My problem with Robin is that ,at least as I remember the Batman stories I've read in the past, he kept being used as a "damsel in distress". Not unusual, I know, to use the main supporting cast as the "victims under threat" in every episode, but it takes away from Robin as a hero.

Robin is an interesting counterpoint to Batman, and the twist introduced many years ago that Batman started out as a kid using a variation on the Robin costume gives it added weight.  What I would have liked to see, however (and aren't you glad I'm not writing Batman) is a Robin (Dick Grayson) who is taken in by Bruce Wayne after his parents death and shipped off to a boarding school. There he would fight crime as Robin (a variation on his circus costume). Alfred would play a bigger part in Robin's life than Batman. And even if Batman and Robin ever teamed up, Batman wouldn't realize that Dick Grayson was really Robin. And Robin doesn't know that Bruce Wayne is really Batman.

Or is that too silly?

I thought part of the point to Robin was to give Batman someone to explain things to.  Seems to me I recall reading an interview somewhere where Bob Kane or Jerry Robinson explained they had to do something to keep Batman from talking to himself all the time.  He's an exposition tool.

The arguement can be made that Alfred can serve much the same function, but with Robin they can get into the exposition on the fly, so to speak, and not have to return to the Cave to get into it.

QUOTE: the twist introduced many years ago that Batman started out as a kid using a variation on the Robin costume

I remember a story from the 70's or early 80's where Superboy teamed up with a young Bruce Wayne who wore the Robin costume minus the 'R' to catch a crook in Metropolis, after the villain was captured a policeman comments about the costume reminding him of a "Robin red breast". I think a young Lois Lane was in the story as well.

DC had the chance of doing a great Batman reboot with BATMAN: YEAR ONE by Miller and Mazzuchelli.

I wish they had gone that way, since they had one of the best stories from the eighties to start with.

Not that I would mind a JB reboot, obviously...

Also -- and I cringe as I write this -- a Batman created in the modern world would simply have to wear some kind of body armor. Not kevlar, mind you. This would be comicbook body armor, so would be thin as silk. But it would have to be there.

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Would the criminals and general public be aware that Batman was wearing some type of armor?

"I always preferred Robin over Batman as a kid, but by the time I started reading comics, Robin was no longer a kid. When I played Robin, I played him as Burt Ward's age."

The same for me.  When I played with one of my friends, they could always be Batman because I wanted to be Robin.  The reckless "laughing young daredevil" version of Robin that Dick Grayson exemplified was always a fun character for me, and I still love stories with Dick Grayson exhibiting those aspects of his character.  Batgirl Year One had a lot of those types of moments for Robin.

I also like Batman and Robin together because to me they were always the ultimate in teamwork.  The Dynamic Duo indeed!

I don't believe that there was widespread hatred of Robin in the 40's.  I don't think that the Batman titles would've enjoyed the popularity that they did if one of the costars was the focus of the buying public's hatred.

The sidekick shtick has been the subject of ridicule over the years, but Robin and his knock-offs have launched multiple versions of the Teen Titans, which have served DC well over the years.

I think that younger comic book heroes serve a purpose.  As a very young kid, the thought of being Robin or Jimmy Olsen was pretty cool.  As I grew older, I moved up to thinking that being Batman or Superman would be the cool thing to do.