Carrie Kelley as Robin

“It’s you and me against the world, boss” (Dark Knight III: The Master Race Vol 4).

Carrie Kelley, otherwise known as Robin; is first appeared in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Created by Frank Miller in 1986, Robin is a thirteen year old girl who is bold, brave, and fearless. Carrie as Robin also provides a feeling of youth, comfort, and a father figure that Batman fees with her.

We are first introduced to Robin as Carrie Kelley in Book 1 of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Carrie Kelly is walking with a friend through a suspicious area of the city after a night at the arcade when a member from The Mutants tries to harm Carrie and her friend. Suddenly, there is Batman! “…But I’m a man of thirty — of twenty again” (Batman: Book One pg. 25).

Carrie Kelley has a lot of pride and determination. In the beginning of Book Two, Robin is destined to seek Batman again, so she uses her lunch money to buy a Robin costume. The long panel on page three of Book Two it shows Carrie standing in front of a mirror and from her posture and facial expression, she feels like a superhero just like Batman. Carrie is also a trouble maker. She lights a firework on some random guy in the street playing cards with his friends.

With a lot of superheros, a mask and a cape will change his or her personality. For example, when Batman is not in costume, he is troubled by his haunted by his childhood memories. A costume for a superhero provides a facade for some superheroes including Batman. When Batman wears his costume, he is expected to act, react, and process things differently from his intuition because he is a “hero” of dangerous Gotham City run by The Mutants. This leads onto how Carrie is the same person as she is as Robin. When Carrie is Robin, she does not act different. She has the same morals, emotions, intuition, care, and respect just as she would if she were Carrie.

Unfortunately, there has been some controversy with Batman and Carrie’s relationship in the media. Before the issue of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, there had been some controversy with homosexuality in earlier issues with Batman and Robin as Dick Grayson. According to the author of Seduction of the Innocent, Dr. Fredric Wertham wanted American lifestyle free of comic books and “queers.” Sometimes Batman ends up in bed injured and young Robin is shown sitting next to him. At home they lead an idyllic life. They are Bruce Wayne and “Dick” Grayson. Bruce Wayne is described as a “socialite” and the official relationship is that Dick is Bruce’s ward. They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and have a butler, Alfred. … It is like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together”(190).

BUT WHAT’S WRONG ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY?

“I’d never intended to use Robin. But then, one day, I pictured a little bundle of bright colors leaping over buildings, dwarfed by a gray-and-black giant … and there she was. Robin” (my emphasis) (8). While I do not meant to imply that Miller is in any way homophobic or homosexually panicked, his “troubling” of Robin’s gender suggests that he, along with many comics business-people and aficionados alike, was troubled by Batman and Robin’s continuing homoerotic legacy” (Tipton). Although Robin and Batman form a friendly relationship, there is still a lot of backlash from previous character relationships with Batman and Robin.

In Book Two, Batman is injured by the mutant leader. Carrie is by Batman’s side and he asks what her name is and she can’t help but correct herself and say Robin. It is a sweet moment because Batman introduces himself as Bruce and Robin introduces herself as Carrie.

They are both realizing that they are connecting in a human way — and not in a superhero fashion.

Carrie helped Batman defeat his arch nemesis; the Joker in Book 3. But even though Batman died, by the end of Book 4, Robin is still confident that she can still save Gotham City; even without a father figure in her life.

As any other superhero character, Carrie Kelley is proven to be the type of superhero that anybody would want to look after, care for, and be any superhero’s companion. Carrie Kelley provided a daughter figure to Batman and a friendship. Carrie also depicts the opposite of a male dominant society. She provided emotional support for Batman. Every sidekick in a superhero comic should include a character like Carrie Kelley.

Works Cited:

FSW Library Souce:

Tipton, Nathan G. “Gender Trouble: Frank Miller’s Revision of Robin in the Batman: Dark Knight Series.” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 278, Gale, 2010. Web.

DC Database. “Carrie Kelley Earth-31”. Fandom. Web.