Summary

• A new 12-issue Batman and Robin: Year One miniseries by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee arrives October 16, 2024.
• The series explores young Bruce Wayne's fatherhood journey with Dick Grayson and introduces a new crime boss villain.
• Waid and Samnee promise an essential, emotional Batman and Robin story with stellar art and writing.

DC has announced a new 12-issue Robin miniseries by the fan-favorite creative team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee. Batman and Robin: Year One follows the early months of not just the Dynamic Duo, but Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson: father and son.

Hitting digital and store shelves on October 16th, 2024, Batman and Robin: Year One by Waid and Samnee is a new take on a classic DC origin story. DC fans may be familiar with the early days of Batman's partnership with his very first sidekick, but this new 12-issue miniseries will also explore the budding father/son relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

As the solicitation teases, the story will also feature a new crime-boss villain known as "the General." Along with the classic DC "Year One" title, this miniseries promises to be essential reading not only for Batman and Robin fans, but for fans of stellar, time-proven writing and art.

The Batman and Robin: Year One Miniseries Promises an Emotional Bruce Wayne / Dick Grayson Story

The 12-Issue Series Explores the Dynamic Duo's Family Dynamic

Waid and Samnee forces as co-plotters and writer/artist, respectively, for the first time on a DC project, but they're well known for their teamwork on beloved runs of Marvel titles like Daredevil and Black Widow. Waid has lately been hard at work at DC, helming books like Batman / Superman: World's Finest, Shazam!, and Absolute Power, all alongside artist Dan Mora. Batman and Robin: Year One, however, appears to be a more grounded, family tale. As Waid says:

"It takes place only a month or two after Bruce adopted Dick, and it’s sinking in for Bruce that he has no idea how to be a father to a kid that age. He has no role model—his own father was long dead by the time he was Dick’s age. Nothing he’s ever done has prepared him for this, and Alfred—wise as he is—doesn’t have much experience here either.”

Waid has recently spent time with Dick Grayson in both Batman / Superman: World's Finest, with Mora, and World's Finest: Teen Titans, with artist Emanuela Lupacchino. Both titles are available now from DC Comics, both digitally and in collected editions.

While there's no shortage of origin story tales for Batman and Robin — including the somewhat-recent Robin & Batman miniseries by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen — it's always a compelling story and a cornerstone of the DC Universe, which is about to undergo massive changes after October's conclusion of Absolute Power. An updated version of the classic story, especially from veteran and top-tier storytellers like Waid and Samnee, can never go amiss, especially with a renewed focus on the very human dynamics between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

Where Does Batman and Robin: Year One Fit into DC Continuity?

Is This Story True "Canon"?

With explosive changes about to hit the DCU — and with the "everything goes" attitude of DC's Infinite Frontier era still lingering across the line — it's hard to say, at this early point, where Waid and Samnee's revamped Batman and Robin origin story will fit into DC continuity. It's distinctly possible this will fit in with Waid's in-continuity World's Finest books, including his time writing Dick's Teen Titans, but it's just as possible this is a one-off tale. What the future holds is impossible to pin down, but betting on the enduring popularity of Batman and Robin is always a sure thing.

Batman and Robin: Year One #1 is available October 16th, 2024 from DC Comics.