WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Nightwing #81 by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott, on sale now. 

In Nightwing #81,  Barbara Gordon wore a shirt that brought a famous Batman meme into the DC Universe. As an unconscious Dick Grayson wakes up from a concussion, he sees her wearing a short with the classic 'Batman slapping Robin' image plastered on her shirt.

Within the context of the DC Universe, the image represents many things: a humorous reworking of an old comic panel, a commentary on Batman being guilty of child endangerment, and in the immediate sense, a gentle way for Barbara to tease Dick about his upbringing.

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Contrary to what most believe, the image of Batman slapping Robin is actually reversed in the meme. The image first appeared in 1965's World's Finest #153 by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein. The issue tells an alternate tale where Batman believes that Superman is responsible for the death of his father. This results in Batman swearing an oath of vengeance upon Superman instead of criminals. He becomes notorious in Gotham, but when Robin began to question Batman over his obsession with killing Superman, Batman slapped him.

Seeing the humor in the image, someone decided to reverse it, making it look like Robin was saying something that triggered Batman's anger instead, often with Batman commenting that his parents are dead. But it was the parody that stuck and became a symbol of Batman's habit of endangering children by coming into their lives.

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Even though the story was an alternate world in which Batman was especially reckless, the main Batman isn't exactly innocent of putting children in danger. Granted, the kind of kids who would become Robin one day were always going to be socially aware thrill-seekers, with or without Batman. Instead of fighting them at every turn and hindering both them and himself, it would have been better to train them and make sure they knew how to defend themselves. Regardless, it still puts underage people in the literal line of fire.

There are many instances of Batman coming to blows with his Robin. Red Hood is the most common example, unfortunately. But there are instances where Batman has struck his Robins without provocation. An example is when he punched Tim Drake just before Bane took over Gotham City. This was later revealed to be a signal to the rest of the family to lay low, but that's not a great signal to begin with for a lot of reasons.

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Now, Barbara has a shirt with that famous image. It's never addressed directly, but the fact that Barbara has a shirt like this suggests it is a joke in the DCU as well. There have been plenty of comics where paraphernalia sporting the likeness of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman has been shown within the DCU. It stands to reason that if they can have action figures and restaurants based on them, then there can be memes as well.

But Barbara wearing the shirt is probably a little light teasing on her end. She knows Dick's upbringing was unconventional at best and tragic at worst. It's also possible that this is her way of reminding Dick that he's a different hero than Batman, and in a lot of ways a better one. She's always had faith in Nightwing because he's everything Bruce Wayne hoped Batman could be after all.

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