So long as there is a Batman, there will be a Robin. So who are the top five Robins? Read on and find out!

5. Richard Graustark (Thrillkiller)



Howard Chaykin and Dan Brereton's Elseworlds mini-series is one of the better Elseworlds that we have seen. It is unsuprising that the series had a sequel AND a series of toys based on it!

Thrillkiller is set in the 1960s, and it stars the boyfriend and girlfriend vigilante team of Richard Graustark and Barbara Gordon, otherwise known as Robin and Batgirl!

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is involved as the only honest cop in the police force.

All the basics are the same (Dick is a circus performer, Bruce's parents were killed in front of him), but the twists make this series a whole lot of fun!

4. Stephanie Brown



I think Spoiler was one of the more interesting characters created in superhero comics during the 1990s. At first, she was around just to "spoil" her father's crimes (her father was the super villain Cluemaster).

She later showed up as a superhero for the suburbs. Interesting stuff. Ultimately, she became SO popular with the fans that she was practically thrust upon writer Chuck Dixon, leading to her becoming an ongoing supporting cast member.

And then Bill Willingham was told to kill her off - but first, she had to become a replacement Robin used by Batman to make Tim Drake jealous.

Editorial-driven comics! Woo-hoo!

Her tenure as Robin was terribly lame, but she ranks high because she was such a cool character to begin with, and the idea of her being Robin was really quite clever - until we found out it was just a ruse to make her look like an idiot and Batman look like a sociopathic jerk.

3. Carrie Kelly



I toyed with having Carrie ranked higher, as she is just totally awesome, but ultimately, I figured she couldn't beat the two big Robin guns.

The Dark Knight Returns was an awesome series, and Carrie was a big part of it all.

This is how cool Carrie is - she just basically MADE herself Robin. She just told Batman, "Yeah, now that you've returned - I'm Robin."



Man, she was awesome.

She became Catgirl in The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

2. Dick Grayson



Honestly, Dick Grayson had a hard time of it as Robin.

For most of his comic career as Robin, writers were not all that interested in giving him much of a personality.

And by the time he was GIVEN a personality, it was mostly of a whiner.

Sometimes, I could only imagine what the other New Teen Titans were thinking to themselves, "uhmmm...isn't this, like, ROBIN? You know, like, the partner of BATMAN?!? Why is he acting so whiney?"

That being said - Dick is a circus performer whose parents were killed in front of him, leading to him being taken in by a millionaire bachelor who ALSO had his parents killed in front of him, and the two team up to fight crime.

That is a hell of a premise, isn't it?

1. Tim Drake



The creation of Tim Drake is actually sorta creepy, I think, as he was a creation that was specifically DESIGNED to make us like him.

He had the original Robin, Dick Grayson (now Nightwing) pretty much give him his blessings to us, the readers.

He was totally NOT annoying at all - and he showed up on the scene after using his detective skills to figure out the secret identities of Batman and Robin. He did so not to BECOME Robin, but just to tell Batman that he needed a partner, because going at it alone was driving Batman nuts.

What a good kid.

Tim Drake has become the ultimate partner for Batman, and is an interesting, smart, and fairly NORMAL character - which is awesome to see.

And his costume (via Neal Adams) is super sweet, no?

Well, that's the top five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!