Batman and Sons



Inspired by the comic Tiny Titans, the-dark-cat/The Black Cat not only portrays Batman as a superhero/crime fighting detective, but also as a single father trying to raise his four sons: Dick, Jason, and Tim (the three most famous Robins), and a baby named Terry. The comic is not only funny and adorable, but also succeeds at poking fun at topical points in comics, such as the Dark Knight, Batman's 70th Anniversary, and Grant Morrison. It also occasionally features other DC superheroes and their respective sidekicks/kids.

You can read it here or here.

"Barry: Wally doesn't want to go to England and learn a new language. Bruce: They speak English there. Barry (annoyed): I know."
 * Badass Adorable: All the boys, but especially Baby Terry.
 * Batman Can Breathe in Space: As seen here...
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall:
 * Catapult Nightmare: Dick has one during the "Mr. Bat-Mom" storyline.
 * Cheerful Child: Tim
 * Civvie Spandex: Inverted. None of the heroes ever appear out of costume, even as children.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: This universe's version of Kyle Rayner. Tim occasionally has shades of this as well.
 * Possibly Wally West.

"Batman: But you're Daddy's baby! Because Daddy did a blood test with you. Yes I did! Yes I did!"
 * Or possibly a reference to differences between American English and English English.
 * Daddy DNA Test: Bruce did a parental test with Terry to prove he was his son. (Mentioned in 'Back to the Cave' and 'Cabbage Patch'.)


 * Deadpan Snarker: Mrs. Wayne.
 * Five-Finger Discount: Done in "Don't Mess with Bats." After a bad day which gets Batman snarky, he gets on the nerves of Jesse Quick, Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite by showing his hands "are quicker than" their eyes: he snatches Jesse's top while she runs at him, he gets Hourman's hourglass while he's making his threat (Hourman suddenly sees it's gone and on Batman, who goes "Tick Tock"), and he gets Dr. Mid-Nite's goggles, rendering him unable to see--and running into a tree.
 * Give Him a Normal Life: Well, Terry's life probably won't be very normal, but he's at least safer with Batman than.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Batman rants that Green Arrow rips off everything from him; when Dick points out that Green Arrow has a daughter and he doesn't, he promptly decides to get one.
 * I Can Still Fight: Exhibit A--Last Panel.
 * Jerkass: Bruce, oh so very much.
 * Loafing in Full Costume
 * Marshmallow Hell: Dick being sandwiched between Black Canary and Hawkgirl... That Came Out Wrong.
 * Given they're Hot Aunts and Dick is seen as a surrogate son/nephew of theirs (and as Nightwing later, The Heart of the DC Universe in general) it's torture for him as he doesn't want to upset them as a puberty-induced perverted kid.
 * And here Dick's also got to deal with Mera and Power Girl too--hard when you're twelve to keep your "Mr. Nice Guy" status.
 * Meta Guy:
 * Most Common Superpower: To Dick's continual embarrassment.
 * Mouthy Kid: Jason
 * Apparently Baby Terry as well
 * Mysterious Protector:  on occasion to Terry, because
 * Mythology Gag: As noted in Shout-Out below, there are a lot of references to the original comics.
 * Overprotective Dad: Batman, naturally, although here it's played for comedy.
 * Parental Abandonment: Of course, there's the obvious cases (Batman and all three Robins). Also,
 * Parental Obliviousness: Green Arrow is the worst father ever. Proof? See here.
 * Precocious Crush: Jason possibly has one on Wonder Woman, as seen here.
 * Dick has one on Babs. And if you look closely at her binder, it seems like she might have one on Batman.
 * Raging Stiffie: Dick, who, at twelve years old, is just hitting puberty.
 * Running Gag: In the holiday drawings, Terry hitting Tim with various objects.
 * Ship Tease: "Rivalry" has numerous examples, mostly based on official comic couples (Roy flirting with Donna, Jade calling Kyle "cute," etc.)
 * Shout-Out: Lots, not just to the comics, but also to the various Batman and/or DC Comics TV series, movies, etc. There's even been references to Peanuts and The Karate Kid.
 * So Proud of You: Bruce tells Tim in "Rivalry" when Lois gave Tim a ribbon for third place, "I'm proud of you, Tim."
 * And tells Clark about Terry in "Super Birthday," "I'm so proud of him." (Green Arrow's younger son had stolen Terry's balloon, but Terry wouldn't let him get away with it.)
 * Spinoff Babies: Has shades of this, considering how many DC characters are aged down to kids, babies, or teenagers.
 * Sitcom Arch Nemesis: Green Arrow to Batman
 * Take That: Two in one.
 * Don't forget the one-shot gag in the Fourth of July strip against certain recent developments in the Green Lantern mythos.
 * The Unfavorite: Tim -- at least when Terry's around. Cat simply means to have Bruce be overprotective since Terry's a baby but Tim really does seem to get the short end of the stick some days.
 * Dick gets some of this attitude as well, although not related to Terry, he's just the one that Batman puts the most expectations on.
 * We Named the Monkey "Jack":
 * We Want Our Jerk Back: Dick and Jason feel this way in the Bat-Mom comic.