Why Did DC Comics Have to Kill the Good Robin?

DC Comics has decided it's time again to kill Batman-sidekick Robin which is notable because this incarnation of Robin has actually been popular, unlike the last Robin to be unceremoniously killed off. Damien Wayne will meet his untimely demise in the #8 issue of Batman Incorporated set to come out on Wednesday. "It’s all about the family and the family going to hell," writer Grant Morrison told the New York Post. "The two adults in the story are both culpable. The kid’s the good guy."

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Follow us on this one, most of the major players involved are characters now known to everyone who has seen Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Damien, the latest former Boy Wonder, was the 10-year-old son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. Damien was technically the son of Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard's characters in the Nolan verse. Talia al Ghul is the daughter of Liam Neesan's R'as al Ghul, just to paint a more complete family tree for everyone. So, per Morrison, it's all Christian Bale's fault. Unfortunately Robin dying in the comics does not disqualify Joseph Gordon-Levitt from doing whatever it is he's going to do in the next movie. 

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The move to kill Damien is admittedly a little confusing. The Robin mantle has been passed around plenty of times over the character's history, but the only other Robin to die while serving was the unanimously hated Jason Todd. Todd's 1988 killing by the Joker gave way to one of the most iconic comic book covers of all time. Damien was an instant hit when he was introduced in 2005. He was a sadistic, blood-thirsty bastard of a killing machine not even finished elementary school. In other words, a great comic foil for the steely and serious Bruce Wayne. There seems to be some backlash against the Post for revealing the death in advance of the issue's release among comic book fans, even though leaked images of the issue's alternate covers pretty much revealed what was going to happen weeks ago. 

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So, goodbye sweet prince Damien. You were fun while you lasted. See you again when they resurrect you in eight months.