The Grayson Critic

I think it’s important to acknowledge that, when it comes to comic book characterization, we operate on a spectrum. It’s not that there is no such thing as “out of character” – there absolutely is – but it’s that one must take into consideration numerous factors when trying to identify whether something is in character or not.

For example, what is the target audience? A Batman written for eight olds will be written differently than one for a Black Label book. The era in which the book was written is another consideration – for example, while Dick is always meant to be on the side of moral goodness, our evolving understanding of social justice and systematic oppression will alter the way in which that is depicted. The intended tone of the book is also a fact – Snyder’s more introspective Black Mirror will lead to a more pondering Dick Grayson than, say, Tom King and Tim Seeley’s Agent 37 in the swashbuckling sexy spy thriller.

But, as I said above, that is not to say that “out of character” does not exist. The way I look at it, comic book characters are like a recipe. There’s an original recipe of chocolate cake, and there are those who study that recipe and make adaptations to suit their needs – maybe they’re baking a vegan version, maybe they like extra chocolate icing, maybe they want to add some cherries to it. They are variations, but they are still drawing from a similar list of ingredients and paying homage to that original recipe. They still fall within the concept of what our understanding is of a“chocolate cake.” You cannot, for example, come to a chocolate cake judging competition with a lemon salmon and claim it counts. No matter how well-prepared or delicious that dish is, it is not chocolate cake. 

To me, Taylor’s Dick was that lemon salmon. So is Wayne Family Adventures and Nothing Butt Nightwing. These stories turn an empathetic and highly intelligent character into an one dimensional himbo. Ric Grayson’s arc was a shameless attempt to completely erase that which makes Dick special and transform into an entirely new character – something that Taylor continued when he was given the opportunity to “reboot” the series and present Dick to a new audience who has never encountered him before.

Due to the popularity of these series (well, not Ric Grayson), I have to say that anything that leans away from that insulting characterization makes me happy. I thought it would be hard to find a Dick characterization that left a worse taste in my mouth than Dixon’s tendencies to lean towards toxic masculinity or the bizarre nonsense that was Bruce Jones’ Brothers in Blood, but Taylor, WFA, and NBN proved me wrong. 

With this in mind, some might think that I am grading Watters on a curve. I don’t think I am – I genuinely do think that Watters is doing a good job characterizing Dick – but I think that is an important preface to establish.  

As I said in the post linked above, Dick Grayson is a good person. That is crucial to his character, yes, but that is not his sole defining characteristic, and if you see him as just “a good guy,” then you run the risk of falling into the trap of robbing Dick of all his complex nuances. So when I think about who Dick, I think about his goodness, yes, but I also think of the self-destructive heroic; I think about his intelligence and competence – his detective skills; I think about his nurturing nature that makes him not only into the big brother and a parental figure in the Batfam, but also into its heart; and I think about his ability to bring levity even to darker situations.

When I look at Watters’ run, I think he is delivering in almost every single one of these important aspects.

Now, Dick’s goodness, I think, is evident in every issue of Watters’ run so far.

From the moment he is trying to take down the gangs,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Curtain Up. Nightwing (2016). 119,e-book ed. DC, 2024]

to when he is trying to create a truce between said gangs,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Curtain Up. Nightwing (2016). 119,e-book ed. DC, 2024]

trying to manage the police,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Part Three: Beast Wagon. Nightwing (2016). 121, e-book ed. DC, 2024]

Or even when he is saving Nite-Mite

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 128 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Dick's goodness shines through his actions. He is always working to try to achieve peace in Bludhaven and save as many people as possible. We hardly ever see him take a moment to himself, to the point where he neglects his personal life (what personal life?) and himself. I never doubt Dick's motivations in this run because his priority is always so clearly other people, and his actions – the fact that is always focused on nothing but Bludhaven – show that.

Which brings me to his self-destructive heroics. As someone who loves Devin Grayson’s run (yes, I do, and I won’t apologize for it), and who considers Sam Humphries’ The Untouchable to be the best Nightwing story ever told, I don’t believe you can write Dick Grayson well without having him help people at the cost of his own well-being. Dick’s dedication to saving people often brings him to the brink of, well, self-destruction.  

To me, this is exemplified in one of my favorite parts of this entire run, in Nightwing #124. When Dick realizes that three members of FlyBoyz need blood transfusion to survive, he does not hesitate to donate half of his own blood.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

His heart stops during the procedure, which leads him to come face-to-face with Zanni in a sequence that had me, a Gothic and horror lover, cheering.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And then, when Dick wakes up and learns that two out of the three did not survive, he blames himself. But he is, thankfully, reminded that a man now will live because of him.

I also loved the sequence that follows, where Dick is between life-and-death and hallucinates Cirque du Sin.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And, let’s not forget, the charging elephant

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Not only does this sequence perfectly play into the liminality that Dick lives in, to me, it also epitomizes what makes Dick Grayson great. Dick is someone who will always, without a moment of hesitation, put others above himself to the point of putting his life at risk. Even when his heart is failing, he will continue to fight.

And, personally, I love that he is not shamed for it. True, that is not a healthy attitude to have and not something we would want Dick fans to mimic – there’s a reason why I characterize these heroic actions as self-destructive – but I don’t want Dick Grayson to be perfect. I don’t want him to always have a healthy attitude towards life. I don’t want him to overcome this flaw because it is part of why I love him. For this reason, I like that Watters presents Dick’s unhealthy actions in a neutral light. He’s not condoning what Dick does, but there’s also an acceptance that says that while this is extreme, it is also who Dick Grayson is, and that is never going to change.

This makes the story feel less condescending, less like it is presenting this sugarcoated world where everything is perfect and we, the audience, will always get our answers of how we should live from the stories we read. I think… Without getting too off-topic, I think that is a danger with trying to make our media too wholesome. It’s not that stories can’t model a better way for us to live – they absolutely can! – but it’s that they do more than just that. In the Victorian era, as the novel gained popularity and literacy rates and access to fiction grew, there were numerous anxieties surrounding the reading of fiction. Amongst these worries was the specific concern about whether fiction did or did not model a virtuous life. But the truth is that fiction does more than just model behavior – it can also challenge our preconceived notions, serve as a catharsis for emotions, be it positive, negative, or anything that falls within that spectrum. As a firm lover of the Gothic, I have to assert that fiction should, at times, make us uncomfortable. Wholesome fiction, while sweet like cotton candy, cannot always be fulfilling or nutritious to the mind and soul. Even our escapist stories should, at times, challenge us and present us with nuance. That means that sometimes we’ll have heroes who do the wrong thing, who behave imperfectly, who are doing more than just preaching what the ideal life should be like.

One of my biggest problems with Tom Taylor’s characterization of Dick was that it was too one-noted. He was a “good guy,” but he did not have flaws. Or, I should say, he didn’t have intentional flaws – flaws that Taylor intentionally created. And though we were told he was pushing himself, that only happened as people put a metaphorical blanket on his back and gave him a metaphorical hot cocoa and told him to rest and that everything would be okay. And they were right, because everything was always okay. 

[Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator. Get Grayson Act Three. Nightwing (2016). 90, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022]

That Dick Grayson lacked the nuance and extremes that makes Dick so special. Not only that, Taylor’s lack of nuance in writing resulted in a superficial analysis of the systems he was supposedly critiquing. While the subjects he chose to write about and the words his characters speak signal progressive ideals, the lack of nuance makes for a comfortable thesis that does not truly challenge systems of oppression present in the status quo. 

So I deeply appreciate how Watters is letting Dick have that edge of unhealthiness without shaming him for it. I think it’s refreshing, and it’s something I haven’t seen since, well, The Untouchable. Furthermore, I think it allows for a deeper conversation regarding the themes of the work, the superhero genre, and the state of today’s society.

When it comes to Dick’s intelligence and competence, I see Watters leaning into that as he works through the mystery of Cirque du Sin while navigating Olivia’s hold on Bludhaven’s police force. In the beginning of the story, Olivia has Sawyer and Melinda on her side, and Dick fights an uphill battle trying to contain her influence. It is my view that Dick shines when he is David going against Goliath. As JL Bell says in her essay Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder, “Robin’s status as the littlest guy in the fight increases the character’s appeal for some children, especially the ‘youngest and weakest.’” 

[Bells, JL “Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 11]

While I’ll be the first to complain about writer’s over reliance on Blockbuster, I do think that Dixon, Grayson, Seeley, and Taylor were all correct when they decided to position this huge figure representative of systematic injustice as Dick’s primary antagonist. As such, I enjoy seeing a similar conflict play out between Dick and Olivia, all while Dick is also going against a literal god. I’ll touch more on that in the plot and the Zanni & Themes sections of this review.

Now, I confess that I do wish I could see even more of Dick’s detective work. In an AMA on Reddit, Watters said that he saw Dick’s role as a detective as one of the things he likes most about the character.

[DanpgWatters “I’m comics writer Dan Watters. In advance of my taking over Nightwing next month, I’m here for you to AMA.” Reddit, 12 September 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/1ff7ya9/comment/lmtcqjg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button]

And this is backed by canon. In fact, Dick is often referred to as the World’s Second Greatest Detective.

[Beatty, Scott; Greenberger, Robert; Jimenez, Phil, Wallace, Dan. “Nightwing.” The DC Comics Encyclopedia, DC Comics, 2004. pp.252]

He is recognized as "Detective" by Ra's Al-Ghul long before Tim is recognized as such.

[Tomasi, Peter J., writer. Kramer, Don, pencils. Leisten, Jay, inks. Hi-Fi, colorist. Eminence Front. Nightwing (1996). 152 e-book ed. DC, 2009]

Wally also states so in Titans (2016) #13

[Abnett, Dan, writer. Marion, V K, pencils. Rapmund, Norm, inker. Dalhouse, Andrew, colorist. Endgame. Titans (2016). 13. e-book ed. DC, 2017]

And it has also been noted as recently as City Boy #04

[Pak, Greg, writer. Jung, Minkyu, artist. Cheng, Sebastian, colorist. City Boy. 04. e-book ed. DC, 2023]

Yet, as much as I enjoyed the 2025 Annual for all its thematic work, I wish Dick had been the one doing that investigation instead of Sawyer. So I do count that as a point against Watters. Dick should have been the one, as Sawyer says, "going back through time."

[Watters, Dan, writer. Francavilla, Francesco, artist. Death Trap. Nightwing (2016). Annual. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Furthermore, I must agree with criticism that has pointed out that this Annual continues the trend of Nightwing Annuals not focusing on Dick. Again, as much as I enjoyed this issue, I do wish Dick had been the one doing the investigating, and I do wish we could go back to having Annuals that focus on this series protagonist. I’m here for Nightwing, after all. I don't know if we'll get an Annual in 2026, but if we do, I hope it will break this distressing trend.

When it comes to Dick’s nurturing side, I believe that comes out when he is dealing with Bryce. For this reason, I’ll go in more detail about that in the Bryce section of this essay.

That is not to say that Watters’ Dick is completely devoid of humor, of course. In the, as of time of writing, most recent issue, this moment between Dick and Melinda really captured the importance of Dick’s sense of humor.

[Watters, Dan, writer. Marion,V Ken, artist. Candini, Veronica, colorist. Cirque du Sin: Part Four: A Thing that Should Not Be. Nightwing (2016). 133. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Even as a certified Melinda hater (you can see why here), I have to say, this moment made me emotional. Laughing in the face of evil takes away some of evil’s power. That is why satire is such a powerful tool against authoritarianism. That is why strongman dictators crack down on comedians first. And that is why Dick’s smile, as charming and as comforting as it is, is also a weapon in itself. By cracking jokes in the face of the enemy, Dick disempowers them. And I love that Watters understands this. I love that he says it so beautifully.

I have to admit, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps this is a result of the art direction rather than of the writing. I simply have not seen Dexter Soy draw Dick smiling that much, and I wonder how much of Dick’s natural charming comments would come through better by him having a more boyish design. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this moment that struck me so much was illustrated by V Ken Marion. 

This is not just present – or would it be better to say “absent?” – in dialogue, though. Perhaps it’s unfair to hold everyone to Chris Samnee’s standards, but I just… I wonder how much more like Dick this character would feel if, rather than sitting quietly on the couch in this scene,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part One. Nightwing (2016). 127. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

He was instead moving around like we see in Batman and Robin: Year One.

[Waid, Mark, writer. Samnee, Chris, artist. Lopes, Matheus, colorist. Chapter Six. Batman and Robin: Year One. 06. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Or even in this page from over twenty years ago that is part of Murder/Fugitive.

[Grayson, Devin, writer. Robinson, Roger, pencils. Floyd, John, ink. Vasques, Gloria, colorist. Innocent Until. Gotham Knights. 26. e-book ed. DC, 2002]

I think this is an aspect of characterization that Dick is missing in this run. The constant movement shows that stasis is antithesis to who Dick. It also adds levity to him. And the smiles, the easy charm that shines through the darkest moments... That is something I wish I could see more of on the page.

While we're talking about things that could be improved, I must also confess that I have major problems with how Watters presented Dick as a businessman philanthropist. While I understand Taylor carries some of the blame for that due to him making Dick a billionaire and the head of the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation, and while I know one of my biggest complaints about Taylor's run was that we never saw Dick work after Haven was finished, I don't think what we see in Nightwing (2016) #121 is the solution.

I understand that, in the sequence in question, Dick is bugging Olivia's office. He is doing detective and spy work, which I love. What I don't like is that he is in a suit, presenting himself as a businessman/philanthropist. I don't like that his body language is stiff and closed off, rather than suave and charming. That, in my opinion, does not read as Dick Grayson.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Part Three: Beast Wagon. Nightwing (2016). 121, e-book ed. DC, 2024]

As I said, this is not Dick Grayson. What this is, is Bruce Wayne.

[Wolfman, Marv, writer. Broderick, Pat, pencils. Beatty, John, inks. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. Batman Year Three: Turnabout. Batman (1940). 438. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989]

Bruce presents the world the mask of Brucie Wayne. He is the philanthropist who dresses in a nice suit, who makes business negotiations, and who engages in ruthless corporate warfare in the name of justice..

Dick, by contrast, is always himself when he is Dick Grayson. He does not have a Brucie Wayne business persona. As it has been stated numerous times in the past, there is no separation of who Dick Grayson and who Nightwing are. They are an extension of each other.

[Dixon, Chuck, writer. Rosado, William, pencils. Palmer, Tom, ink. Vasques, Gloria, colorist. At the End of the Day. Detective Comics (1937). 725. e-book ed. DC, 1998]

Even in Grayson, a story in which Dick is undercover, Dick is still himself and has a hard time separating the mission from his own person. That is, after all, the main conflict in the first part of the story. Agent 37 must do things that Dick Grayson never would approve of, and Dick must choose between staying true to his morals or working towards the greater mission. Wondering if there’s a way in which he can do both is what makes the story so tense and so intriguing.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. Cox, Jeromy, colorist. The Gun Goes Off. Grayson. 03. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014]

Simply said, I just... Can't see Dick as a businessman. I can’t see him in that scene. He became a cop to clean up the corrupt police force from the inside, attacking it on two fronts (outside the system as Nightwing, and inside the system as Dick Grayson), but he was still himself. Earlier in Nightwing (1996) Dick was a bartender, working to collect intelligence through his communication with his patrons. Later on, he becomes a gym instructor, then a museum curator. In N52, he administers Haly's Circus. Prior to the Ric Grayson arc, he volunteers as a children's gym instructor at a community center, he works undercover in Blockbuster's casino, and he owns his own gym.

All of these jobs are natural extensions of who Dick is, or an extension of his mission. While I do think Dick would use his money to help others, I do not see him as a button down suit executive person. He would, instead, be physically at Haven, working and teaching the kids the Pennyworth Foundation is helping. So I was incredibly disappointed to see him portrayed as a businessman in this moment, even if he was, in a way, still working towards the mission.

I've heard criticism of people who claim that Watters treats Dick as "Bruce/Batman lite," and while I don't think that is true, at this particular moment, it absolutely felt like so.

Finally, I want to address a more complicated and perhaps subjective aspect of' Dick’s characterization.

It is my belief that Dick is one of the queerest characters in the DC universe. My reason for that is that I believe that queerness is built into the bones of Dick's character and into his role in the Batman Mythos. Now, I'm not going to go into a full gender and sexuality reading of Dick Grayson, but I will give a brief summary of my reasoning.

When Dick was created in 1940, he was meant to be a mirror to Bruce, someone who would externalize his emotions, and be a source of stakes by being someone Bruce cared for. As Bell states, “Reflecting the mid-century ideal of the American male, Bruce Wayne is in control of his feelings, not letting them overcome his judgment nor displaying them broadly. But those rules do not apply strongly to young Dick Grayson. He can express deep emotions, not only his own but Bruce’s.” 

[Bells, JL “Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 12]

Dick fulfilled a role of both equal partner (the Watson to Bruce’s Holmes), and a damsel in distress (the Guinevere to Bruce’s Lancelot). He was both Bruce's equal partner and the female-coded character that needed to be saving. By occupying both roles, he broke the gender binary, being both male and female.

But this is not only present in the roles Dick has played in relationship to Bruce. This defying of the gender binary is also reflected in both Dick’s fanbase and the way DC has handled his queerness. As Mason Downey points out in In Defense of Dick Grayson: Objectification, Sexuality, and Subtext:

"The more sexual and idealized Dick was allowed to become, the more attention he got from female and queer fans, the more the industry had to work to combat the past anxieties revolving around the character. This resulted in more and more heteronormative romances for Dick on the page. We can’t grant Wertham’s fears any legitimacy, we can’t make these stories 'for girls.'"

[Downey, Mason “In Defense of Dick Grayson: Objectification, Sexuality, and Subtext” Women Write About Comics. December 2015]

Tini Howard also builds on this idea on her essay Grayson, Sex, and Feminism, claiming that Dick's sexualization -- both his objectification and the sexual assault narratives that have long since been part of his character history -- also helped women identify with Dick. She further adds that Dick has always been read as feminine:

“From a boyhood spent in tiny shorts […] to a menagerie of dramatic love affairs, to his physical objectification in canon, to the meta factor of his massive female fanbase — this is a guy who reads as feminine to a lot of people.” 

[Howard, Tini “Grayson, Sex, and Feminism.” Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 174]

That is all to say, in my opinion, femininity and queerness have always been an intrinsic part of Dick Grayson's character. There are attempts to straightwash him, of course, but the queerness remains.

So, when I look at Watters' Dick, do I think he honors this queer, feminine, and gender binary defying aspect of Dick's character? Truthfully, no. I don't. I think Dick could be a lot more feminine and a lot queerer even as he remains in a straight-passing relationship with Babs and doesn't officially come out as queer.

But I do not think that Watters' characterization is too masculine either. In my opinion, the worst offenders in this regard are Dixon, Lobdell, and Jurgens. I think those are the runs where Dick is at his most toxic masculine, where he is at most risk of losing that feminine queerness that has long since been a part of his character. It is not a coincidence that, for two of these writers, Dick wasn’t even Dick.

I also think that Taylor's characterization, while not toxic masculine, is an attempt of straightwashing Dick. Dick's relationship with Babs in that run portrays this ideal heteronormative romance that erases both Dick and Babs' individualities (as I explain here). Dick is made into an everyman that cishet male readers can project themselves onto so they can fantasize about dating Batgirl.

Because Watters does not focus his run on making Dick and Babs this heteronormative fantasy ideal, the straightwashing does not hit as hard. In fact, unlike plenty of promotional material that came out during Taylor's run, Dick is not sexualized nearly as much as he was in the previous years (though there are still the variant covers here and there that do so), and even his flirtations with Babs (“hey, gorgeous”) don’t come out as smooth and charming, but rather cringy and forced. Now, I don’t think Dick being objectified is necessarily a bad thing (read Mason Downey’s essay for a nuanced exploration of Dick’s sexualization/objectification), but I do find it interesting that despite a kiss here and there, despite the occasional awkward petname, Watters' run is pretty sexless.

Or, perhaps I should say, sex-neutral. Now, how much sex and sexualization is connected to our understanding of gender identity, performance, and sexuality is beyond the scope of this review. I do not think sex and sexualization are necessary to make Dick straight or queer, but neither can I deny the role they play in making him appear one way or the other. In other words, it is a factor that, by keeping it out of his story, Watters neutralizes the perception of Dick.

I ask again: Do I think Dick is femme enough in this run? Do I think he is queer enough? Do I think Watters is doing justice to this marginalized and beloved part of Dick's character that DC has constantly attempted to erase? No. I don't. And I do count that as another point against him. But do I think he is not consciously trying to straightwash him, and I don’t think that he is as bad as Taylor, Dixon, and Lobdell and Jurgens. And I do count that in his favor.

In other words. It could be better, but I have also read much, much, worse.

[Watters, Dan, writer. Marion,V Ken, artist. Candini, Veronica, colorist. CIrque du Sin: Part Four: A Thing that Should Not Be. Nightwing (2016). 133. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

In the, as of writing, most recent Nightwing issue, Dick dives into the fifth dimension to find the Cirque du Sin. To save the children, the little circus boy leaps into the unknown, into the impossible. He is unsure if he’ll be able to survive this mission. Yet, the thrill of it still makes him feel at home. And even as he faces danger, even as he is about to come face-to-face with a corrupted version of his own principles… He smiles.

First, we have the Cirque du Sin and Zanni storyline. That is the big mystery of the story, the source of the horror, the overarching plot that has been haunting and taunting Dick through each issue. Yet, it is only now that it has become an immediate concern. Unlike Taylor, Watters manages the overarching villain by not raising – or, perhaps, not making Dick fully aware of the height of the stakes – until he is ready to step into the foreground.

While Heartless came in with a bang, murdered a couple of people, disappeared, and then appeared again, Zanni has been lingering in the outskirts of the narrative. He’s been this uncanny figure that is always there, but his actions are obscured by Olivia’s. We know there is a connection between the two, we know that Zanni has been pulling the strings, but we’re only just now seeing the fruits of his machinations.

To put it simply, if Zanni had started kidnapping children within his first appearance, and if Dick had known about it as soon as it happened, then any time Dick didn’t spend hunting Zanni and Cirque du Sin down would have painted him as incompetent and negligent. It wouldn’t have mattered if we’re told that, off-screen, Dick had been searching for Zanni this entire time because that would have fallen for one of writing’s greatest sin: telling not showing.

[Taylor, Tom, writer. Barsi, Sami, pencils. Cifuente, Vincent, inks. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Nightwing (2016). 111. e-book ed. DC, 2024]

But that is not what Watters does. Instead, he understands that a good mystery and a good horror story is not about coming in with an eye-catching bang! but rather about withholding information, from both the reader and the protagonist until the right moment. Watters drips us with information about Zanni and Cirque du Sin, giving it just enough to keep us hooked and guessing, but not enough so that it is making its entrance too soon.

First, we have Zanni’s interesting introduction. Whimsical and macabre at the same time, he strikes the tone for the arc (I talk about that here) while also introducing the big questions of this mystery: Who is this figure? What is he? And what does he want with Dick?

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Curtain Up. Nightwing (2016). 119,e-book ed. DC, 2024]

Then, we learn about his connection with Olivia.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Curtain Up. Nightwing (2016). 119,e-book ed. DC, 2024]

We know Zanni is in a position of power, that Olivia is his Columbina. According to Wikipedia, Columbina is the stock character who works as “is [the] Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and love interest of Pierrot.”. 

[“Columbine (stock character)” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 02 January 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_%28stock_character%29]

This alliance lends Olivia’s actions, which would already be distressing enough on its own, a more sinister edge.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part Two: Capture Their Hearts. Nightwing (2016). 120. e-book ed. DC, 2024]

Then, we see the connection with Dick’s past. That is when Dick connects Olivia with Zanni, and while he starts asking questions about what the Cirque du Sin is and what they are truly after, as readers, we are privy to information Dick is not. And that leads us, as readers, to have our own mystery. Again, we go back to that question that was introduced in the beginning of the arc: What does Zanni want with Dick?

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part Four: Little Circus Boy. Nightwing (2016). 122. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Then, during the Annual, we learn more about what Zanni is, and though I do wish that discovery had been made by Dick, Watters once again manages to give us just enough information to build a bigger picture of what is happening while also making us ask more questions. With every new piece of the puzzle, with every new layer peeled, we see that we are only scratching the surface of something much bigger.

I’m a big fan of The Magnus Archives, and the writer of the series, Jonathan Sims, once said that the difficulty with writing a good horror mystery story revolves around how, despite both genres relying on the unknown, they are conflicting in nature. Horror is about not knowing – the less we understand something, the less we see the monster, the more we fear it. Mystery, on the other hand, is about discovery – a good mystery is one where we can piece the puzzle ourselves. Sims claims: 

“they both rely on the unknown so heavily. And so the unknown feeds the horror and entices the mystery. But as it goes on, the mystery needs to be, it needs to get answers, otherwise you feel cheated, whereas the horror needs to stay unknown, because if you get all the answers to what the horror is, it’s no longer scary, and if everything stays unknown and horrific, then you don’t get any answers to the mystery.” 

[Sims, Jonathan; Newal, Alexander J. host. “MAG S1 Q&A” The Magnus Archives, season 01. Episode 41. [publisher] 26 October 2016. https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/special/0402-qa1.html]

A good horror mystery, then, has to know how much to withhold and how much to give. The protagonist and the reader have to be making progress towards uncovering the truth while the big unknown continues to instill fear in our soul. This, I think, is a balance that Watters strikes rather well.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Watters knows how to drip us information and he knows what to keep to himself. This makes the Cirque du Sin compelling.

But, I think, what helps make this plot so masterful is, once again, the missing children haven't become a factor until now.

The gang war is the first part of this arc. While this is not the Bludhaven of my dreams like The Untouchable and even Seeley’s Bludhaven was (Casino City Bludhaven, when will I have you back?), I am glad that Watters brought back Bludhaven’s corruption and grime nature. One of Taylor’s biggest sins, in my opinion, was making Bludhaven this beautiful, clean utopia that was able to be cleaned of corruption with one good election and one sweep of the police force. Watters brings Bludhaven back to its Dixon-Grayson roots, and this gives room for Dick to breathe.

The gang war expands the city, creating a conflict that is reminiscent of Devin Grayson’s run post-Tarantula and Blockbuster. But unlike Taylor, whose writing reads like a sanitized, defanged version of a better story, Watters’ reads more as if he is taking inspiration from not only Devin Grayson’s run, but also other Batman classics (The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale specifically comes to mind).

I think what makes the gang war work is that vigilantes are always in this liminal state where they impose order by being outside the system. In other words, they’re enforcing the status-quo by transgressing norms (sounds familiar? I’ll touch on that in a bit). It’s interesting to see Dick juggle these different spheres of influence in order to keep the peace.

This chaos of the police force is contrasted by Olivia’s work with Spheric Solutions.

Militarization of the police is a topic that rings a little close to home in the United States at the moment, and perhaps exploring these ideas in stories like this is exactly what we need.

Watters’ story, then, asks us how much freedom we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of "safety."

[Watters, Dan, writer. Francavilla, Francesco, artist. By the Book: Finale: Bad Cop/Good Cop. Nightwing (2016). 126. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

This is an interesting concept to explore with Dick. Dick, who has always embodied freedom and change in a way that made him the safety net for people, is seeing the antithesis of what he is all about being used for the same purpose he works towards. In other words, instead of freedom and change, it is restraint and force are being employed for the sake of “peace.”

These two opposing forces create that David and Goliath story where Dick is not the one at advantage with the big toys (like Bruce is), where he does not have the numbers on his side, and where he must balance two extremes (the gang and the police) to find a new status quo.

But even beyond that, even the question of big companies fabricating conflict so they can profit off the chaos (social media parallels much) is interesting and done in a more elegant way than what I’ve seen done in other superhero stories.

Beyond this conflict with Spheric Solutions, we also had the two issues with Captain Hallow. Personally, I loved how the mystery expanded the Bludhaven police, I loved the ghost-story nature of it, and I loved how it made Sawyer question her own decisions.

My only regret is that, once again, I wish Dick had been more of the protagonist of the story rather than Sawyer.

That being said, not every part of this greater arc works for me. I must confess that I did not like Other story. 

Something you would not know about me is that I am an environmental horror fanatic. I love when a character’s inner conflicts and the story’s themes are externalized and projected into the environment so that the place where they are meant to feel safest is twisted into something uncanny and terrifying.

For this reason, when the solicitations for Nightwing #127 through #129 came out, I. Was. Hyped. My academic fascination with my absolute favorite character and hyper fixation? Yes, yes, yes, I want it! Even if it was going to be just three issues, I was so excited for it.

My first disappointment came when the source of horror was Nite-Mite being twisted and corrupted. While, yes, what Zanni did to Nite-Mite is objectively horrifying and it fits thematically with the idea that Zanni corrupts whimsy, I… I’ll be honest, I don’t like the Mites. I never did, and while this has been one of the most tolerable usages of them, it was still disappointing.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part One. Nightwing (2016). 127. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

I also found the use of different enemies and obstacles within the Titans Tower disappointing. I think Watters has been playing around with the idea of Dick being lonely now that the Titans are no longer in Bludhaven, and I think that theme would have been interesting to see manifested inside the Tower, especially as Dick has been rejecting Bryce’s attempt to team up when, as this arc shows, Dick should be embracing that.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the execution worked. Deathwing’s appearance was quick and seemed more like a tactic to generate online buzz rather than helping Dick confront some internal truth he's been suppressing. It had no substance.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 128 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And while the Robin archers were cute, they also didn’t add any tension to the story.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 128 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Finally, I was disappointed that Monster!Haley had her missing leg. That felt like a poor design-choice, in my opinion.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 128 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Babs being the one to solve things with her chicken soup analogy (something that, as a vegetarian, I can still empathize with) was… Interesting. I definitely agree with the message, and I see why Babs had to be the one to deliver it rather than Dick (Dick would never think of himself in such terms, after all)… But I do think it robbed me of a good climax where I could see Dick come to terms with his own loneliness and his need for community.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 129 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Perhaps this was on me for expecting too much or wanting something else from the story, but I just can’t help but see it as a wasted opportunity.

I’ll go more into Nightwing Prime in the Bryce section of this essay. 

As Olivia says in Annual 2025:

[Watters, Dan, writer. Francavilla, Francesco, artist. Death Trap. Nightwing (2016). Annual. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

As such, we can see that Zanni is a creature of the fifth dimension – the dimension of thought and imagination –  who represents chaos and change. This mirrors Dick, who, for his part, embodies change. 

In a genre and medium centered around maintaining status quo, Dick’s generation in general and Dick in particular embody change. He starts his journey as a hero when he’s an eight year old child and is, in the present, an adult in his twenties. We accompany him through the different stages of his life, watching him grow and evolve and, just as importantly, change the world around him. Because of Dick, the DC Universe cannot exist in stagnation – as Dick ages, the rest of the world must also be forced to move forward through time (this is partly why Dan Didio hated the Fab Five Titans so much, and why when given the opportunity, he attempted to condense all that timeline into six years with the New 52). There’s a reason why the Batman Mythos is incomplete without Dick’s presence. Dick is the first person to whom Bruce opens his heart to, the first person he loves after the death of his parents. As Snyder wrote in City of Owls, this relationship saved Bruce and continues to save him every day.

[Snyder, Scott, writer. Capulo, Greg, pencils. Glapion, Jonathan, ink. Plascencia, FCO, colorist. My Brother’s Keeper. Batman (2011). 11. e-book ed. DC, 2012] And Seeley restates in his run:

[Seeley, Tim, writer. Fernandez, Javier, art. Sotomayor, Chris, colorist. Rise of Raptor: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 08. e-book ed. DC, 2016]

This marks Dick as an instrumental figure of change in the Batman Mythos. He is the one who makes Batman go from this static figure of pain and darkness to one of healing and justice. Dick is the one who allows Bruce to connect with the Justice League, to form his friendship with Superman. He is the one who opens the door for the rest of the Batfam to enter Bruce’s life. Without Dick, Batman the person and Batman the franchise wouldn’t be what they are now. And that is only possible because Dick sparks change.

But Dick also embodies change in his own life. Now, I’m not entirely certain what current Nightwing-origin Watters is working with since continuity is a bit of a mess (not Watters’ fault, this has been the case for a good few years now), but my personal favorite is that Dick is fired from his position as Robin rather than willingly stepping away, and from the ashes of the burned Dynamic Duo, Nightwing rises.

Nightwing is a figure of reconstruction. He is a figure of rising above your own destruction. He is a phoenix, he is an identity that Dick carved after the future he believed to have been his was taken away so cruelly by the man he trusted and admired most. Nightwing is a rebuilder, which means he takes what was destroyed and builds something better in its place.

[Beatty, Scott; Dixon, Chuck, writers. McDaniel, Scott, pencils. Owens, Andy, ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Nightwing Year One: Chapter Two: Friends in High Places. Nightwing (1996). 102. e-book ed. DC, 2005]

Nightwing’s inception, his transformation, and his mere existence marks Dick as a character who embodies change both in a Wastsonian and in a Doylist level. We can go even farther and say that Dick’s own body being in constant fluid motion shows that stasis is antithesis to who Dick Grayson is. 

And, as I mentioned during the characterization portion of this essay, by defying gender and sexual norms, Dick also defies the status quo. 

Zanni, as an eldritch creature – as a god – also embodies change and a defiance of the status quo. But while Dick embodies the concept of rebuilding towards something greater, Zanni embodies chaos. Not necessarily destruction, but not a betterment of the future either. He is, then, mirroring Dick but in a negative light. 

I find that fascinating.      

Simply put, there’s a lot of thematic work being done with Zanni. As someone who subscribes to the idea that Dick embodies liminal change (can’t go on an aside on that for reasons), I’m interested to see what Watters will say with the Dick and Zanni confrontation. There is just so much that can be done with this idea of the circus being a place where the rules don’t apply and with superheroes using the theatrics of the circus to enforce the status quo. Yet, Dick himself seems to break a lot of rules – gender, sexuality, and of the superhero genre by being a catalyst for change. 

In a reddit AMA, Dan Watters states that despite thinking that “changing a status quo for the sake of it can sometimes just mean upsetting fundamentals of a character,” there are big changes coming up in the horizon.

This is also reflected on the solicitations for Nightwing (2016) #136, which states that “a new era begins here for Blüdhaven and its hero.” [“Nightwing #136.” League of Comics Geek, https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comic/4990457/nightwing-136]

So how will this confrontation between the God of Chaos and the Great Rebuilder go? What will it say about Superheroes and Change? Most importantly, what will it say about Dick? I don’t know yet, but I’m curious to find out!

But I’m not done. Besides mirroring Dick’s status as a figure of change and as a great rebuilding, Zanni’s evil plot involving the capture of Bludhaven’s children also mimics some of Dick’s greater qualities. As Robin, Dick is a power fantasy to children (he is not a child soldier, as I point out here). He embodies childhood agency – he walks the narrative of victims regaining power to face their oppressors. 

But Dick is also a nurturer. He is quite motherly in this way. He mentors Rose, Sofia, Bryce, Jon, he’s also served as a parental figure to both Tim and Damian. And, in a way, he’s been a parental figure to Bruce as well. As David Kingsley points out in his essay The Child is Father to the (Bat)man: The Inverted Parent-Child Dynamic of DC Comics’ Dynamic Duo, “Dick Grayson serves as a Freudian father figure for Bruce Wayne, in that Dick Grayson creates the opportunities for Bruce Wayne to transition from an unhealthy pseudo-childhood to healthy adulthood and attain catharsis for his parents’ murder.” [Kingsley, David. “The Child is Father to the (Bat)man: THe Inverted Parent-Child Dynamic of DC Comics’ Dynamic Duo.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 66] 

In other words, Dick is a safe place for both real and fictional children to find their own agency and heal.

By targeting children through the offer of whimsy, Zanni is not only channeling this creepy fairy-tale trope, he is mirroring and corrupting Dick’s own nurturing qualities. He is showing the twisted side of Dick, going after those who need him most.

Finally, despite the art being what I dislike the most about this run, I will give Veronica Candini her flowers. I do like the painterly style used for Zanni and Cirque du Sin. Aesthetically and thematically speaking, the muted black-and-white colors oppose Robin’s bright color palette incredibly well. Cirque du Sin’s painterly style adds to its whimsy, but the lack of colors makes it melancholic and uncanny. If the fifth dimension is the dimension of imagination and thought, it is also a dimension of creativity. And if that is the case, a painterly aesthetic – where one can see the brush strokes – speaks to one of the ways imagination is creatively manifested. 

I wish that, to contrast it, the rest of the comic wasn’t rendered in such a similar style. I think that if Candini had gone for a more clean, cell-shaded render for the real world, and reserved this painterly style strictly for Cirque du Sin, there would be a nice contrast between reality and this twisted circus environment.

Dick is the Heart of the Batfam.

[Esposito, Joey, writer. Georgiev, Vasco, art. Guimarães, Alex, colorist. The Murder Club: Part Three of Four. Batman: Urban Legends. 22. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022] 

He is the light in the darkness of this universe, as it was stated in Infinite Crisis.

[Johns, Geoff, writer. Jimenez, Phil, pencils. Berganza, Eddie; Faucher, Wayne; Lanning, Andy; Rapmund, Norm, inks. Cox, Jeromy; Major, Guy. Divine Intervention. Infinite Crisis. 03. e-book ed. DC, 2006]

And more recently in Dark Crisis.

[Williamson, Joshua, writer, Sampere, Daniel; Herbert, Jack; Camuncoli, Guiseppe; Smith, Cam, artists. Sanchez, Alehandro, Guimarães, Alex, Farjado Jr, Romulo, Herms, Matt, colorists. Dark Crisis. 07. e-book ed. DC, 2022]

It is the contrast between the heavier, moody tone of the story and Dick's bright personality that allows his shine to be so visible. And I think we see this best through Bryce.

Bryce’s story is this incredibly grim tale of a young homeless boy who witnesses his older brother (who himself is only fourteen) be killed by a militarized police. Bryce is suddenly alone in the world, but rather than falling into darkness, he clings to Dick. And that is because Dick offers him hope. Dick models for him how to be good despite the horrible circumstances one finds themselves in.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Cirque du Sin: Part One: What I was Afraid Of. Nightwing (2016). 130. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

I’ll go more in detail about Bryce in the Bryce section of this essay, but I do think it is important that, just as Dick was the light in the darkness for Bruce, he is now doing the same for Bryce. And it is through this dark story that we are able to see this light.

But what I find interesting is that Watters’ run is not just gritty realism (I personally wouldn’t enjoy it so much if it was, as I’m someone who hates when superhero tales try to be “grounded”). There is whimsy to this story as well. 

Take this scene in Nightwing #133

[Watters, Dan, writer. Marion,V Ken, artist. Candini, Veronica, colorist. CIrque du Sin: Part Four: A Thing that Should Not Be. Nightwing (2016). 133. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And Columbina’s appearance after her beheading

[Watters, Dan, writer. Marion,V Ken, artist. Candini, Veronica, colorist. CIrque du Sin: Part Four: A Thing that Should Not Be. Nightwing (2016). 133. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

While one may not think of these grotesque imageries as “whimsical,” they do channel that mode through the lens of the Gothic. Scholar Catherine Spooner argues that comics often employ what she identifies as “Whimsical Macabre,” or the “Happy Gothic” to “deliberately fuse the comic and cute with the sinister, monstrous or grotesque. This strategy […] is frequently used in Gothic comics or animation to challenge or critique conventional ideas of childhood and femininity and enable the expression of alternative youthful feminine subjectivities.” (320) 

Furthermore, she states that “By overturning sentimental images of childhood, the whimsical macabre mediates between images of childhood and adulthood; it questions and challenges the boundaries placed between them.”

[Spooner, Catherine. “My friend the Devil: Gothic Comics, the Whimsical Macabre and Rewriting William Blake in Vehlmann and Kerascoet’s Satania” Gothic Studies, vol 25 no 03. November 2023 pp. 318 - 334]

Considering, as I’ve stated in both the [characterization] and [Zanni & Themes] portions of this essay, Dick is a figure of liminality, and he is one of those comic characters that will always exist simultaneously as a child (Robin) and as an adult (Nightwing), channeling this whimsical macabre speaks to who Dick is at his core. It subverts what he stands for, corrupting the happy images of his childhood into an obstacle for him to overcome as an adult.

In other words, Watters masterfully combines grim realism with the whimsical macabre to create a tone that allows Dick to shine. 

One of the reasons why so many directors are hesitant to adapt Dick into live action is because they fear his whimsy. They don’t know how to handle it. One of the reasons I think that Ric Grayson and Tom Taylor’s run failed so much to capture Dick’s essence is because they, also, lacked whimsy. Ric Grayson was trying too hard to be anything but Dick Grayson, while Taylor was too focused on being witty yet subversive in a way that signaled progressive ideals without defying the status quo. As such, they both lacked emotional sincerity because being emotionally sincere is viewed as cringe in today’s pop culture landscape – it is much cooler to be above caring by over relying on meta “commentary.”

[Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Sticks & Snikts. Batman/Deadpool. 01. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

In previous Nightwing runs, we’ve seen this explored with his relationship with Sofia Tevis.

[Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande, inks. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Incorporation. Nightwing (1996). 110. e-book ed. DC, 2005]

And Rose Wilson.

[Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande, inks. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Cowboy & Indians. Nightwing (1996). 114. e-book ed. DC, 2005]

We’ve seen his interactions with Jen in N52.

[Higgins, Kyle, writer. Dauterman, Russel, art. Pantazis, Pete, colorist. Safety Net. Nightwing (2011). 29. e-book ed. DC, 29]

And in Grayson #05, which I talked in great detail about in this post.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014]

He’s mentored Titans

[Johns, Geoff; Wolfman, Marve, writers. Nauck, Todd, pencils. Aquiza, Marlo; Parson, Sean; Rapmund, Norm, ink.. Horie, Ricardo; Horie, Tanya. The Brave and the Bold. Teen Titans (2003). 33. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2003]

And worked to give children happy Christmas both in Post-Crisis

[Dixon, Chuck, writer. McCarthy, Trevor, pencils. Leigh, Rob, ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. On a Christmas Evening. Nightwing (1996). 64. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2001]

And Rebirth

[Jurgens, Dan, writer. Cliquet, Ronan, art. Flardi, Nick, colorist. Abstract Night. Nightwing (2016). 78. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2020]

In Wolfram’s run he taught children in Bones Gym

[Wolfman, Marv, writer. Igle, Jamal, pencils. Champagne, Keith, ink. Delgado, Edgar, colorist. 321 Days: Part One. Nightwing (1996). 133. e-book ed. DC COmics, 2007]

And though he works as a curator in a museum, we also see him teaching children in Tomasi’s run.

[Tomasi, Peter J, writer. Morales, Rags, pencils. Bair, Michael; Propst, Mark; Florera, Sandu, inks. Eyring, Nathan; Hi-FI, colorist. Free Fall: Chapter Three. Nightwing (1996). 142. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2008]

[Seeley, Tim, writer. To, Marcus, art. Sotomayor, Christopher, colorist. Bludhaven: Part Three. Nightwing (2016). 12. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017]

While I did not enjoy Taylor’s run, one of the things I did like about it was making Dick and Jon have a mentor and apprentice relationship.

[Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. World’s Finest Son: Part One of Two. Nightwing (2016). 89. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022]

[Puckett, Kelly, writer. Scott, Damion, pencil. Campanella, Robert, ink. Constana, John, colorist. Batgirl (2020). 29. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002]

[Tomasi, Peter J, writer. Morales, Rags, pencils. Bair, Michael; Propst, Mark; Florera, Sandu, inks. Eyring, Nathan; Hi-FI, colorist. Free Fall: Chapter Three. Nightwing (1996). 142. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2008]

And, naturally, the boy Dick almost adopted. His Robin. While we have not seen as much of their bond in recent years, that does not change the fact that the relationship between these two characters is one of the most special ones in Dick’s life.

[Seeley, Tim, writer. Fernandez, Javier, art. Sotomayor, Christopher, colorist. Nightwing Must Die: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 20. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017]

With all of this in consideration, I’ve been craving to see more of Dick’s mentor side. Just as I think I made clear in my Bludhaven critiques of Taylor’s run, I’ve been wanting to see Dick interact with more Bludhaven natives. Bryce fills both roles at once.

This may be subjective, but I think Bryce is an easy kid to love. He is cute, he is caring, and he embodies that which Nightwing is meant to protect – Bludhaven’s most vulnerable. He is a victim of poverty and of failed systems, and when his brother is murdered in front of him by the police, he becomes a victim and a survivor of violence and systematic brutality.

This reflects Dick incredibly well. While we tend to think a lot of Dick’s upbringing with Bruce, the truth is that Dick is not only a survivor of violence but, in some versions of his backstory, he is also the victim of systematic failures. In Robin Annual #04, when the foster care system was overloaded, Dick was placed in a juvenile center, where he was abused.

[Dixon, Chuck, writer. Armstrong, Jason, pencils. Capanella, Rober, ink. Allen, Phil, colorist. Robin Annual.04. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1995]

Seeing Dick face a child whose background is similar to his own while also being given the opportunity to help him heal is a smart narrative choice. This allows Dick to see his child self, his own internal struggles, and help someone the way Bruce helped him. With Nightwing being the great rebuilder, a character who rises from the ashes, I think having Dick help someone else raise from their own ashes resonates with the themes that Dick Grayson is meant to embody.

Selfishly, I also love that Bryce imprinted on Dick. I love that he saved Dick’s life at the end of the On With the Show arc,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And I love that he kept returning to the Titans Tower with Night-Hare.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part One. Nightwing (2016). 127. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

I think that seeing this idolization of Nightwing coming from a character whom we have bonded with not only helps show the effect Nightwing can have on others, but it is also… So satisfying. As someone who loves Dick Grayson, I love to see someone else love him as well. Even though I do not want Dick to be babied and coddled out of his self-destructive heroics, I also like that Bryce is asking “but who protects Nightwing?” 

Again, it mirrors Dick’s relationship with Bruce.  

That all being said… I have to say, I don’t like Nightwing-Prime. I don’t think that was a smart storytelling decision. If Bryce were to become a permanent superhero and Dick’s sidekick (an idea I am not entirely sold on, to be quite honest), I would have rather he become one the way Robin was a superhero – a child without powers but that through their sheer hard work and talent becomes great.

As I stated in the Bea section of Taylor’s review, I think Nightwing is lacking in a supporting cast, especially of non-heroes. Taylor filled Dick’s world with individuals involved in the heroics, the exception being Melinda. Even Bea, whose extraordinary nature came from the face that she was ordinary, was then retroactively made into someone super special. Taylor’s Bludhaven was only populated with heroes. Dick did not interact with ordinary people of Bludhaven, secluded in the Titans Tower, as if he were above them, his world revolving around Babs and the Titans.

So when Bryce showed up, I saw him as a representative of Bludhaven. He was what I hoped Taylor would have done with Elliot, the first Heartless’ victim we meet.

[Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Leaping into the Light: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 79. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2021]

That Bludhaven representation – the representation of the people Dick is meant to protect – is taken away when Bryce goes from being an orphan child who is a victim of both systems and of violence into a superpowered being.

I understand the juxtaposition of Bryce once having been helpless and now having the powers of a god is narratively interesting. I understand what Watters is trying to do. I just don’t find it as compelling as what could have been done if Bryce had, instead, remained as a powerless child who is not involved in heroics.

At the moment, Dick is in a bad mental place and is isolating himself from the rest of Bludhaven. In #122, Dick tells Babs about how he was so optimistic for the future during the end of Taylor’s run and how now things seem to have turned down a dark path.

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part Four: Little Circus Boy. Nightwing (2016). 122. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

This, I think, is in character for Dick Grayson. I know he is known for being a cheerful person, but by this point in the story, he witness the brutal murder of the gang leaders which led to the gang war,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Curtain Up. Nightwing (2016). 119,e-book ed. DC, 2024]

Which leads to the militarization of the police and Melinda and Sawyer choosing Olivia over Nightwing,

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part Four: Little Circus Boy. Nightwing (2016). 122. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And it also leads to the murder of Bryce’s brother by the police.

We see this in Devin Grayson’s run:

[Grayson, Devin, writer. Zicher, Patrick, pencils. Owens, Andy, inks. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Slow Burn. Nightwing (1996). 93. e-book ed. DC, 2004] 

And in The Untouchable

[Humphries, Sam, writer. Chang, Bernard, art. Maiolo, Marcelo, colorist. The Untouchable: Chapter Six: Deep Dive. Nightwing (2016). 40. e-book ed. DC, 2018]

[Higgins, Kyle, writer. RYP, Juan Jose, pencil. Bonet, Roger, inks. Smith, Brett, inks. The Long Week. Nightwing (2011). 17. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017]

And then after Damian’s death in Requiem.

[Higgins, Kyle, writer. RYP, Juan Jose, pencil. Bonet, Roger; Albarran, Juan inks. Smith, Brett, inks. Slow Burn. Nightwing (2011). 18. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017]

As such, I do think it is quite in character for Dick to be currently isolating himself from the rest of Bludhaven. Bryce being symbolic of the Bludhaven population that Nightwing is meant to protect serves not only as a good way to make the stakes for the battle against Zanni more personal, it also serves to bring Dick back from this darkness so he can once more connect with the city he is meant to protect.

As I said before, one of my biggest complaints about Taylor’s run was that Dick did not interact with regular citizens of Bludhaven. Bryce, until he became Nightwing Prime, seemed like a first step in fixing this issue. Bludhaven is in desperate need of an established cast. It needs its Vicky Vales, Deb Donnovans, and Jack Ryders. It needs Julie Madisons and Silver St. Clouds and Ariana Dzerchenko. It needs to be populated not just with heroes and police officers and gang members, but with civilians. Civilians who will stay for longer than just one arc.

Unfortunately, because of the way Taylor left things, neither of these options are currently on the table. I have a lot of problems with the way Taylor handled Barbara Gordon in his run – from her being Batgirl instead of Oracle and the way her identity was reduced to being a perfect girlfriend to the way her presence constantly undermined Dick’s competence and his other relationships.

It’s very clear that, unlike how it was done with Bea and how it’s been done time and time again with Kory and Helena, Watters was not going to disrespect Barbara by trivializing her current relationship with Dick through a quick breakup. While I do think he could – and should – show the cracks in this relationship and how it brings out the worst of these two characters, I am uncertain whether Watters’ agrees with this interpretation of their romance. I’m also half-convinced – though I should say I have no evidence, only my conviction – that someone high in the DC editorial team wants to keep Dick and Babs together and is mandating – or, at the very least, strongly pressuring for – constant representation of the ship.

Naturally, a Lavender Marriage is out of the question because, despite my conviction that Dick is the queerest Robin, DC will refuse to let him come out because that would pose a threat to Bruce’s heterosexuality. The last thing DC wants is to give credence to the decades long jokes about Bruce and Dick being gay for each other. Barbara is also just as likely to come out as a lesbian or a bisexual because of the incredible amount of male fans who admit to having crushes on Batgirl.

So, we cannot have our Lavender Marriage, and we cannot have Dick and Babs break up. Watters – either through editorial mandate or through his own perception (or indifference?) of the ship – will also not take the Devin Grayson route and expose the cracks of their romance. So what are we left with?

We could have a continuation of Taylor’s approach. Barbara could become a second protagonist in the Nightwing series, making it into a Nightwing and Batgirl title in all but name. She could be the most competent hero, undermining Dick in what is meant to be his own solo. And, in fact, I suspect many Barbara fans would have preferred this approach. But we have another option available to one, which is what Watters seem to have taken – he keeps Babs as a supporting character instead of a secondary protagonist, someone who helps Dick stand out in his own story rather than someone who overshadows him. As such, she fades into the background, appearing only when needed.

I know a lot of Barbara Gordon fans are unhappy with Watters’ approach. Despite having Birds of Prey (well, they had it until last month), I can understand the frustration of having your favorite character be only there to lift another character up. While Taylor’s portrayal of Babs was, in my opinion, antifeminist and did a disservice to Babs, there’s no denying that she had a presence in the story. She was the second protagonist, and most of the time the most competent of the two. This is not the case now, and I can completely understand why this would be upsetting.

But here is my, somewhat cold, counterargument: This is not Barbara Gordon’s series. This story is not about her. She had her title with the Birds of Prey (2023), and she will have her own solo title soon (which I cannot wait to add to my pull list). Nightwing is about Dick Grayson, and it should focus on Dick Grayson. Characters in the story should serve the purpose of lifting him up, providing him with conflicts and challenges, and highlighting what makes him great. When they are not working in service of Dick Grayson, they should fade into the background.

This has been Watters’ approach and, quite frankly, after Taylor’s run, it is a relief to read it. Not just because I do not ship Dick/Babs, but because I feel like I’m finally reading a story about Dick rather than about Dick and Babs. After so long, this is finally his solo again.

But it is not just her absence that I love. I maintain that making Babs into Batgirl again was a mistake. Not just because of the ableist reasons of “curing” her of her disability, but because going from Oracle to Batgirl is a regression for Babs’ character.

Besides the obvious “girl” in the title (when Babs is, in fact, a woman), Batgirl was a creation of a young girl who had not yet come into herself. Both in universe and out, she was modeled after Batman. She was made in his shape and in his image. Barbara was inspired by Bruce, she desired his approval and acceptance, and she saw him as someone to aspire to.

I think these pages of Oracle: Year One : Born of Hope captures that sentiment perfectly.

[Ostrander, John; Yale, Kim, writers. Stelfreeze, Brian; Story, Karl, art. Chiallero, Mark, colorist. Oracle: Year One: Born of Hope. Batman Chronicles. 05. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1996]

Oracle, on the other hand, stands on her own. Oracle rose from a tragedy -- a tragedy that was steeped in disgusting misogyny – again, both in and out of the universe. When they tried to rob her of her agency, Barbara took it back with force and reinvented herself. The damage was not erased – she would have to live with it for the rest of her life, or so it appeared – but she managed to recreate herself and regain power. She rose above the tragedy and became a hero even greater than Batgirl had ever been.

[Ostrander, John; Yale, Kim, writers. Stelfreeze, Brian; Story, Karl, art. Chiallero, Mark, colorist. Oracle: Year One: Born of Hope. Batman Chronicles. 05. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1996]

So when I see Barbara return to what she was before she was Oracle, I do see it as a regression. I see it as erasing the identity she made for herself, inspired by her own struggles and her strengths, and putting her in a subordinate position to Bruce. Rather than being in a mantle that was shaped by her own sense of identity and modeled for her desires for herself, she is once more in a mantle that is shaped and modeled after a man.

Barbara may not be back in her wheelchair, but in Watters’ run, she is Oracle.

She aids Dick without overshadowing him, by giving him information

[Watters, Dan, writer. Francavilla, Francesco, artist. By the Book: Finale: Bad Cop/Good Cop. Nightwing (2016). 126. e-book ed. DC, 2025]

By giving him emotional support

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Part Three: Beast Wagon. Nightwing (2016). 121, e-book ed. DC, 2024]

And even by, occasionally, saving the day

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 129 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

Sure, there are things I could do without. Dick calling her “gorgeous” feels, for lack of a better word, a bit cringe. It doesn’t read like Dick to me and I wince whenever it happens

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

And I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the kiss at the end of #129

[Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 129 e-book ed. DC, 2025]

She is an important part of this story. She may not be a main character -- which she shouldn't be -- but her presence is felt and it makes a difference.

Personally, Watters' Babs rings similar to my favorite iteration of her – that of the 90s and 2000s, when she was Oracle and she found herself and existed in a world beyond that of the men in her life. By not being constantly in Bludhaven, she becomes more than Dick Grayson’s girlfriend. She is her own person, and, somehow, despite making her appear less, Watters has given her more interiority and agency than Taylor ever did.  

In my Taylor review I claimed that:

Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing not only fails to tell a compelling Nightwing story, but it also exemplifies a cynical, self-serving, and shallow approach to storytelling that prioritizes creating hollow viral moments to boost the creators’ own online popularity over crafting a good story, honoring the character in their care, and respecting his fans – fans who have, historically, often been women, queer folk, and other individuals who felt othered by a cisheteronormative patriarchal society. Taylor and Redondo’s thoughtless and superficial narrative not only undermine the socially progressive ideals they supposedly care for by propagating a cisheteronormative patriarchal worldview, but they also demonstrate a lack of love and understanding for the character in their care. At best, Taylor and Redondo have no interest in getting to know Dick Grayson, nor any respect for their predecessor and their contributions to this character. At worst, they despise Dick so much that they wish to reinvent him into something completely different, tossing away everything that was special to his fans in order to appeal to a readership that never cared about Dick Grayson.

Perhaps it is damning with faint praise, but I do not get that sense from Watters. While I do think Dick could be queerer and more feminine, I do not think Watters is trying to repackage Dick to a cisheteronormative audience. I do not get the impression that he is treating Dick as a stepping stone to grander projects. I do not get the feeling that he is trying to erase Dick’s character and replace him with someone more palatable to mainstream audiences.

I think that Watters genuinely does respect Dick’s history. At least twice while promoting this run, Watters mentioned being inspired by Devin Grayson. Once at the AMA for League of Comics Geek

[“Community AMA on League of Comic Geeks.” League of Comics Geek, https://db.leagueofcomicgeeks.com/community/thread/35426311]

And once on Reddit

[DanpgWatters “AMA with Nightwing writer Dan Watters” Reddit, 25 October 2024 https://www.reddit.com/r/Nightwing/comments/1gbuz8q/ama_with_nightwing_writer_dan_watters/]

And, as I mentioned in previous parts of this essay and as it can be seen above, he has also mentioned that Black Mirror is one of his favorite stories.

[DanpgWatters “I’m comics writer Dan Watters. In advance of my taking over Nightwing next month, I’m here for you to AMA.” Reddit, 12 September 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/1ff7ya9/comment/lmtcqjg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button]

I think that shows a respect and understanding of Dick’s character that Taylor completely lacked. That allows Watters to write villains who thematically resonate with Dick’s history and his inner conflicts. It allows him to flesh out Bludhaven. And it allows him to use the darkness to let Dick shine.

Beyond the comparisons with his predecessor, though, I do genuinely think that Watters is a good writer. The pacing of the writing is good – the dripping of information manages to keep Zanni relevant even when he is in the background. He crafts compelling mysteries while still maintaining the horror elements. He honors Dick’s whimsy through the whimsical macabre. He knows how to flesh out supporting characters so that they can have interiority while still doing their job of helping (or challenging) the protagonist. And, of course, he creates a masterful villain who mirrors Dick in all the best ways with Zanni.

While I may not agree with every single one of Watters’ narrative decisions, when I read his work I do feel like I’m in the hands of a competent writer who understands and respects the character he is working with. With comics, we often see writers who are more concerned with building a name for themselves rather than contributing to a greater legacy – it is, I believe, one of the reasons why Bludhaven has not stuck with a single characterization, why we don’t have a civilian cast, and why Blockbuster is the only Nightwing villain to return. And while Watters does fall into some of these traps, I can recognize traces of previous writers in his work – not in an imitation sort of way, but in a way in which it shows him building on top of what came before. His run may not be for everyone – some may find it too dark, some may not like that Dick is being pushed to the edge yet again, some may not think his jokes are funny. I’m personally not a fan of Soy’s art and, as I said before, could use more smiles and more movement in his posing. But I do think that Watters is a good writer, that this run does respect and does good service to Dick’s legacy, and I do think that, long after it is over, it will be remembered fondly.

Abnett, Dan, writer. Marion, V K, pencils. Rapmund, Norm, inker. Dalhouse, Andrew, colorist. Endgame. Titans (2016). 13. e-book ed. DC, 2017

Beatty, Scott; Dixon, Chuck, writers. McDaniel, Scott, pencils. Owens, Andy, ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Nightwing Year One: Chapter Two: Friends in High Places. Nightwing (1996). 102. e-book ed. DC, 2005

Beatty, Scott; Greenberger, Robert; Jimenez, Phil, Wallace, Dan. “Nightwing.” The DC Comics Encyclopedia, DC Comics, 2004. pp.252

Bells, JL “Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 08-27

“Columbine (stock character)” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 02 January 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_%28stock_character%29]

“Community AMA on League of Comic Geeks.” League of Comics Geek, https://db.leagueofcomicgeeks.com/community/thread/35426311

DanpgWatters “AMA with Nightwing writer Dan Watters” Reddit, 25 October 2024

DanpgWatters “I’m comics writer Dan Watters. In advance of my taking over Nightwing next month, I’m here for you to AMA.” Reddit, 12 September 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/1ff7ya9/comment/lmtcqjg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Dixon, Chuck, writer. Rosado, William, pencils. Palmer, Tom, ink. Vasques, Gloria, colorist. At the End of the Day. Detective Comics (1937). 725. e-book ed. DC, 1998

Dixon, Chuck, writer. McCarthy, Trevor, pencils. Leigh, Rob, ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. On a Christmas Evening. Nightwing (1996). 64. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2001

Dixon, Chuck, writer. Armstrong, Jason, pencils. Capanella, Rober, ink. Allen, Phil, colorist. Robin Annual.04. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1995

Downey, Mason “In Defense of Dick Grayson: Objectification, Sexuality, and Subtext” Women Write About Comics. December 2015

Esposito, Joey, writer. Georgiev, Vasco, art. Guimarães, Alex, colorist. The Murder Club: Part Three of Four. Batman: Urban Legends. 22. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022

Grayson, Devin, writer. Robinson, Roger, pencils. Floyd, John, ink. Vasques, Gloria, colorist. Innocent Until. Gotham Knights. 26. e-book ed. DC, 2002

Grayson, Devin, writer. Zicher, Patrick, pencils. Owens, Andy, inks. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Slow Burn. Nightwing (1996). 93. e-book ed. DC, 2004

Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande, inks. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Incorporation. Nightwing (1996). 110. e-book ed. DC, 2005

Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande, inks. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Cowboy & Indians. Nightwing (1996). 114. e-book ed. DC, 2005

Higgins, Kyle, writer. RYP, Juan Jose, pencil. Bonet, Roger, inks. Smith, Brett, inks. The Long Week. Nightwing (2011). 17. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017

Higgins, Kyle, writer. Dauterman, Russel, art. Pantazis, Pete, colorist. Safety Net. Nightwing (2011). 29. e-book ed. DC, 29

Howard, Tini “Grayson, Sex, and Feminism.” Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 169 - 175

Humphries, Sam, writer. Chang, Bernard, art. Maiolo, Marcelo, colorist. The Untouchable: Chapter Six: Deep Dive. Nightwing (2016). 40. e-book ed. DC, 2018

Johns, Geoff, writer. Jimenez, Phil, pencils. Berganza, Eddie; Faucher, Wayne; Lanning, Andy; Rapmund, Norm, inks. Cox, Jeromy; Major, Guy. Divine Intervention. Infinite Crisis. 03. e-book ed. DC, 2006

Johns, Geoff; Wolfman, Marve, writers. Nauck, Todd, pencils. Aquiza, Marlo; Parson, Sean; Rapmund, Norm, ink.. Horie, Ricardo; Horie, Tanya. The Brave and the Bold. Teen Titans (2003). 33. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2003

Jurgens, Dan, writer. Cliquet, Ronan, art. Flardi, Nick, colorist. Abstract Night. Nightwing (2016). 78. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2020

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. Cox, Jeromy, colorist. The Gun Goes Off. Grayson. 03. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. Cox, Jeromy, colorist. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014

Kingsley, David. “The Child is Father to the (Bat)man: THe Inverted Parent-Child Dynamic of DC Comics’ Dynamic Duo.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 66- 88

“Nightwing #136.” League of Comics Geek, https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comic/4990457/nightwing-136

Ostrander, John; Yale, Kim, writers. Stelfreeze, Brian; Story, Karl, art. Chiallero, Mark, colorist. Oracle: Year One: Born of Hope. Batman Chronicles. 05. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1996

Pak, Greg, writer. Jung, Minkyu, artist. Cheng, Sebastian, colorist. City Boy. 04. e-book ed. DC, 2023

Puckett, Kelly, writer. Scott, Damion, pencil. Campanella, Robert, ink. Constana, John, colorist. Batgirl (2020). 29. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002

Seeley, Tim, writer. Fernandez, Javier, art. Sotomayor, Chris, colorist. Rise of Raptor: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 08. e-book ed. DC, 2016

Seeley, Tim, writer. To, Marcus, art. Sotomayor, Christopher, colorist. Bludhaven: Part Three. Nightwing (2016). 12. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017

Seeley, Tim, writer. Jones, Kelley, artist. Madsen, Michelle, artist. Nightwing & Deadman: Down the Road: Part Four. Batman: The Brave and the Bold. 16. e-book ed. DC, 2024

Seeley, Tim, writer. Fernandez, Javier, art. Sotomayor, Christopher, colorist. Nightwing Must Die: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 20. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2017

Sims, Jonathan; Newal, Alexander J. host. “MAG S1 Q&A” The Magnus Archives, season 01. Episode 41. [publisher] 26 October 2016. https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/special/0402-qa1.html

Snyder, Scott, writer. Capulo, Greg, pencils. Glapion, Jonathan, ink. Plascencia, FCO, colorist. My Brother’s Keeper. Batman (2011). 11. e-book ed. DC, 2012

Spooner, Catherine. “My friend the Devil: Gothic Comics, the Whimsical Macabre and Rewriting William Blake in Vehlmann and Kerascoet’s Satania” Gothic Studies, vol 25 no 03. November 2023 pp. 318 - 334

Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Leaping into the Light: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 79. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2021

Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. World’s Finest Son: Part One of Two. Nightwing (2016). 89. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022

Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator. Get Grayson Act Three. Nightwing (2016). 90, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022

Taylor, Tom, writer. Barsi, Sami, pencils. Cifuente, Vincent, inks. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Nightwing (2016). 111. e-book ed. DC, 2024

Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Sticks & Snikts. Batman/Deadpool. 01. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Tomasi, Peter J, writer. Morales, Rags, pencils. Bair, Michael; Propst, Mark; Florera, Sandu, inks. Eyring, Nathan; Hi-FI, colorist. Free Fall: Chapter Three. Nightwing (1996). 142. e-book ed. DC Comics, 2008

Tomasi, Peter J., writer. Kramer, Don, pencils. Leisten, Jay, inks. Hi-Fi, colorist. Eminence Front. Nightwing (1996). 152 e-book ed. DC, 2009

Waid, Mark, writer. Samnee, Chris, artist. Lopes, Matheus, colorist. Chapter Six. Batman and Robin: Year One. 06. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writer. Francavilla, Francesco, artist. Death Trap. Nightwing (2016). Annual. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Curtain Up. Nightwing (2016). 119, e-book ed. DC, 2024

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part Two: Capture Their Hearts. Nightwing (2016). 120. e-book ed. DC, 2024

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part One: Part Three: Beast Wagon. Nightwing (2016). 121, e-book ed. DC, 2024

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Part Four: Little Circus Boy. Nightwing (2016). 122. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. On With the Show: Finale: The Ringmaster. Nightwing (2016). 124 e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writer. Francavilla, Francesco, artist. By the Book: Finale: Bad Cop/Good Cop. Nightwing (2016). 126. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part One. Nightwing (2016). 127. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Part Two. Nightwing (2016). 128 e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Other: Finale. Nightwing (2016). 129 e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writers. Soy, Dexter, artist, Candini, Veronica, colorist. Cirque du Sin: Part One: What I was Afraid Of. Nightwing (2016). 130. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Watters, Dan, writer. Marion,V Ken, artist. Candini, Veronica, colorist. Cirque du Sin: Part Four: A Thing that Should Not Be. Nightwing (2016). 133. e-book ed. DC, 2025

Williamson, Joshua, writer, Sampere, Daniel; Herbert, Jack; Camuncoli, Guiseppe; Smith, Cam, artists. Sanchez, Alexandro, Guimarães, Alex, Farjado Jr, Romulo, Herms, Matt, colorists. Dark Crisis. 07. e-book ed. DC, 2022

Wolfman, Marv, writer. Broderick, Pat, pencils. Beatty, John, inks. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. Batman Year Three: Turnabout. Batman (1940). 438. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989

In 1989, after the death of Jason Todd, DC found themselves with a problem that they had solved back when they introduced “the sensational character find of 1940.”

(Finger, Bill, writer. Kane, Bob, artist. Detective Comics. 37 e-book ed. DC Comics, 1940)

The truth is that, narratively, Batman needs a Robin. As JL Bell states in their essay Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder, “Adding Dick Grayson to the Batman saga improved the storytelling, opened new possibilities in plotting, and created a depth that the Cape Crusader’s solo adventure had lacked. The partnership of the Dynamic Duo — the first of many comic-book teams featuring an adult crime-fighter and a kid side-kick — provided the emotional foundation that made their stories meaningful.” (Bells, JL “Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 09) In other words, by giving someone Batman cares for, the creators of the comic were able to generate much needed emotional stakes and conflict in their stories.

This remained true in the 1980s. Even though Jason was condemned to death in 1988 in a 5,343 to 5271 telephone vote that led to a “backlash [that] was profound,” (Dauber, Jeff American Comics: A History, W. W. Norton & Company, 2021, pp. 311), the truth was that Batman still needed a Robin. And so, Tim Drake was created.

Though he first appeared in a cameo in Batman: Year Three, Tim’s proper introduction – a story called A Lonely Place of Dying – began in August 29, 1989 in Batman #440. If you never read these five issues, I highly recommend them. In the story, Batman’s grief is making him become more ruthless in his fight against crime, to the point where he becomes blind to reason and fails to approach a case related to Two Face with a leveled head. Tim, who knows Batman’s true identity, tracks down Dick to try to convince him to become Robin again because “Batman needs Robin”

(Wolfman, Marv, writer. Aparo, Jim, pencils. DeCarlo, Mike, ink. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. A Lonely Place of Dying: Chapter Three: Parallel Lives. Batman. 441, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989. pp. 22)

When Dick refuses to become Robin again, and after Batman and Nightwing fail to return from a confrontation with Two Face, Tim puts on the iconic costume and goes to their rescue. Together, the three apprehend Two Face, and while Bruce is hesitant at first to let a new boy fight by his side, Tim manages to convince him by saying Batman needs someone to keep him in check. Though his introduction does feel a little forced at times, and Tim does come across as slightly one dimensional, there are already traces of the character we would come to know and love in this initial iteration. As a Dick Grayson-stan, what interested me the most about A Lonely Place of Dying was Tim’s genuine affection for Dick. There is a level of parasocialness to their relationship that is delightful to read, and I wish it was explored more in depth in both analyses and fandom depictions of their relationships. Tim clearly adored Dick for most of his life, being moved to tears at the thought of him not being Robin.

(Wolfman, Marv. Perez, George, writers. Grummet, Tom, pencils. McLeod, Bob, ink. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. A Lonely Place of Dying: Part Four: Going Home. The New Titans. 61, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989. pp. 03)

And speaking to Dick with a familiarity that they did not have.

(Wolfman, Marv. Perez, George, writers. Grummet, Tom, pencils. McLeod, Bob, ink. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. A Lonely Place of Dying: Chapter Two: Roots. The New Titans. 61, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989. pp. 22)

It is genuinely endearing and amusing to read.

That being said, despite really enjoying this story, its conclusion bothered me. When Tim confronts Bruce about Batman needing a Robin, he says that Bruce has become a symbol. Batman is a symbol. Just as Robin is. A symbol of justice. And "When one policeman is killed, others take his place because justice can't be stopped."

(Wolfman, Marv, writer. Aparo, Jim, pencils. DeCarlo, Mike, ink. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. A Lonely Place of Dying: Chapter Five: Rebirth. Batman. 442, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989. pp. 22)

Narratively speaking, Tim is not wrong. Batman and Robin are symbols. They are also, as I argue in this post, metaphors for trauma and for healing. That being said, Tim’s language is also incredibly dehumanizing. To make Batman and Robin into a symbol is to abstract the mantles and remove them from the persons behind the mask. This distances Batman from Bruce, Robin from Dick. The symbol of Batman and Robin stands independent of the humanity of the persons who created it. In fact, I'd go one step further and say that it requires that distance, that dehumanization. 

That works for a franchise. For a brand. But the character-centric reader in me cannot help but be bothered by this reading. This is because Batman and Robin are intrinsically tied to Bruce and Dick's identities – they are extensions of their creators, their trauma externalized, their journey towards healing and agency manifested. They are a metaphor for healing, and empowerment, yes, but that healing, and empowerment cannot be separated from the trauma behind it. It cannot be separated from Bruce and Dick.  

Yet, the narrative treats this dehumanization as the correct way of viewing Batman and Robin. Batman and Robin are a symbol. There must always be a Robin. When a Robin dies, a new one must take his place. And, while from a branding and outsider's perspective Tim is not wrong, I fear that we, as a fandom, have never truly interrogated that dehumanization. Tim was right. Bruce needed help. The narrative needed Tim to become Robin. Therefore, Bruce must accept Tim despite his reservations and despite grief. We do not question whether this is fair or right to Bruce the person. 

While it may seem contradictory, this dehumanization also downplays Dick’s importance to the Batman Mythos. While yes, the narrative states that Batman always needs a Robin, Tim’s words and actions implies that it matters little who the boy (or girl) behind the mask is. Therefore, Dick is replaceable. It is not Dick who is important, but Robin. It does not matter that Robin would not exist or carry such a meaning of youth and wonder without Dick. The character itself is less important than the symbol. 

We can see how this attitude has plagued the fandom by discussions of Robin being adapted. Whenever the question comes up, fans will argue about which Robin should be the one to make his debut on screen. As if the order in which they show up does not matter. As if the role Dick played in changing Bruce’s life is inconsequential. The boy behind the mask does not need to be Dick because the boy behind the mask does not matter. 

As Dick a fan, I do not need to explain why that is insulting. While it is true that some of this is steeped in queerphobia (for Dick, despite not being officially out, is still the queerest of all the Robins and he queers Bruce by association), I do believe a lot of it also stems from the dehumanization of Batman and Robin that we see present in A Lonely Place of Dying. 

And this is why I have come to appreciate Nightwing (1996) #110 so much.

In this issue, Dick is at his lowest point. Despite having confronted and locked away his rapist in Nightwing #100, Dick is still struggling not only with the aftermath of said rape, but also with the terror Blockbuster rained upon him, and with the guilt of stepping aside when Tarantula murdered Blockbuster. Dick is collapsing. He is  falling apart, so convinced of his own unworthiness and repulsiveness that he gives up Nightwing and is isolating himself by working undercover to take down the mob in Bludhaven. 

While working undercover, Dick watches as Tim takes down some bad guys while protecting the cops. He tries to run away without being seen, but of course, Tim spots him. As they talk, Tim, thinking Dick already knew this information, reveals that Bruce has offered to adopt him. Dick, who was only just recently adopted, is understandably hurt that Bruce would make such a big decision and not inform him. He sees this as proof that Bruce does not care as much about him as Dick would have hoped. As a result, Dick pushes Tim away, saying he should accept the adoption, that Dick wished he could do the same for Tim, and that Tim should forget about him because Dick is not a hero anymore.

(Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Nightwing. Incorporation. 110, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2005)

But Tim sees through Dick’s action and, in a moment of emotional insight, remedies the dehumanization he started when he first became Robin.

(Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Nightwing. Incorporation. 110, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2005)

At this moment, the humanity of the original Robin is recognized. Dick's unique importance to the Batman Mythos is recognized. Tim, clad in shadows, with only the R -- the symbol -- highlighted, says that what Bruce, what Batman, really needs is Dick Grayson. It's not just a random kid wearing the R, it's not just about the costume and the name. It's about Dick. In this moment, Tim is the one being abstracted, literally erased as shadows fall upon him, so that Dick's personhood and importance can be recognized. The abstract concept of Robin acknowledges the importance of Dick Grayson’s person, and in doing so, restores his humanity.

As a Dick Grayson fan, this moment highlights what I wish both fandom and canon would more often acknowledge – what it feels like many have either forgotten or refuse to accept. DC Comics and many fans treat Dick as if he were replaceable – as if any random child, or as if Selina or Khoa or an adult friend or love interest, could take Dick’s place in Bruce’s heart. The truth is, Bruce only became a character who could embrace Jason, Tim, Cass, Steph, Damian, and Duke because Dick came first. It was Dick, with whom Bruce shares a unique and intimate bond due to their shared trauma, who opened his heart. Bruce could only become a man ready to accept Selina into his life because he learned how to be close to others through his relationship with Dick. Batman found his light in Dick. Dick Grayson is Bruce’s humanity. Bruce, Batman, needs Dick Grayson, and it would be good if we – both official creatives and fans – remembered and honored that very important fact.

Bibliography

Bells, JL “Success in Stasis: Dick Grayson’s Thirty Years as a Boy Wonder.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 08-27

Dauber, Jeff American Comics: A History, W. W. Norton & Company, 2021

Finger, Bill, writer. Kane, Bob, artist. Detective Comics. 37 e-book ed. DC Comics, 1940

Grayson, Devin, writer. Hester, Phil, pencils. Parks, Ande ink. Wright, Gregory, colorist. Nightwing. Incorporation. 110, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2005

Wolfman, Marv, writer. Aparo, Jim, pencils. DeCarlo, Mike, ink. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. A Lonely Place of Dying: Chapter Three: Parallel Lives. Batman. 441, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989

Wolfman, Marv, writer. Aparo, Jim, pencils. DeCarlo, Mike, ink. Roy, Adrienne, colorist. A Lonely Place of Dying: Chapter Five: Rebirth. Batman. 442, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1989

It’s impossible not to notice that a lot of Batman stories position Bruce Wayne and Batman as adversarial forces. For example, in Ram V’s Nocturne, an otherwise perfect story in my opinion, Selina is shown to have broken up with Bruce because Gotham needs Batman and Bruce needs his darkness – or, as it is implied, needs to be unhappy – in order to be Batman. 

(V, Ram writer. Raffaelem, Stefano, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Gotham Nocturne Act I: Grand Design: Part II. Detective Comics. 1070 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2023.)

In Nolan’s famous The Dark Knight trilogy, Bruce only achieves happiness once he gives up Batman and runs away from Gotham with Selina.

And when Dick was considering a future with Bea, Bruce says that people like them, i.e. superheroes, cannot have a happily ever after. Despite Dick typically being portrayed as the proof that darkness does not need to follow a hero’s life, the story seems to side with Bruce in order to force Dick to break up with Bea. 

(Jurgens, Dan writer. Cliquet, Ronan, art. Filardi, Nick, colorist. The Problem with Napkin Man. Nightwing. 76 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2020.)

It’s not that Batman and Bruce can never be antagonists. Batman: Ego, for example, shows how this can be done very well. In this story, Bruce struggles against a manifestation of his inner darkness that demands Bruce kill the Joker in order to protect Gotham. Bruce refuses, asserting his humanity while also accepting that the responsibility of Batman means he will never truly be “happy.”

(Cooke, Darwyn  writer. Cooke, Darwyn, Art. Ego. Batman: Ego and Other Tails  e-book ed. DC Comics, 2007. pp. 66 - 67)

But I also think that in making the Batman identity Bruce’s antagonist, writers (both in canon and in fandom) lose sight of the good that Batman has brought to Bruce. 

When Steve Braxi states in his essay On Superman, Shootings, and the Reality of Superheroes that he “read[s] Batman to transform trauma into will power,” he perfectly summarized what these canon stories, and what fanfics that claim Bruce never became Batman because he went to therapy, miss about Bruce’s secret identity. 

Batman is therapy. Or, at least, a metaphor for it. Batman is both a manifestation of trauma and a manifestation of healing. It is through Batman that Bruce Wayne is able to process his trauma and transform it into not just power for himself, but power to help others.

This is beautifully captured in DeMatteis’ Grimm. In Grimm, Batman and Robin’s early partnership is put to the test when they face the titular villain Mother Grimm, a seemingly caring old lady who has been taking in runaway children and keeping them safe in an underground amusement park. She reprimands Batman for putting Robin’s life in danger, echoing a line we often see uttered by Robin-skeptics by saying children should not fight crimes. Batman and Robin are temporarily separated, but of course, Mother Grimm is not as kind as she first appears.

In the beginning of Part Three of this story, Bruce hallucinates his younger self falling from the sky as a hallucination of Dick hurls ugly accusations about Bruce endangering Dick by allowing him to become Robin. But as Bruce falls, he sprouts bat wings and is able to save himself, flying joyfully into the sky. “And he was about to hit the bottom,” Dick narrates “when Batman saved him.”

(DeMatteis, J.M. writer. Von Eeden,Trevor, pencils. García López, José Luis, inks. Grimm: Part Three: A Terrible Tragedy. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. 151 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002. pp. 01 - 02)

The metaphor is obvious: Batman saved Bruce. When Bruce thought he was going to lose it all, Batman came in and gave him the power to save himself – to fly free and happily through the skies. Bruce can never fully escape his trauma or erase it – it is part of his identity, of who he is – but what he can do is transform said trauma into something that saves himself and others. And through that he can find purpose, freedom from the burden of the trauma, and, as a result, he can even find happiness. 

This, I think, is what stories that only see Batman as an obstacle to Bruce’s happiness miss. Batman is not just a cowl Bruce puts on at night and the battles he faces against Gotham’s evil and corrupt – Batman is a metaphor for trauma and, just as important, a metaphor for healing. 

While Grimm is the example that first comes to my mind when discussing the metaphorical narrative function of alternative identities (not just of Batman and Robin), it is not the only one to demonstrate how Batman has been good to Bruce. 

The Murder Club is a four issue story featured in the anthology series Batman: Urban Legends. In it, Thomas and Martha Wayne are brought into the present. When they find out about Batman, they immediately express their anger and disappointment at Bruce’s actions. But Dick comforts Bruce by pointing out all that Batman brought to him, and how Batman brought them together. 

(Esposito, Joey writer. Georgiev, Vasco, art. Guimaraes, Alex, colorist. The Murder Club: Part Three of Four. Batman: Urban Legends. 22 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022.)

There are those who would prefer for Batman to be a lone wolf. But, as I will one day argue in a future proper essay, a story in which Batman is a lone wolf is an incomplete story. There’s a reason why Dick was created not even a year into Batman’s debut. There’s a reason why Dick is so crucial to the Batman Mythos. That is because it is through his relationship with Dick that Bruce learns to open his heart to the world again, after so many years of being isolated from it. Dick teaches Bruce how to connect to people, and thanks to this relationship, Bruce is able to gain what he had once lost – he is able to have a family again. And what connected Bruce and Dick – what allowed for this healing – is Batman and Robin. Until Dick’s arrival, the Batman myth is, then, incomplete.

(Side note: There’s a lot that could be said about the traps movie adaptations fall into by refusing to adapt Dick, how they replace him with Selina, and how that is steeped into homophobia… But that is an argument I’ll save for a proper essay).  

Similarly, I worry about stories that are so quick to criticize the existence of Robin. I said in my essay about Grayson #05 that I quite dislike when people accuse Robin of being a child soldier. Such criticisms, I stated, overlook the metaphor that Robin. I stand by that statement, and I wish to elaborate on it a little more.

When Dick became Robin, he had lost his entire family. He was taken from his home. He had witnessed the gruesome murder of his parents. He was left helpless. But Bruce gave Dick a tool to bring justice to his parents. Note that, in most versions of Dick’s story, it is not just Batman who brings Zucco to justice – Dick (be it as himself or as Robin) plays a crucial role in the solving of the case as well. That is because Bruce understands that this is not just about justice – it is also about Dick regaining the agency that was taken from him by Zucco. Dick’s origin story, then, shows that Robin is not child endangerment, but rather child empowerment. 

(Dixon, Chuck, writer. Armstrong, Jason, pencils. Campanella, Robert, inks. Allen, Phil, colorist. Robin: Annual. Robin. 04. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1995. pp. 44 - 47)

Grimm also notes this in its story when Dick comes to realize his full potential as Robin. 

(DeMatteis, J.M. writer. Von Eeden,Trevor, pencils. García López, José Luis, inks. Grimm: Part Five: I Prove My Worth. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. 153 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002. pp. 07 - 08)

By being Robin, Dick, too, is transforming his own trauma into power. He is gaining agency and the ability to save himself and others. Robin is a power fantasy for children – it is a power fantasy for those who have felt helpless when faced with forces that were so much bigger than themselves. Robin is about children who are facing terrifying situations being able to save themselves from the horrors of this world. Again, Robin is a story about empowerment. 

This is what stories like Batman: City of Madness seem to miss. In it, young Jevoney is kidnapped by a monstrous alternative version of Batman who seeks a Robin of his own. When our Batman does save him, the story notes that rather than being trained, the kid went to therapy instead, as if the former was the wrong ending and the latter the correct one.

(Ward, Christian writer. Ward, Christian, Art. Batman: City of Madness: Book Three. Batman: City of Madness  e-book ed. DC Comics, 2024)

Similarly, while I hesitate to bring up this example as it is still ongoing, Philip Kennedy Johnson’s (as of writing) current run in Batman and Robin (2023) also seem to only focus on the negatives of Robin rather than its positives (As a side note, it hurts me to say this because, this big problem aside, I otherwise am really enjoying this run).

(Johnson, Philip Kennedy, writer. Fernández, Javier, art. Di Giandomenico, Carmine, art. The Gotham Cycle: Part Two. Batman and Robin. e-book. DC Comics. 2025)

But again, just like Batman, Robin is therapy. Robin is the healing. Robin is empowerment. Batman and Robin are metaphors. They are extensions of Bruce and Dick’s identity, yes, but they are also metaphors for trauma and healing. Yet stories like City of Madness, the current Batman and Robin run (assuming that this matter doesn’t get addressed as the story progresses) and like countless fanfics and online criticism literalize the superhero identity by seeing only how it would operate in the real world rather than the heightened reality of the superhero genre.

When I brought up this subject in a private discussion, it was pointed out that one of the reasons for this overlooking of the metaphor – this literalization of the superhero identities – is due to a preference towards the grimdark, towards realism, and towards whump. We want Bruce to be the lonesome dark hero, we want the guilt and whump of Two Face almost killing a young Dick, we want to talk about what it would actually be like to come face-to-face with such horrific crimes. And while I concede that that is the excuse many would use for justifying these storytelling decisions (Bruce only becoming happy after he gives up Batman, Robin never becoming a thing because child soldiers are bad), I do not believe they are the true root behind it.

Understanding Batman and Robin as metaphors does not mean we cannot explore the trauma that comes with being a vigilante. We can have grimdark realism and whump without condemning heroism and the superhero genre as a whole. We can have grimdark, we can have whump, and we can have it all while also understanding that Batman and Robin are sources of healing that should not, under any circumstances, be abandoned in order for our protagonist to live better personal lives. Yet, why is that so many stories (again, both in canon and in fandom), are so eager to do just that? 

I believe anti-intellectualism is the reason behind why there’s such a refusal to engage with the metaphor Batman and Robin. As Dan Olson from Folding Ideas said in his video Annihilation and Decoding Metaphors, the phenomena of anti-intellectualism promotes “an understanding of culture that rejects metaphor, that rejects the symbolic and clings to the literal, is more true” (emphasizes mine). This, Olson explains, “It is part of the process of denying art the capacity for meaning.”

In the superhero genre, we can see this with how some stories will claim “realism” when they portray Batman as an obstacle to Bruce’s happiness, or erase Robin’s existence because Robin is in fact a child soldier who should not exist. Yet, the superhero genre is, by its very nature, a heightened reality that operates in metaphors and symbolism. These stories are not, then, creating more “realistic” takes on Batman and Robin (when Robin is allowed to exist), but rather they are using “realism” as a poorly constructed excuse to engage with the text only on a surface level.

By not writing Batman and Robin as metaphors, these stories deny them their capacity to carry empowering messages of how to overcome trauma or conquer evils that appear greater than one’s self. And, as a result of engaging solely with the surface of the text, these stories not only become shallow, but they also rob Bruce and Dick of the richness and complexity that resulted in their near century long longevity. We can see a prime example of that in Tom Taylor’s Nightwing run. 

I’m not entirely sure how to conclude this… Post? Observation? Rant? I guess I just wish that Batman and Robin were given more credit than I think a lot of creators, both of canon and of fandom, do. It seems to me like this desire for “realism” – or a desire for grimdark or whump – is stripping away the magic of the superhero genre by literalizing its strongest and most powerful metaphor. And by refusing to engage with said metaphor (or, perhaps more accurately, by not even bothering to learn that there’s a metaphor to engage with in the first place), we are taking away Bruce and Dick’s individual and collective richness. And as someone who loves both of these characters so much, I hate to see that happen.

So I’m not here to preach that we should abandon grimdark or whump. I’m not here to say that we should never explore the horrors that come with being a hero (especially because I do love those types of stories). I’m just here to caution against throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Just because there is darkness in heroism, it does not mean that it is inherently a bad thing that will only bring forth misery and self-destruction. Batman has brought Bruce much joy – it gave him a tool to process his trauma, it allowed him to heal, it gave him a new family. Robin is not a child soldier – it is a fantasy through which children can feel empowered to overcome evils that seem greater than they are. These metaphors are powerful, and by understanding them as such, we can also better understand two of the greatest characters ever created. 

Bibliography

Braxi, Steve, “On Superman, Shootings, and the Reality of Superheroes” Comics Bookcase, September 2021

Cooke, Darwyn  writer. Cooke, Darwyn, Art. Ego. Batman: Ego and Other Tails  e-book ed. DC Comics, 2007.

DeMatteis, J.M. writer. Von Eeden,Trevor, pencils. García López, José Luis, inks. Grimm: Part Three: A Terrible Tragedy. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. 151 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002

DeMatteis, J.M. writer. Von Eeden,Trevor, pencils. García López, José Luis, inks. Grimm: Part Five: I Prove My Worth. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. 153 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002.

Dixon, Chuck, writer. Armstrong, Jason, pencils. Campanella, Robert, inks. Allen, Phil, colorist. Robin: Annual. Robin. 04. e-book ed. DC Comics, 1995

Esposito, Joey writer. Georgiev, Vasco, art. Guimaraes, Alex, colorist. The Murder Club: Part Three of Four. Batman: Urban Legends. 22 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022

Johnson, Philip Kennedy, writer. Fernández, Javier, art. Di Giandomenico, Carmine, art. The Gotham Cycle: Part Two. Batman and Robin. e-book. DC Comics. 2025

Jurgens, Dan writer. Cliquet, Ronan, art. Filardi, Nick, colorist. The Problem with Napkin Man. Nightwing. 76 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2020

Olson, Dan, “Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor” Youtube, uploaded by Folding Ideas, 31 October 2018

V, Ram writer. Raffaelem, Stefano, art. Lucas, Adriano, colorist. Gotham Nocturne Act I: Grand Design: Part II. Detective Comics. 1070 e-book ed. DC Comics, 2023.

Let’s start with the cover.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014]

Everything about this cover radiates heat. The sun is beaming down mercilessly, the spirals mimicking the sun rays, the color palette a strong orange that is highly saturated but not bright. The reader can feel how hot it is in this desert, and all around there's nothing but sand. Sand, sand everywhere the eyes can see, and in the center of the image, a lone black figure braving this infernal bare landscape.

This cover tells us not just the location of where the issue will be set, but it also shows that Dick will be alone out there. It tells us this will not be an action-filled story, but it will be one of survival. Man vs Nature, and nature does not discriminates with her ruthlessness. Dick stands alone facing the elements, but he stands. He is walking, he is not giving up. It would be so easy for this cover to have a close up of Dick's, Helena's, and Midnighter's exhausted expression as they each try to survive, but instead we just see Dick by himself, alone, walking. He does not give up, he does not give in. He survives.

The issue then opens in medias res, immediately presenting the readers with that main conflict: survival. It does not waste any time with unneeded exposition — after all, though Dick would hate this fact, we as readers do not need to know the name of the mother who is dying; we do not need to know the details of Minos’ mission before it all went wrong; we don’t even need to know how Midnighter managed to track Dick and Helena. All we need to know is that Dick and Helena, and Midnighter are all after the Paragon Heart, which belongs to the, as of this page, unborn baby; that ARGUS somehow tracked Midnighter who was fighting Dick for the Heart; and that mid-fight the mother went into labor.

There's an elegance in the way everything is conveyed so well and so quickly in this one page. It's brilliant storytelling from both a writing and a visual stand point.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Page 01]

As they crash into the desert, the mother passes away. ARGUS is gone, but our trio and the newborn baby girl are faced with a mightier enemy: The desert. The nearest town is days away, they do not have a lot of supplies, they do not have how to call for help. Here, we’re faced with this issue’s main question: Can they survive this? The answer seems to be resounding “no.”

Let’s take a look at how each of the characters approach this situation.

Helena is pragmatic. She is thinking of the mission, but her expression is troubled. She doesn't see a way out of this. She knows they have to survive long enough for Spyral to eventually find them, but the odds are against them. Given the fact she’s injured, it’s unlikely she’ll ever make it out of this desert. Still, that does not mean she’ll fall into despair. She'll do what needs to be done, but she knows this is not something they can easily get out of. If she goes down, she'll go down fighting. Like I said, she’s pragmatic.

Midnighter, on the other hand, is a pessimist. He is jaded. Why bother trying? Midnighter is a nihilist. “We’re dead,” he says not once, but twice.

Then we have Dick. Beautiful Dick, he holds the baby in his arm like she's the most precious thing in the world. And in this moment, she is. His reply to Midnighter is telling. They aren’t dead. They can't be, because if they are dead, then so is she, so death is not an option. It's not a question of what is practical, of what the mission is, of what the odds are. It's not about being an optimist, either. It's simply about her. She is all that matters and she is entirely dependent on them, so they can't be dead. They cannot let her die, this little innocent child who is not even an hour old. So what will they do instead? They’ll walk. They’ll survive.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014 Page 02-03]

The next page displays what will become the brilliant standard for this issue — open skies, sand, and small figures walking. Everything about it conveys this vastness that is so oppressive in its openness. It's the majesty of Mother Nature.

Note how tiny the figures are. Note how Dick leads the other two, not by a little, but by a lot. In his arms Dick holds the baby, nurses her with the formula from the mother’s bag. In the pages we see Helena struggling, Midnighter drinking water and shedding away his clothes, but Dick remains stoic. He leads, separated — isolated, distant — from the rest, determined, disappearing into the far orange of the page.

In this, we see Dick’s silent determination. It’s notable that he is not trying to make light of the situation through humor. Instead, he is silent. And he walks.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Pages 04-05]

As the story continues, Midnighter’s pessimism deepens. It is notable that this issue is the first time Dick and Midnighter have seen each other since Grayson #01. And what does Midnighter do? He lashes out at Dick by revealing he knows who Dick is. This calls back to Forever Evil, where Dick’s identity was revealed to the world. Midnighter is weaponizing Dick’s trauma against him, trying to draw a reaction out of Dick. Not only that, he says that they only way to survive is to kill the baby and use the Paragon Heart. Otherwise, the odds are not in their favor, and he deems this "just walk" strategy is pointless. This is how Midnighter copes with the hopelessness of their situation — he dwells on the negative and lashes out.

Helena reacts to Midnighter by subduing the threat, but she doesn’t comment on his defeatist attitude. Nor on his plan. She is, again, practical. She won’t say they’ll make it, but she won’t allow Midnighter to pose a threat to the mission.

Dick, though… Not once does Dick acknowledge Midnighter’s taunting. Not once, not even to defend the baby. A weaker writer would have tried to get Dick to empathize with Midnighter, to tell him again that they're not dead yet, that they just need to keep trying. Instead, Dick’s refusal to even look at Midnighter shows how he won't even acknowledge the possibility of not surviving. His focus, instead, is all on her. That is what is driving him so that is what has his entire attention. Midnighter's temper tantrum is not even worth his time. Not when her survival is at stake.

I also want to take a moment to take in the environment. In this scene, the first panel shows how tiny the three of them are in the vast desert, the beautiful sky expanding above them. Mother Nature, the issue seems to say, is beautiful, worthy of awe. It is big, bigger than any human. More powerful, too. It is a challenge unlike any Dick has ever or will ever face. It cannot be charmed by him, it cannot be fought against, it cannot be conquered. It is not cruel or evil, either. It simply is, bare and uncomplicated, honest at all times. To survive her, Dick must also be the barest, least complicated version of his self.

While writing this, I often felt myself hesitating when writing about the conflict between Dick and desert. Phrases like “go against the desert,” often came to my tongue, and I had to swallow them back due to how wrong they felt. To “go against” someone (or something) is to have an antagonistic, adversarial relationship, and I’m not sure that is incredibly accurate to this scenario. The desert is indifferent towards Dick and the others. Midnighter speaks of fighting, of winning, of conquering this challenge, but Dick, by contrast, is quiet. He is not trying to “win” against the desert. That is not the right frame of mind. Rather, he is simply trying to survive.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Pages 06 - 07]

As time passes, Midnighter continues to talk. To taunt. His negative attitude doesn’t light up, and he is still trying to get a reaction out of Dick. Here we see that Midnighter is perhaps not fully comfortable with his enhancements, like he doesn't see himself as fully human because of them. He resents them even as he trusts his enhancements more than he trusts his own abilities. He says he sees all outcomes and there are none where they survive this. Not as humans. Not without the Heart.

Note how Midnighter presents their situation as not about being tough, but about how much energy you have. This framing seems to reject the idea of survival — of “toughing it out” — and instead looks at their situation as one of victory and defeat — you have to have enough energy to make it out of the desert, and in doing so, you’ll be victorious.

Yet, Midnighter predicts himself to outlast Dick, but in reality, he falls before Dick does. This begs the question: Was Midnighter right? Must you defeat the desert and win against it in order to win?

Personally, I believe the story is saying “no.” This is not about victory and defeat, but about survival. And to survive, one must lay themselves bare of foolish things such as pride and ego. To survive, you must dig deeper within yourself, and find something that will allow you to not go against mother nature, but to continue walking along side her.

Dick has found his something deep within himself. That something is his compassion. Helena collapses, and Dick leaves with her his shirt, laying himself bare. Yet, despite his fallen partner, his priority is still the baby girl. He will survive for her, and in this action we see the depths of Dick’s compassion for others. He continues to walk. He continues to survive.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Pages 08-10]

Finally, after days, Midnighter is confronted with the true force that is Dick Grayson. He was so certain he was going to outlast Dick. “I have… My… Enhancements. I have powers,” he struggles to say. But what does Dick have? How can a simple man continue to go against these conditions?

This page shows how deeply Midnighter underestimated Dick’s humanity and his compassion. Dick is not a superpowered individual, no, but Dick’s determination is unlike at other. This is who he is… Someone who walks.

Dick is a survivor. When Dick was a small boy, he lost his entire world in a traumatic act of violence. From the moment those ropes snapped and the Flying Graysons plunged to their deaths, Dick became a survivor — someone who had to figure out how to walk forward when everything seemed lost. And Dick did it.

If I can go on a bit of a tangent here, I’ll say that I really dislike whenever child heroes are characterized as child soldiers, be it by fans or by canon writers. This reading is, in my opinion, incredibly lazy and displays a lack of understanding of what superhero identities are meant to stand for. We can discuss the traumas that come along with being a child hero, but to dismiss it as a universally bad thing and equating to the real world horror of child soldiers ignores the fact that this is a fictional world in which the fantastical concepts act as metaphors for larger ideas.

Robin is not a child soldier. Robin, much like Batman, is a response to trauma. Specifically, Dick’s Robin is a response to the trauma of being a survivor of violent crime, and Robin demonstrates how a victim can regain agency and transform their tragedy into an empowering narrative. As Steve Braxi points out in his On Superman, Shootings, and the Reality of Superheroes essay, Batman “transform[s] trauma into will power,” and Dick, whose story is meant to mirror that of Bruce’s, does the exact same through Robin. Through Robin, Dick is able to not only find justice for his parents, but he is also to help other survivors like him. And that is what allows him to keep on walking.

This is what Grayson #05 demonstrates. It strips away the metaphor of the hero identities and the distraction of partnerships, laying Dick out bare and showing that as long as he can help someone, as long as he has his compassion, Dick Grayson can survive anything.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Pages 12 - 13]

In the following page, the vastness of the desert is contrasted with close up shots of the baby. We see Dick, so impossibly small standing against a large desert that disappears into the horizon, and ocean of sand and oranges, and we see the whole reason why Dick is still alive. The environment that may kill him is contrasted with the reason why he will survive.

“I’m here. I’m here,” Dick tells the baby girl as she ceases her cries. “I’m still here.”

He gets up… And he walks. The repetitiveness of the action throughout the issue emphasizes the slog of the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, those moments when you realize time is progressing forward as it always had, but your mind and heart are still stuck in that one moment that changed your life forever. All Dick can do is walk, walk, walk, yet he is still lost in this vast desert, the trauma is still overwhelming him, there’s no end in sight… But he does have his reason for not giving up — his compassion allows him to continue onward.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Pages 14 - 15]

Robin Dies at Dawn is the title of Batman #156. In this two part story Batman finds himself in an alien planet filled with threats. Robin saves him from sentient, walking plants, and after escaping, they find a giant stone idol that comes to life and begins chasing them. They manage to leap over a deep fissure and realize that if the stone idol were to do the same, the unstable down would crumble and the stone idol would fall, securing their safety. As they wait for the idol, they see that it, too, realized the ground was unstable and it tries to figure out a safer passage to the other side. That’s when Robin provokes the stone idol, who, in fury, grabs a boulder to throw at Robin. Before it can do it, the floor crumbles and it falls, but boulder still hits Robin and kills him. Later, it is revealed that this was a hallucination induced by an experiment Batman subjected himself to meant to study the effects of loneliness in astronauts. Through the following days, Bruce has occasional hallucinations of alien creatures putting Dick in danger. It isn’t until Dick’s life is threatened by the Gorilla Gang that Bruce is able to “overcome” the lingering effects of the experiment, the threat to Dick’s life being enough to “shock” him back to normal.

[Finger, Bill; Boltinoff, Henry; Schiff, Jack, writers. Moldoff, Sheldon; Boltinoff, Henry, illustrators. Robin Dies at Dawn. Batman. 156, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1963. Page]

To the baby girl, Dick recounts this Golden Age story as if it were a dream, focusing on the part where the stone idol kills him with the boulder. In this tale, we go back to Robin, Dick’s first survival mechanism, and to the first person who first showed him compassion and to whom his survival was paramount — Batman.

Though so far Dick has rejected the idea of victory vs defeat, he presents the baby with a scenario where he is faced with such a conflict. Yet, in this case, to “go up against” the enemy is to call them forward so they will fall. Dick’s taunting leads the stone idol to it’s defeat, and this is the point which Dick says he wants the baby girl to focus on. You must welcome danger, he seems to say, and face it head on. You must walk forward instead of running away.

Yet, it is notable that the enemy is not the only one who is defeated in this story. After all, Dick “dies” at dawn. This is what Dick doesn’t want the baby to focus on, but I think it’s important in understanding this idea of survival. In the story, Dick sacrifices himself so Batman can escape. He goes up against an enemy, he achieves victory, but he does not survive. But, crucially important, Batman does.

This paints a picture where Dick's survival and his victory are not one and the same. Not the way Midnighter seemed to have believed. While Dick’s compassion is intrinsically tied to his status as a survivor of violence, this story seems to indicate that Dick will readily relinquish his own survival for the sake of someone else. In the framing of victories and defeats, other people’s safety -- other people's survival -- is Dick’s “win” condition.

This, I believe, demonstrates how Dick's compassion allows him to pass own his survivor status to others, even at the cost of his own life. By shielding them and giving them the opportunity to move past a trauma, Dick creates other survivors. He becomes their protector, their patron saint.

[King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014. Pages 16 - 18]

Dick Grayson is a lot of things, and he has numerous qualities. He is a partner, a hero, and a friend; he’s good, he’s funny, and he’s brave. While all of those are important aspects of his character, they can also distract from one characteristic that is crucial to Dick’s genesis.

Before he was Agent 37, before he was Nightwing, before he was Robin, Dick was a survivor. Having survived violence, Dick used his compassion to transform his trauma into power. Grayson #05 isolates Dick from the world, putting him in a dangerous and revealing desert to expose his ability to survive through his compassion. This, the story says, is who Dick at the core of his being, when stripped away from the distractions of partnerships and superhero metaphors. This is who Dick Grayson is: He is a man who walks.

Bibliography:

Braxi, Steve, “On Superman, Shootings, and the Reality of Superheroes” Comics Bookcase, September 2021

Finger, Bill; Boltinoff, Henry; Schiff, Jack, writers. Moldoff, Sheldon; Boltinoff, Henry, illustrators. Robin Dies at Dawn. Batman. 156, e-book ed. DC Comics, 1963

Katzman, Gregg. "Interview: Tom King & Tim Seeley Talk GRAYSON." Yahoo! News, 4 Jan. 2015. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. We All Die at Dawn. Grayson. 05, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Mooney, Stephen, illustrator. A Story of Giants Big and Small. Grayson. Annual 01, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Mooney, Stephen, illustrator. Sin by Silence. Grayson. 07, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Janin, Mikel, illustrator. Nemesis Part Two. Grayson. 10, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2014

King, Tom; Seeley, Tim, writers. Antonio, Roge, illustrator. Spiral’s End. Grayson. 20, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2016