dick and Donna’s friendship gets a really cute shout out/focus in titans annual 2025. it’s really kinda bizarre though how dick’s friendships are treated … he’s the heart of the dcu and has tons of friends with tons of history but the majority of his arcs completely isolate him. and this isn’t really a post-flashpoint thing either, it’s kinda been this way since the 90s began. I think a lot of that just has to do with editorial decisions but it’s weird that someone with so many interpersonal connections is alone so often.
Yeah, the 2025 annual was great. The only reason I didn’t post about it is because I saw so much already floating around about it and I didn’t wanna be annoying, but the stuff with all the OG Titans having a sleepover at the batcave??? Omg??? Classic.
100% agreed that it’s bizarre how isolated Dick is in his mainline runs. Even Batman gets numerous cameos from his family and other Gotham vigilantes. Other DC mainline titles usually have some family constantly interacting with their titular character of choice, whether it be Superman or the Flash or the Green Arrow. But, until maybe Taylor (and frankly this has tapered off since then), literally no other “constant” character hung around with Dick ever. He was always alone, with occasionally a temporary cast of writer OCs that would leave within a few issues. Barbara was confined to being Oracle. The Robin of the era would pop in for like one issue every 2-3 runs. Batman with similar frequency. Nobody else.
There are two ways to interpret it. One is that Dick really needs his alone time when he’s not leading like three separate teams, so this is deliberate on his end. It’s funny to see the most well-connected character in DC be so supremely isolated, but I could understand this.
The second is kind of sad, and it’s that no one but Dick is the first to reach out. Because Dick is The Friendship Guy, it’s expected that he’ll come to you when he needs you or wants company. So when he’s in the midst of getting his ass whooped in his own comics, it’s not like Batman where a Gotham ally will suddenly appear to help him out while checking in on him. Everyone knows you gotta reach out to Bruce first, so he has plenty of opportunities for these coincidental run-ins and crossovers. No one thinks to check on Dick. So he deals with that shit alone.
There’s also a meta interpretation but this doesn’t explain anything in-universe. I’d bet, at least starting in the 90s, distancing Dick from his non-batfamily friends in particular was an effort to launch his solo career. DC may have thought it was essential for him to not automatically be associated with Donna or Roy or the New Teen Titans of the era. After that, I dunno. It probably accidentally established the precedent for future writers that Dick’s solo runs take “solo” to the absolute extreme, so they just kept him isolated.
This is probably the real reason, but I still don’t know how you’d frame this in-universe.
It’s definitely the meta interpretation. Bat editorial would rather have Dick isolated in Bludhaven, being at the bat-family’s beck and call, and dating a fellow bat. For years, DC has been distancing Dick from his non-bat friends and teammates. His best friend for decades was and should still be Donna Troy. But after DC de-aged Barbara for a second time, now Dick and Barbara are and have been best friends.
The O5 Titans have historically been close. Garth invited Dick to the wedding of Aquaman & Mera, Dick walked Donna down the aisle at her wedding to Terry Long, Dick was Wally’s best man at Wally’s wedding to Linda Park, Dick helped Roy find Lian Harper and supported him with getting legal custody of his daughter. Roy has even praised Dick for starting the Titans because they’re not just a team, they’re family. Lian Harper also considers the other Titans as pseudo-aunt/uncle figures.
It’s not surprising that the O5 are close. They became superheroes really young and started and founded the Teen Titans at 13. Their closeness as teen superheroes, teammates, and friends is comparable to that of the O5 X-Men.
This isn’t to downplay how important Gotham or the bat-family is to Dick, but that the bats and the titans/etc. should have an equal importance in his life.
He can lead the Titans, be married to Starfire while living in Bludhaven, help out in Gotham during dire circumstances, train the next generation of superheroes, and have a civilian cast in his solo series. If Wally can be the Flash, be married to a civilian and raise 3 kids, be the protector of Keystone City, lead the flash family, and be a highly-regarded member of the Titans/JL, there’s no reason why Dick can’t have similar in his own life.
