes Batman for the first time while he’s gone, with Tim as his Robin, until Bruce returns. (Ref – “Batman: Prodigal“, 1994-1995. ♥♥)

Stephanie starts to realize she wants to do the vigilante thing for real, not just when her dad is around. (Refs – Robin vol 2 #15-16, #25-26, and on...)

Barbara starts to regularly work with the Batfam as Oracle around this time.

Dick goes to London to convince Alfred to return. (Ref - Nightwing: Alfred’s Return, 1995.)

A plague is released on Gotham. The whole team comes together to help, and also Tim catches it and almost dies. (Ref - “Batman: Contagion“, 1996.) Soon after, said plague returns and it turns out Ra’s al Ghul is involved. (Ref - “Batman: Legacy“, 1996.)

Dick moves to Bludhaven and settles in as the city’s protector. (Ref - Nightwing vol 2, 1996-)

Meanwhile, Barbara starts working with some female superheroes, particularly Black Canary, in what will eventually become the Birds of Prey. (Refs - Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey, 1996-1997.)

Dick and Helena have a one night stand. Oops. Dick’s love life is complicated. (Ref - Nightwing/Huntress, 1998.)

Tim meets Superboy, meets Bart Allen/Impulse, and later saves a mystery girl called Secret with them. (Refs - Robin Plus Impulse, 1996; WF3: World's Finest Three (Superboy/Robin), 1996; Young Justice: The Secret, 1998.) The four of them form Young Justice. (Refs - JLA: World Without Grown-Ups, 1998; Young Justice vol 1, 1998.)

A huge earthquake hits Gotham, sending the city into chaos and again assembling the core family. Large parts of the manor and batcave are destroyed. (Refs - “Batman: Cataclysm”, “Aftershocks”, 1998.)

Tim breaks up with Ariana so he and Stephanie can start dating. Stephanie realizes she’s pregnant (not Tim’s lmao; he has never ever had sex) and puts the Spoiler costume aside for awhile. (Refs - Robin vol 2 #57, 1998.)

Age - Stephanie is 15.

Dick & co reform the Titans because they miss each other. (Refs - JLA/Titans #1-3, 1998-1999. Titans vol 1, 1999.)

(Harold seems to leave around this time, vanishing into Gotham to repair things all about.)

You how Gotham sucks, and it sucks even more now that it got hit by that earthquake? Let’s wall it off and not let anyone in or out! Bruce tells everyone to leave him aloooone. Dick stays in Bludhaven. Tim’s dad moves the family to Keystone City. Bruce goes away to sulk for a while before returning. Helena Bertinelli decides to actually get shit done in Gotham and dons a cowl--which will later get her dubbed Batgirl, even though she SHOULD have been batWOMAN okay--while still keeping up appearances as Huntress. Barbara also stays in Gotham, and also gets shit done. (Ref - Batman: No Man’s Land, 1999.)

Stephanie has her baby, who is given up for adoption. Tim convinces his dad to return to Gotham. (Ref - Robin vol 2 #64-65, 1999.)

Bruce is an asshole to Helena for dumb manipulation reasons and a combo of factors stop her from being Batgirl. (Still in No Man’s Land.)

Bruce realizes working alone is actually super inefficient, and calls all his allies back to Gotham. Also!!!! Cassandra Cain first appears, immediately impresses both Barbara and Bruce, and is given the mantle of Batgirl. (Still in NML.)

Ages - Cass is 17 when she’s introduced, making her about the same age as Jason, ~1 year older than Steph, ~2 years older than Tim, and ~7 years younger than Dick.

No Man’s Land finally ends and Gotham is reopened to the public.

Early 2000s

Tim gets enrolled in a (local) boarding school as punishment for multiple disappearances. (Ref: Robin vol 2 #74, 2000.)

Dick and Barbara start dating, after a very long flirty lead-up.

Cass, living with Barbara in the clock tower, is magically made to understand language, though she still has a lot of struggles speaking. (Ref - Batgirl vol 1 #3-6, 2000.)

Things actually get to continue for a little while without being extra horrible, until Jim Gordon is shot and decides to finally retire. Also Alfred resigns again, going to live with Tim at his boarding school, and not talking to Bruce. (Ref - Batman: Officer Down, 2001.)

A new commissioner, Michael Akins, who is much less trusting of vigilantes, is appointed.

Bruce tells Stephanie Tim’s identity. Tim is furious at Bruce for going behind his back. Bruce starts training Stephanie. Tim realizes he’s actually happy to no longer have to hide his identity from Steph, and they continue dating, but he refuses to speak to Bruce. (Ref - starts in Robin vol 2 #87, 2001.)

During this time where Steph is actually getting acknowledged by Bruce, she also meets and becomes fast friends with Cass. (Ref - Batgirl vol 1 #20, 2001.)

Bruce finally, officially adopts Dick. (Ref - Gotham Knights #17, #20-21, 2001.)

The Joker does some stuff in a big universe-wide crossover. When it seems like the Joker has killed Tim and he also taunts Nightwing about Jason, Dick beats him to death :) :) :) Bruce resuscitates him for Plot Reasons :/ :/ :/ (Ref - Joker: Last Laugh, 2001.)

Bruce--who, you may remember, is not speaking to Alfred or Tim--is accused of murderer. Cass figures out his identity through 2.5 seconds of seeing Bruce Wayne walk. Everyone takes sides on if he’s guilty, not helped by Bruce being an evasive bastard. Eventually Bruce realizes (again) that working alone sucks and allies are good, and they all team up to clear his name. The air is cleared with everyone... (Ref - “Bruce Wayne: Murderer?” and “Bruce Wayne: Fugitive”, 2002)

...except Stephanie, who Bruce completely ghosted during the whole murder trial (as she still doesn’t know his identity). Then he tells her he actually doesn’t want her being Spoiler at all. The Birds of Prey, who had started training with Steph too, also decide to cut off their relationship. Steph is pretty much left with just Tim and Cass, neither of whom entirely believe in her either :(

Jean-Paul Valley dies. I feel bad about it, but I did almost forget about him. (Ref - Azrael: Agent of the Bat vol 1 #100, 2003.)

Dick briefly runs the JLA while the regular members are trapped in the past. Good for him!! (Ref - JLA: The Obsidian Age, 2002-2003.)

New villain Hush comes to town. This is kind of Jason’s first post-resurrection appearance, but wait, it’s not--but wait! actually it is! Retcons, y’all. (Ref - Batman: Hush, 2002-2003.)

Ra’s al Ghul dies, but, like, for real this time. Disclaimer: this is the one thing on this list that I have not personally read yet, so I can’t guarantee exactly where it goes. (Ref - Batman: Death and the Maidens, 2003-2004.)

Things Suck!

A team up between Young Justice and the Titans goes terribly, resulting in multiple deaths, and both teams splitting up. Tim ends up joining the latest version of the Teen Titans, and Dick is reluctantly convinced by Roy to join the new Outsiders. (Refs - Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day, then Teen Titans vol 3 and Outsiders vol 3, 2003.)

Huntress joins the Birds of Prey, and things are finally looking up for her. (Ref - Birds of Prey vol 1 60s.)

Over in Bludhaven, Dick’s life is terrible, including Barbara dumping him, his old circus being burnt down, and his apartment building being blown up, culminating the death of Blockbuster. It’s a bad time. (Ref - Nightwing vol 2, roughly from #83-#95.)

Meanwhile, Tim’s dad discovers he is Robin and reacts very poorly. Tim is forced to quit. (Ref - Robin vol 2 #124-125, 2004.)

Stephanie steps up to be Robin instead. Bruce gives her the briefest chance before firing her. (Ref - Robin vol 2 #126, Detective Comics vol 1 #796, Batgirl vol 1 #53, Robin vol 2 #127-128, 2004.)

Stephanie returns to being Spoiler and, in an ill-advised attempt to prove herself, unintentionally triggers a major gang war. Tim realizes he can’t stop being a vigilante and returns to being Robin, with his dad’s reluctant agreement. Barbara’s clock tower is destroyed. The police, led by Commissioner Akins, fully turn against vigilantes. Stephanie dies--later retconned/revealed to be faking her death. (Ref - Batman: War Games, 2004-2005.)

Mere days later, Tim’s dad is murdered. (Ref - Identity Crisis, 2004-2005.)

(Also from Identity Crisis, Bruce starts to remember a certain event where other League members wiped his memory. I know that has nothing to do with Gotham or the batkids, but the growing paranoia becomes a big part of Bruce’s characterization in this period)

Tim, grieving his dad and girlfriend, and a little tense with Bruce after the Stephanie stuff; and Cass, grieving her best friend; each move to Bludhaven, where they start to bond for the first time. During this period, Tim has put himself under the custody of a fake uncle, after rejecting Bruce’s offer to adopt him. (Ref: Robin #132, Batgirl #58, Robin #133, Batgirl #59, 2005.)

Meanwhile, Dick has left Bludhaven, working briefly with the mob in Detroit, and then with Deathstroke. (Ref - Nightwing vol 2 #107-115, 2005-2006.)

And Barbara moves to Metropolis along with the Birds of Prey. (Ref - Birds of Prey vol 1 #74, 2005.)

Cass leaves on a personal quest to learn her mother’s identity, gets caught up with the League of Assassins, gets killed, gets thrown in a Lazarus Pit, and a bunch of other stuff besides....but I don’t think she actually tells anyone about all of this. (Ref - Batgirl vol 1 #66-73, 2005-2006.)

In Gotham, Jason Todd returns as the Red Hood (currently an antivillain). After a lot of dramatics and that final confrontation with Bruce and the Joker, he vanishes again. (Ref - “Batman: Under the Hood“, 2005-2006. In the middle of that arc is Teen Titans #29, where he beats up Tim.)

At the same time (like, literally, at the same time), hero/villain tensions in the greater DCU escalate to the point of a group of villains destroying Bludhaven. The city is fully ruined, and after the initial rescue efforts, Dick does not return. (Ref - Infinite Crisis and tie-ins, 2006.)

Also in Infinite Crisis, Bruce’s latest paranoid spy stuff goes evil and almost kills everyone, Superboy dies, Dick almost dies, and the universe semi-explodes again. Bruce decides to take Tim and Dick on a fun round-the-world trip.

When Cass returns from her mom/soul-searching mission, she takes over Gotham in their place. Also during this year break, Kate Kane/Batwoman first appears, though she actually has far less connection to the main batfamily than you might expect.

One Year Later

Jim Gordon comes out of retirement to be commissioner again, for reasons that will never be explained.

Dick moves back to NYC, where he has an unpleasant-yet-brotherly run in with Jason, who is I think an antivillain still? (Ref - Nightwing, beginning with #118.) Dick dates a couple women during this period, but honestly none of them are very memorable.

Bruce offers to adopt Tim again, and this time Tim says yes. He moves into the manor. (Ref - Batman vol 1 #654, 2006.) In Teen Titans, Tim has a brief and failed relationship with Cassie Sandsmark while they mourn Conner, then in Robin starts dating a girl from school, Zoanne.

Cass, who became a fluent speaker over the year jump and started learning how to read, gets temporarily brainwashed and evil. This storyline is largely agreed to suck.

The Outsiders shuffle around. Dick leaves the team, and Bruce takes over the new team. (Ref - Outsiders: Five of a Kind, 2007.)

Jason, who is an antihero now because the writers said so, starts on an adventure through the multiverse with Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner. Everyone hated the series this was in, so don’t expect it to ever be referenced or brought up again, except for the part where Jason briefly took on the name and costume of Red Robin. (Ref - Countdown to Final Crisis, 2007-2008.)

Damian appears for the first time, to everyone’s surprise. He tries to claim Robin, which no one agrees with, tries to kill Tim, which everyone is upset by, and then seemingly dies alongside Talia... (Ref - Batman #655-658, 2006.)

Ages - Damian is 10. Tim is 17. This makes Damian ~16 years younger than Dick.

...but, of course, he survived. He and Talia appear again when Ra’s (remember how he died?) tries to steal Damian’s body to bring himself back to life. Damian is kept safe, Ra’s finds himself a different body, and Damian and Talia once more vanish into the wind. (Ref - “Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul”, 2007-2008.)

Dick and co reform the Titans once again because they miss each other. I love them. (Ref - Titans vol 2, 2008-)

Stephanie makes her return to Gotham. Tim is initially thrilled to see her, but that dulls into an uncomfortable tension as the fakeness of her death sets in. (Ref - Robin #170-174 and Robin/Spoiler Special, 2008.) Cass, unfortunately, is never really given a chance to react to her best friend’s return.

Cass, un-brainwashed, technically starts living in the manor, but is rarely seen there. Bruce adopts her, although she must be well over 18 by this point. (Ref - Batgirl vol 2, 2008-2009.) Cass joins the Outsiders. (Ref - Batman and the Outsiders vol 2 #2..., 2008.)

Damian returns to Gotham, for good this time. Bruce disappears and then actually doesn’t disappear, and then does die (but not really). This whole thing is a mess. (Ref - “Batman R.I.P“, except actually not, and also it pains me to have to list that on this post. Final Crisis, though none of the rest of the family appears in that and it also pains me to have to list that too. Honestly, just know Bruce “died” and don’t worry about the event itself. 2008-2009.)

Also, Stephanie accidentally triggers a gang war (...yes, again) and Tim tries to tell her to stop being Spoiler. (Ref - Robin #177-182.)

Dick moves back to Gotham, because someone’s gotta keep this city/family together. The Titans also split up around this time.

A New Status Quo

Tim tries to convince Dick to be Batman (Tim trying to convince Dick to take on a role he doesn’t want count: 2). Jason, who is a full villain now, decides to be Batman himself and do a lot of murdering. Dick becomes Batman for real. Jason falls off a train because he’s dramatic, and disappears for the millionth time. (Ref - Batman: Battle for the Cowl, 2009.)

In an effort to keep him in Gotham, Dick makes Damian Robin, as Damian has been campaigning for since day one. Tim is very upset. While being very upset, Tim strikes on his Bruce-is-alive theory, refuses to explain to anyone, dons Jason’s old costume and moniker of Red Robin (Tim inheriting vigilante IDs from Jason count: 2), fights Dick’s attempts to keep him in Gotham, and goes on a world tour to track down Bruce. (Ref - flashbacks in Red Robin #1-4, 2009.)

Dick, Damian, and Alfred move to Wayne Tower, living in the penthouse and working out of the underground bunker beneath. (Ref - Batman and Robin vol 1.)

Local villain Hush, who has surgically given himself Bruce’s face, starts posing as Bruce Wayne. Dick (and Damian, and the Outsiders), sorta-kinda get him under their control, but it’s a tentative thing. (Ref - Batman: Streets of Gotham.)

On posthumous orders from Bruce, Cass makes Stephanie Batgirl. (Ref - Batgirl vol 3.) Cass leaves the Outsiders and Gotham, later revealed to have gone to Hong Kong.

Dick joins the JLA as Batman.

The dead riiiiiise. Dick gets Tim to return to Gotham very briefly to face their zombie parents. (Ref - Blackest Night: Batman, 2009.)

Jason, who is either a villain or an antivillain now (but honestly who can even keep up), but is Red Hood again, pops up to make trouble for Batman and Robin. In the midst of his trouble, another villain shoots Damian in the spine and paralyzes him. Jason is taken to jail. (Ref - Batman and Robin vol 1 #4-6, 2010.) Damian gets a shiny new spine courtesy of Talia, et al. Surely this will turn out okay :)

Tim returns to Gotham with evidence of Bruce being lost in time (and a call to all his allies to help him stop Ra’s al Ghul). He gets emancipated to nominally take over Wayne Enterprises (but really Lucius Fox still runs it). (Ref - Red Robin #10-12, 2010.)

Tim briefly lives in the penthouse with the rest of the family, until Damian tries to kill him again--this time for including Damian on his Batman-esque list of people he needs secret plans to defeat--and he decides to build his own apartment.

Bruce returns through the combined efforts of many people, checks on all his allies, and decides he cannot work with Damian and there should be multiple Batmen. (ref - Bruce Wayne: The Road Home and Batman: The Return, 2010-2011.) Very little actually changes with his return. Dick stays on as Gotham’s Batman and Damian’s partner. Bruce goes around the world to establish “Batman Inc,” working with various allies along the way.

Cass takes on the name Black Bat, mostly off-panel.

Jason (still a villain) breaks out of jail, killing a bunch of people in the process, work briefly alongside Dick and Damian, and then runs off as a fugitive. (Ref - Batman and Robin vol 1 #23-25.)

The rest of Bruce’s kids all work together when Cass returns to Gotham briefly, including the first meeting of Cass and Damian. (Ref - Gates of Gotham ♥)

Barry Allen fucks up the timeline and this continuity ends.

The New 52 (2011-2016)

A reboot I have not yet read, but which, from my understanding, changes half the character’s personalities and backstories and erases the rest. Jason becomes a proper antihero and gets friends for the first time, though those friends lose all characterization in the process. Tim becomes an asshole genius who was never Robin. Barbara is reverted to Batgirl. The other Batgirls are largely erased. Dick becomes a secret agent and possibly a himbo. Kate and Bruce become cousins, and Batwoman becomes more prevalent. Everyone dies or fakes their death to the point of it being a joke.

Rebirth (2016-2020)

Another reboot I have not yet read, but which I understand to be an attempt to reclaim the well-liked post-Crisis characters and stories, with the most popular parts of the new 52 blended in. Started with high hopes, and then crashed and burned. I have no idea what happens in this period except for Dick’s largely despised amnesia arc.

Whatever The Fuck Is Happening Now

Another sorta-reboot. DC is going with an “everything is canon” approach apparently, which I assume will last until they find something that readers enjoy and then they’ll declare that the real canon after all. Only time will tell.

#dick grayson #tim drake #stephanie brown #cass cain #jason todd #batfam #bruce wayne #dc #*dc #*#dc timelines #dc meta #a-rebel-but-a-coward #i feel like this is both too detailed and missing so much but i hope it is helpful :)

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