#also one day Tim is going to end up teaching Connor how to drive for some case and I think that's beautiful

[zahri-melitor]

Connor and Tim: They’ve Got a Dad Thing

With the DC Pride story, I’m having soft thoughts about Tim Drake and Connor Hawke talking about their feelings, identities and dads together, which is something they do remarkably often for two characters who are friends but have never been on the same team or family. Also Tim brings up Connor not being able to drive. A lot.

Going through a bunch of their appearances:

Green Arrow #105: The first meeting! Connor and Tim are chasing after Connor's stepfather, who has committed CRIMEZ buying weapons in Gotham. They take the time to discuss such important issues as ‘not being the first person to have their identity’, legacies, Tim’s love for cars, Connor’s inability to drive, and Lady Shiva.

Connor stays in town, leading to their next team up in Robin #25. Tim’s chasing down a DIFFERENT group of gunrunners after one of his classmates brought a gun to school. The dad angle here is actually Tim sending Jack to talk to his classmate’s dad about bringing a gun to school. There isn’t nearly as much fun banter between Connor and Tim here, but they still get to spend some time appreciating each other’s martial art skills.

Also notably Tim emotes quite a bit to Connor (and also Steph) about how he feels about his classmate getting shot (due to bringing the gun to school) and how fighting for revenge feels (it’s not something Tim enjoys).

The next team up is Batman Chronicles #7! Connor shows up to talk to Tim about Ollie and what it’s like trying to live up to a legend, and Tim tells him a story of a Bruce & Ollie team up. They bond over being legacies for Batman and Green Arrow.

The next time Connor and Tim team up is my all time favourite, Brotherhood of the Fist. It happens following Cataclysm but before No Man’s Land. Tim and Connor get a full crossover together! (Ok Bruce and Dick and Eddie Fyers are also there). Everyone is having problems with the Monkey Fist cult, who are busy having a martial arts competition while taking down various martial arts masters.

Tim and Connor once again get the chance to talk about dads (and also the fact Connor STILL doesn’t have his licence). This time it’s discussing whether Batman is Tim’s dad. He’s not! Connor’s still feeling like he has to live up to Ollie’s legacy! Tim empathises and tells him Batman approves.

Tim’s also a martial artist fanboy.

Eventually Connor ends up having to fight Lady Shiva! Tim saves Connor’s life by using his life debt with Shiva, and everyone tells Connor how good he was keeping up. (Nobody acknowledges Tim HAS that life debt due to managing to kill Shiva by accident a few months ago, because Tim’s fight record against her is full of ‘Tim wins due to shenanigans’)

(I love this crossover so much, folks)

Robin #78-79: Connor drops into Gotham again, because all of Tim’s classmates at Brentwood have something weird going on. This time they’re taking down a demon! Tragically they’re too busy running away from the demon to have any good conversations about their dads this time, but Tim DOES get some jokes in about the car.

(Eddie Fyers does not appreciate this and gives as good as he gets, bringing up the only mention of a dad).

Batgirl #30-32. Connor and Eddie show up to investigate the murder of some rich folk who belong to a specific secret society. A member of this club is Jack Drake. Amazingly, Connor and Tim get to talk about dads even while they’re in Cass’ book. Connor and Eddie kidnap Jack Drake and Eddie pretends to be him at an awards ceremony to save his life. This is very funny as Dana, Tim and Steph are in the audience and Tim at least recognises Eddie on sight. Eddie then gets kidnapped by the assassins.

Once Tim and Steph regroup and meet up with Connor and Cass, Tim still has time to tease Connor about being unable to drive and take control of the vehicle. Again.

The group tracks down the van that Eddie was kidnapped in, leading to Tim very awkwardly trying to explain how he knows who Jack Drake is.

Identity Crisis #6. Now this one is not so much a Connor and Tim team up so much as a very important moment on the topic of Connor, Tim and their feelings about dads. (I will never not be annoyed that Ollie doesn’t show the paper to Connor, given that Connor knows about Jack Drake, even if he doesn’t know that Tim is Tim)

This is an important part of the Connor and Tim relationship, dammit, even if neither of them realise this moment happened.

Unfortunately after this point the Bad Times start for both Connor and Tim for a while (several continuities of a while). Not so much time hanging out together talking about what being a legacy means to them and what’s in a father.

But they’re both FINALLY back in continuity, themselves, and in the same place. So what did they do together this week? They met up, talked about coming out, their dads, and their feelings. (No cars this time, though).

Damian thinks they’re joking about sitting about talking about their feelings. They absolutely are not. 

#dc #tim drake #connor hawke #look I love these two together so much #they have such complicated feelings about their various dads together #also one day Tim is going to end up teaching Connor how to drive for some case and I think that's beautiful