Over the last 80 years, there have been five different canonical Robins, but lots of people only ever talk about four of them. The one that often gets forgotten is Stephanie Brown, who was Robin for four issues of real-time, or 71 days in-universe, and is almost always left out of things talking about the Robins. With Robin: The 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular, I was worried that that’d be the case again, but it turns out that Amy Wolfram teams up with artist Damian Scott to tell an untold Stephanie Brown story. The Beat got to sit down with Wolfram to talk about her story in the special and has exclusive preview pages from it to share.
The Beat: Who is your favorite Robin and why?
Amy Wolfram: That’s like asking who is your favorite child! I know Dick Grayson the best and have worked with him the longest through Teen Titans: Year One and Teen Titans Go! As the first Robin, he’s like the oldest kid who’s had to work the hardest to become a leader and hero on his own. He set the template and had to challenge Batman the most.
The Beat: For this special, you wrote about the shortest-lived Robin, as Stephanie only had five issues (three in her own series, one issue of Detective Comics, and a guest-spot in Teen Titans) in the role before getting summarily fired. What was it like to be able to expand on her story?
Wolfram: It was definitely a challenge to find a story that worked in her short timeline. But I loved getting to know her and being able to lean into her journey as a female superhero.
The Beat: For this story, you worked with Damian Scott, who was the artist on Robin for Steph’s brief tenure on the book. Was it fun to see him take another crack at the character?
Wolfram: It was great working with Damian. I tried to keep the storytelling close to the original style, including multi-action panels. My favorite page is the rollercoaster panel. I was blown away by how he made the action come to life.
The Beat: This is a very different Robin than the ones you’ve written in the past with Teen Titans: Year One and the Teen Titans Go! cartoon. How did that past experience inform what you did in your Robin 80th story?
Wolfram: There is no Robin without Batman, whether it’s the beginning and working with Batman, or later trying to break free and become his/her own hero or leading a team. It’s a powerful dynamic, and I was excited to explore how that would be different with a female sidekick, especially one who had already been a superhero on her own with her own way of doing things before joining Batman.
The Beat: Steph’s had a lot of identities over the years. Do you have a favorite time period for her?
Wolfram: She really has done a lot, hasn’t she? I think what I like the best is that she’s a strong character, no matter which role she is in. And she has a sense of humor.
The Beat: I want to thank you for this story, as Steph is one of my all-time favorite characters in comics, and her run as Robin is so often forgotten. What other projects do you have coming up that you’d like our readers to know about?
Wolfram: Thank you. Stephanie is a favorite for many people, and I really wanted to honor her time as Robin. This month my second DC Super Hero Girls graphic novel, DC Super Hero Girls: Powerless comes out. And later this year I’ll have a couple of Teen Titans Go! episodes airing, including writing for the 300th episode!
Robin: The 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular is available March 18, 2020, at your local comic shop or on ComiXology and ReadDC.
