Cassandra Cain Mainly

Part of a rough au I've been playing around with and probably not going to do anything with

Duke is about 10 years old when he's left an orphan as part of a large scale Joker attack on Gotham, which involves the murder of 13 year old Jason Todd. While Dukes role as the signal is basically just being Robin those first few years, no one wants to look at that costume.

Barbara has completely quit the family, the destruction of the city and death of Jason so soon after her attack and paralyzation by the Joker causes her to become disillusioned with the crusade for justice, at least for now.

Batman adopts Duke, he still remembers how the Thomases took care of him during zero year. Bruce isn't distant from Duke the way he might be expected to be, the two are fiercely dependant on each other. Duke is much younger when he becomes Signal than what we see in the comics, he's mourning the complete loss of his family, so whether either of them admits it or not, he's completely allowing Bruce to assume a parental role, just to feel a familiar connection. Bruce is doing the same by really filling the void left by his murdered son with Duke. Their relationship really is loving, but it does take time to grow past this point of almost replacement, and it's messy and complicated for years afterwards.

“First and foremost, we want to thank everyone who has supported the DCSoWhite campaign. Since the beginning of this year, thousands of comic readers, retailers, creators, and fans have joined us in advocating for greater investment in Black characters and opportunities for Black creators within the comic book industry.

Today, we are announcing the end of the DCBlackout boycott.

This decision comes after a lot of reflection and conversations with members of the comic book community. While the boycott was launched to draw attention to an issue we believe remains important, it became clear that the conversation surrounding the boycott was often overshadowing the larger goal of the campaign.

The fact remains that it has been more than 1200 days since a Black character has headlined a solo title in DC Comics' mainline continuity. We continue to believe this is an issue worth discussing and addressing. However, we also recognize that many fans and creators we care about felt the boycott unintentionally minimized books, characters, and creators whose work provides meaningful representation for women, LGBTQIA+ readers, people of color, and other marginalized communities. That was never our intention, and we apologize for that impact. We heard those concerns, and they played a major role in our decision to reevaluate the boycott.

Our goal has never been to take representation away from anyone else in oursuit

of our own. We believe that Black characters deserve greater support, and inat the creators and books currently providing representation across the industry deserve to be celebrated and supported

As a result, DCSoWhite will continue as an awareness and advocacy campaign rather than a boycott effort.

One of the most effective ways readers can support creators and influence publisher decision-making is through preorders before a book's Final Order Cutoff (FOC) date. Pre-orders are one of the clearest indicators of reader interest and help publishers and retailers determine future investments in characters, titles, and creative teams. We encourage fans to support the books and creators they want to see succeed, particularly those from underrepresented communities. If you are unsure of a title's FOC date, contact your local comic shop or consult publicly available retailer resources.

DCBlackout grew into something much larger than we originally anticipated

While we appreciate the conversations it sparked, we recognize that the focus often shifted away from the concerns that inspired the campaign in the first place. Moving forward, we want the conversation to center on solutions, support, and meaningful opportunities for Black characters and creators.

The DCSoWhite campaign is not ending. The petition remains active. We will continue to highlight Black creators, promote Black independent comics, document industry trends, and advocate for greater investment in Black characters across mainstream comics.