WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, "Moving In", available now on Webtoon.
DC Comics announced its partnership with Webtoon back in August to launch a series of standalone DC stories for the platform. Webtoon -- a Korean-based company that specializes in digital comics -- just published its first DC series, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, with Episode 1, "Moving In," a story is by CRC Payne, Starbite, Maria Li, Lan Ma, Jean Kim, Kielamel Sibal, Susan Cheng and Wil Kennedy.
In its first episode, the story sees Duke Thomas, the Signal, move into Wayne Manor for the first time and get a grand tour of the house from Bruce Wayne's son, Damian. For DC Comics fans, Duke is a fairly well-known character. Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo during their New 52 Batman run, Duke started out as a recurring character in the "Zero Year" story arc before earning his place within the Batman family. He first got his superhero identity of the Signal during the events of Dark Nights: Metal in 2017, which then led to a three-issue miniseries that further developed his role within the larger Batman mythos.
While Duke's origins in the mainstream DC Universe are somewhat dark, in Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, readers are treated to a more lighthearted introduction to the character. In contrast with his mainstream counterpart who hasn't had a permanent residence at Wayne Manor, the Webtoon version of Duke is actively invited by Bruce Wayne to move in. In addition to Bruce, Duke is formally introduced to the members of the Wayne family who are permanent residents such as Damian and Alfred Pennyworth. He is also introduced by Damian to the portraits of other family members he'll be interacting with in future stories, such as Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain.
One thing that's already different from the mainstream DC Universe is that Duke is given official status as a Wayne family member. This will afford Duke a level of access to Bruce's other family members he doesn't currently possess within the main DC canon. Where he primarily has interacted with Bruce in mainstream Batman books, in the Webtoon series, it appears his interactions will be more evenly divided between Bruce and the other sons and daughters he raised and mentored. This implies that Duke will similarly be raised and mentored by Bruce on a more personal level than he's ever gotten in the main Batman books.
That's another detail that's profoundly different from the main DC canon: Duke's relationship to Bruce in the Webtoon series is noticeably warmer. Unlike the largely "strictly professional" relationship Duke has with Bruce in the main Batman comics, Bruce actually behaves like a loving father to Duke here. Without the coldness of Bruce's Batman persona, Duke is believably excited to be a part of the Wayne family. This is most evident when he tours Wayne Manor with Damian and is immediately impressed by the fact he'll be a part of the Wayne family lifestyle, among other things.
The last big change in the Webtoon series is the more slice-of-life approach with a stronger emphasis on character relationships. Unlike the more plot-driven narratives of the main DC Universe where the characters spend more time in costume than not, the Webtoon series allows the characters to have some downtime and behave like ordinary human beings. This will allow readers to more easily identify with Duke as a character and more readily invest in his relationships with the other Batman family members than if he was depicted in the same way as his mainstream counterpart.