As someone who is an avid reader of comics, I will be the first to admit that they’re unrealistic and I have just about nothing in common with some of my favorite characters. Truthfully the only commonality I can really think of is that both some of my favorites and I have red hair and a deep love for Dick Grayson, the first Robin.
In the world of DC Comics, there are many deep relationships built between the characters over the course of the company’s long run and numerous overlapping series. Dick Grayson tends to be at the center of a lot of them. However, he gets enough attention as is so I’m going to focus on some fellow gingers.
When asked what my all time favorite comic book character is the answer is, without a doubt, Barbara Gordon — the original Batgirl, the genius hacker and leader of the Birds of Prey Oracle and daughter of the Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. On top of all of this, she has an eidetic memory and has continued her career as superhero after being paralyzed from the waist down during an attack by the Joker. Babs is also the longtime on again/off again girlfriend of Dick, and even when they’re not dating, they stay extremely close and ask each other’s advice on everything from cases to their current love life. There’s so much about Babs that I love, I could write an entire column on just her, but for now you’re stuck with the CliffNotes version.
Another sometimes girlfriend is Koriand’r, better known as Starfire, the princess of the alien planet Tamaran and member of the Teen Titans. With her flight, super strength and energy blasts (starbolts), she is easily the powerhouse of any team and has even gone toe-to-toe with Wonder Woman. However, Starfire is best known for her compassion and empathy, reasons that Dick fell in love with her in the first place, as shown in her curating a garden of alien plants from lost worlds in her free time at Titans Tower.
The last two to round out Dick Grayson’s favorite redheads are two fellow Teen Titans. While they don’t always get along Wally West, aka Kid Flash and the Flash, and Roy Harper, aka Speedy and Arsenal, are Dick’s two closest friends. Wally got superspeed when visiting his aunt in Central City and meeting his hero the Flash, only to learn that his aunt’s boyfriend Barry Allen was the Flash. He then became Kid Flash and when his Uncle Barry disappeared he took over the mantle of the Flash. Wally is the fastest speedster in the DCU and in current issues can even temporarily stop time.
Both Wally and Roy are fun loving, flirty, and hot-headed — and yet they tend to turn their tempers on each other. Roy was taken in by Green Arrow and became his protegee Speedy. He had a rough life as a teenager, getting addicted to heroine and fathering a child with the assassin Cheshire but after the birth of his daughter, Lian, Roy turned his life around. He was even a member of the Justice League while being a loving full time father.
Dick Grayson shows up in almost every DC title at some point, he’s just one of those characters, but it’s his fiery haired friends who really steal the show. These four characters are just a handful of redheaded DC characters that he interacts with on a regular basis in the comics and other media alike, such as Batwoman, Miss Martian and even Wally’s daughter Irey whom Dick is one of the godparents of. Between their sass and compassion it’s fair to say that these four far outshine their more famous friend.
With the exaggerated style of comic books it’s hard to relate to the characters and their problems. However, the closer you look at them the more you can find elements of yourself in them. I like to think I have their smarts and courage, but at the very least, I take comfort in sharing their hair color.
