Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, was the re-imagining of the caped crusader that re-invigorated the character's popularity near the end of the 1980s. It was a critical success, giving fans a look at the darker side of the masked hero, and placed the great detective in situations that proved why Batman is, as some fans put it, "the best." Its sequel The Dark Knight Strikes Back, however, is a critically panned graphic novel, which many fans came to dislike altogether.

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One of the reasons why so many fans disliked it, was its depiction of that earth's Dick Grayson, the first Robin. As shown in the pages of The Dark Knight Strikes Back, which was later expanded in All-Star Batman & Robin # 1-10. Miller purposely introduced fans to a different version of the classic hero that so many Batman fans came to love, instead, writing a complicated broken character, who eventually becomes the very thing Batman didn't want him to become.

10 Dick Grayson is Kidnapped By Batman

Dick Grayson Batman All-Star Batman & Robin

Within the first two issues of All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, which explains the transition of Frank Miller's version of Dick Grayson into Robin, fans are re-introduced into Dick Grayson's origin story, which is the classic tale of the death of the Flying Grayson. But in Miller's re-telling, Dick is taken into the woods by corrupt cops who plan of beating him as a way to force him to stay quiet about the murders.

Not too soon after they arrive at the spot, Batman appeared with a swam of bats, smashing the Batmobile into two cop-cars, and kidnaps Dick, forcing him to come with him.

9 Forced To Be Robin

Vicky Vale Dick Grayson Batman All-Star Batman & Robin

Not too soon after kidnaping him, Batman takes Robin on a joy-ride that tumbles into a police chase between the corrupt cops of Gotham City and the Batmobile. In the process, Batman smashes through several police vehicles and motorcycles, while police are shooting at him.

As a traumatized Dick Grayson watches, Batman tells him he's now his ward, without Dick having any say in it. He says he's going to put Dick through "Holy Hell," and that he's got a lot to learn about fighting crime.

8 Originally Called Himself The Hood

Hood Batman All-Star Batman & Robin

When Dick was deciding on what his hero name would be, as well as his costume, he tells Batman he was fond of the Robin Hood stories his father would tell him as a kid, and decided to wear a Robin-like costume that includes a hood and call himself "The Hood."

Batman, seeing the flaws in Dick's costume, forcibly pulls the hood down on Dick and incapacitates him. He informs Dick that the hood is a liability and that he should just call himself Robin.

7 Expert In Guerrilla War-Fare

Dick Grayson All-Star Batman & Robin

Wanting Dick to be trained and raised in a similar fashion as he was when he was the boy's age, Batman begins to train Dick Grayson in a manner befitting guerrilla warriors. He makes him sleep on the floor at the beginning of his training and even encourages the boy to eat the rats and bats he is able to find, in an attempt to make him more soldier like.

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When he actually starts fighting, Batman points out that the kid is a natural, saying he's the smartest fighter he's seen in a long time.

6 Almost Killed Hal Jordan

DC's Robin (Dick Grayson) throat strikes Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). Robin, as well as the entire room, is painted yellow.

The first time Robin worked along with Batman in the field, was during a meeting with Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. At the time, Jordan was expressing the concerns the Justice League had with regards to Batman's demeanor in Gotham, especially his choice in taking in Dick Grayson as a sidekick. Robin, who thought Hal was talking tough, taunted him by removing his Green Lantern Ring when Hal wasn't looking.

Upon finding out, Hal attacked Robin and started to fight him for his ring. Robin, not knowing to hold back, kicked Hal in the throat, breaking his Trachea. Batman was furious at Robin, not only for almost killing a man but also for forcing him to perform an emergency tracheotomy on the Green Lantern, feeding a dead body would fall on both their hands.

5 Was Fired From Being Robin

Batman Robin All-Star Batman & Robin

At some point in his life, Dick Grayson was fired by Batman from being Robin. It's never shown when this happened, since the All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder comic-series was canceled in issue 10. Fans find out that Batman fired the boy wonder in the pages of The Dark Knight Strikes Back, where Batman reveals Robin was fired for Incompetence.

Although fans weren't allowed to see what exactly Batman meant, their interactions in the canceled All-Star series gave hints as to what might have lead to such "incompetence."

4 Gained Shape-Shifting Power

Dick Grayson Carrie Kelley Batman The Dark Knight Strikes Again

After being fired by Batman at some point between All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder #10, and The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Robin felt a great deal of resentment for Batman, who fired him from being Robin after kidnapping him and forcing him to be his sidekick.

He subjected himself to a series of experiments that gave him shapeshifting powers, which allowed him to exact his revenge on the Dark Knight. Batman alluded that the experiment made Grayson mentally unstable, although Miller's writing in the All-Star series suggests Grayson was already mentally unstable after the death of his parents.

3 Became The Second Joker

Dick Grayson Joker The Dark Knight Strikes Again

In his plot to get revenge on Batman, Grayson went on a killing spree of former Justice Leagues members, while disguised as the Joker, who had now been dead for quite some time. He didn't look entirely like the Joker, having a different costume and being primarily quiet (something the Joker was not known for), but the overall shape he had taken made his victims believe he was the Joker.

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He used this disguise to murder the likes of The Martian Manhunter, The Creeper, Guardian, and attempted to murder Catgirl.

2 Near-Immortal

Dick Grayson Catgirl Batman The Dark Knight Strikes Again

One thing those who lived to see Dick Grayson in his Joker disguise pointed out, was that despite shooting at him, he kept getting back up. A side effect of Grayson's powers is the ability to regenerate his cells, making him near-immortal and allowing him to control his age as well.

He can control his cells at will, allowing them to multiply faster than normal, which means he can increase his strength as well. This was found out when it was revealed by Batman that this Joker was, in reality, his fired and disgraced former sidekick, Dick Grayson.

1 Dropped Into A Volcano

Dick Grayson Batman Superman The Dark Knight Strikes Again

Having increased strength and regeneration, brought on by the ability to control your own cells, and the speed with which they multiply means that Dick Grayson had become desperately difficult to kill. He had been previously shot and burned in his Joker form, and yet he regenerated instantly.

Batman was, as a result, forced to jump into a volcano that was located at the bottom of the Bat-Cave. Superman caught Batman at the last minute, but Robin fell into the molten lava, where all his cells burned up, killing him permanently.

NEXT: 5 Reasons That “Year One” Is Frank Miller’s Best Batman Story (& 5 Why “The Dark Knight Returns” Is)