Though he used the title for a short while, Duke Thomas is not technically an official Robin. He may actually be stronger for it though.
Duke Thomas may have briefly used the title of Robin, but he was never technically a sanctioned one. However, despite that, Duke’s character was actually improved by this fact. Unlike the other Robins, who all needed Batman’s permission to become heroes, Duke forged his own path to becoming a hero. One that started long before he even contemplated putting on a costume.
More importantly, the idea of his current moniker, the Signal, is distinct from any other hero of the Bat-Family. However, what he represents may have fallen to the wayside as time passed, but this makes what he stands for no less important.
When Duke first started out as Robin, it was to fill a void left behind in Gotham City. Batman was presumed dead in the wake of yet another attack by the Joker, yet crime and corruption remained. As revealed in the events of We Are Robin #1 (by Lee Bermejo, Khary Randolph, Jorge Corona, Rob Haynes, Patricia Mulvihill, and Ken Lopez) Duke had been lost in the foster care system and decided to fight back against oppression by joining the growing movement known as We Are Robin. It was a collective of young people who took the Robin name to stand up to corruption. Unfortunately for Duke, this meant the title was seized by him and not really one he was ever granted permission to use. This was something the current Robin, Damian Wayne, made very clear when he returned to Gotham.
As a result, Duke isn’t in contention for any sort of place as Robin within the Bat-Family. As much as the former and current boy wonders have made the title their own, it was ultimately given to them by Batman, who was responsible for finding and training them. In short, Robin only exists because of Batman, and sometimes even as a counter-balance to Batman. Duke, on the other hand, forged his own path, taking on the name to empower himself and others. The consequence of this is that he does not get to show up in titles like the current Robins, comic series.
While Duke doesn’t have that level of history working with Batman, he is no less important in the Bat-Family. In fact, Duke represents something unique and thus far more singular within Gotham: the justice of the Bat during the day. As the Signal, Duke functions not only as Gotham’s daytime protector but as its first established metahuman hero. The idea of the Signal was to give Gotham security during the day, showing that there is someone watching out for the city’s people at all times and circumventing the myth Batman created for himself as a creature of the night. After all, even Batman needs to sleep now and then.
As of late though, Duke has been featured less and less in current comic runs. One could attribute this to the idea of what he symbolized to the city is being forgotten and this isn’t too far off. Comparatively, Duke is still a relatively new character. New players often take time to find their proper place within the DC Universe, but Duke already has a place that isn’t going anywhere. Even if the idea of what he stands for is slowly being forgotten, that doesn’t make it any less important. If Batman and his Robins represent justice during the dark, then Duke is the light that shines through the day, keeping Gotham’s worst in the shadows where they belong.
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