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And perhaps we should interrogate who that narrative is for.

Damian has literally been sent to hell. Tara has been treated like...Tara by basically every narrative she has ever been in. To this day, people still refuse to acknowledge their growth, their nuance, or the lack of agency baked into their circumstances.

But then you get a willing, spiteful mass murderer who spends five dubious minutes posing as less of an asshole, and suddenly he is the freshest, hottest concept in comics. We simply must root for him. We must celebrate his growth. We must ignore the continuity of his crimes. And if you point out that he has, in fact, done horrific things on purpose, suddenly you’re “taking comics too seriously.”

Interesting.

Redemption arcs are not the problem. Growth is not the problem. Characters with blood on their hands becoming better is not the problem.

The problem is how quickly some fans recognize humanity, nuance, pain, and potential in a violent white male power fantasy, while treating characters like Damian, Talia, Tara, and plenty of others as permanently defined by their worst context, their worst writing, or their least charitable interpretation. Even Diana suffers from this and she didn't even really do anything wrong--

What could possibly cause people to project so hard into that archetype?

In this political climate?

Do YOU want to get into the character of all time, Duke Thomas? Are you not sure where to start? Here's a variety of resources to learn more about him! Comic and non-comic resources included :).

Basic Information

Here's a collection of Duke Thomas profiles for you to peruse! Check the reblogs for additional info.

Here's Duke Thomas' wiki page on DC fandom wiki.

Here's the Duke Thomas wiki, called the Hatch!

Reading Lists

@duketectivecomics has a great one here!

@searchforahero has a bunch of Duke resources, including a website list and a spreadsheet, here!

@haithhegimp has a colour-coded spreadsheet of all Duke's appearance here!

@s-darling-art has a nice streamlined list of important Duke comics here + a good Elseworlds list (and bonus Jace Fox list)!

If you want to follow Duke's story in-universe chronologically, check out DCU chronology guide!

Backstory

Duke's backstory is contained within Batman (2011), in the arcs Zero Year (where Duke and Bruce first meet) and Endgame (where Duke's parents get Jokerized). Read Batman (2011) #21 - 40 for the full story. For just the Duke bits, read: #21, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39.

Starter Comic

If the reading lists look a little daunting, a good place to start would be the 12-issue comic series We Are Robin. The first six issues are relatively self-contained and a great introduction to Duke and his friends!

Further Reading

Read some Duke Thomas meta that I personally enjoy!

@himejoshiangels has a wonderful wonderful fic rec list for Duke-centric works!

Some Duke Thomas-related interviews excerpts I find interesting!

Amazing and comprehensive Duke writing advice from @inkpotsprite!

If you don't know where to read comics, consider searching 'read comics online' in Google... or check out this thread from r/Piracy.

Not reading but you can check out the adorable kid's show Batwheels for some Cass!Batgirl and Dukebin goodness.

The Black Comic Alliance, the collective of content creators behind the viral #DCSoWhite campaign, has officially announced Stage 2 of its advocacy movement: DCBlackout, a coordinated protest calling on readers, supporters, and content creators to withhold financial support and pause content creation tied to DC Comics publishing initiatives until meaningful structural changes are made around…