The secret origin of Robin has been revealed, and it isn't pretty. The series Robins has shown every hero that's fought by Batman's side as the titular sidekick pursued by a mysterious woman who claimed to be the first Robin. The young heroes have had to dig through their own painful pasts to get to this point, and now they're about to find out a secret they won't be able to unlearn.
After winning the 2021 Round Robin tournament, Robins by Tim Seely and Baldemar Rivas got the go-ahead to become its own series. Centered around the five heroes who have taken on the Robin identity, the group suddenly finds their pasts coming back to haunt them. Masterminding these events is Jenny Wren, an enigmatic figure in a Robin costume, who has been tormenting the crew by using elements from their first cases (referred to as Gauntlets).
A preview for Robins #6 shows the team on the precipice of reading Gauntlet Zero, the file Bruce has on Jenny Wren. The team activates it, and discovers that Wren is actually Anita Jean, the former accomplice to a hacker named Cormac Dodge aka the Escape Artist. Dodge learns of Bruce Wayne's secrets early in the latter's career, so Batman attempts to use Jean in order to take Escape Artist down. However, Jean shoots Dodge after he says he would take everyone down with him. Batman furiously chides the young Jean and rejects her for her action, causing the girl to seemingly throw herself into a fire.
Despite what Batman thought, Anita Jean survived Gauntlet Zero and has returned with a vengeance as Jenny Wren. It's a sad reveal that Batman acted so harshly to Jean, going so far as to say he "couldn't accept someone like her" for killing Dodge with the enemy's weapon. It's also a bit hypocritical considering Damian notably decapitated a minor Gotham villain when he came into Bruce's life. Granted, Damian was raised by a legion of assassins, but Bruce's failure to find understanding with Anita has had severe consequences for the Robins.
Robins has served as a study on the dynamic between Batman and his allies, and has raised questions on the ethics of bringing minors into a life of crimefighting. And while the former sidekicks may have their own feelings on that issue, rejecting Anita from being a Robin has ironically done considerably more damage with her as she's grown into Jenny Wren. Had Batman approached Jean's shooting of Dodge with a bit more comion, her villainous persona may never have emerged.
Maybe Anita Jean was never really a Robin, but Bruce saw potential in her and in his anger, tossed it away. Jenny Wren's actions have shown that had Batman fully brought her in and gave her proper guidance, she may have been one of the most effective Robins of all time.
Source: AIPT Comics
