SeekingXanadu

So the new Pennyworth butler is rehashing the original Alfred introduction from Batman vol 1 # 16, huh.

Having had a little bit to reflect on the most recent two issues of Dan Watters' run of Nightwing, I've come to the conclusion that the setup, themes, and depicted conflicts almost perfectly mirror Dick's fall from grace during the Blockbuster arc. Here me out:

There’s a sudden, dramatic civilian casualty, which *can* leave Dick implicated if he has a guilty enough conscious (he does).

In #136, Dick's culpability in the 9 civilian casualties is due to letting a woman into his car, who then holds Dick at knife point and takes the wheel, causing a pileup.

Meanwhile, #89 of the 1996 run has Dick technically responsible for the deaths of at least a few dozen in his apartment complex due to Blockbuster's discovery of his identity, causing Blockbuster and his gang to go after all civilians associated with Dick Grayson.

In either case, despite external parties telling Dick that it isn't his fault, he carries the burden of these deaths and is driven to reckless action to ameliorate his perceived wrongs. In both cases, the weight this death toll holds for him, which drives his irresponsibility and self-destructive tendencies, is augmented by his failure to save civilians *during* mass casualty event he is ostensibly "culpable" for. It isn't just that people died in ways that could be blamed on him, but that he attempted to help on the scene in both cases, with little to no success.

The parallels between #136 above and #89 from the 1996 run seen below are a bit more explicit here, with both having him literally dig through rubble for survivors only to find bodies, and taking that to heart. From here, in #136, it leaves him desperate enough to pursue the witch lead by any means necessary, while in #89, it leads him desperate enough to pursue the Blockbuster gang by any means necessary.

So, okay, the setups are thus far quite similar. In the most literal sense, there are deaths that can technically be traced back to Dick, but that he holds himself far too accountable for. His failure to aid on the scene and personal witnessing of the bodies amplifies the guilt, and this leads him to a state of reckless and self-destructive investigation as a means of penance.

The penance itself pans out quite similarly, or at least it has thus far, in #137 and #90.

In both cases (left being #137 and right being #90/91), we see Dick:

Put himself in dismal or unlivable conditions due to some combination of obsessive fixation on "solving" his problem and also not believing he deserves the comfort.

Lying to family about adequacy of self-care

Taking needlessly suicidal risks and ignoring injuries

I could go on.

The point is, the similarities between the crashouts are undeniable. If the trend continues, we're gearing towards a situation where Dick either brings himself to some state of physical/mental collapse or needs to be physically stopped to prevent further self-harm. I'm wondering if Watters will take it as far as DG did, though I very much doubt it. If we're lucky, though, this could possibly *address* how terribly Dick takes his own perceived failures, his perfectionism and self-hatred for not living up to those standards, his willingness to disregard his own mortality in pursuit of that "penance", etc.

>”his willingness to disregard his own mortality in pursuit of that ‘penance”

-> seeks penance in a CHURCH, does so in disregard of his health/mortality by forgoing rest.

It isn’t like Batman or the family aren’t Gotham’s, but Gotham has the Bats like city has a good climate. There was not a choice in the matter. Their operations are liable to change. And as much as you might want to control things, when a storm hits, like your Failsafe’s or the other dozen times one of them has gone rogue and altered Gotham, you don’t have much response other than to endure. And, sure, the police have tried to restrict them at times, including in the current run. Public sentiment has waxed and waned. But Batman and his posse respond as they please. For that matter, most of his additional network don’t face the world — or accountability — at all.

But Nightwing is something Blüdhaven feels it owns. Nightwing is a man to them. Whether through how Nightwing interacts with civilians, directly and in the daylight, or in the numerous collaborations with civilian detectives and law enforcement and other random citizens.

More specifically, I love the fact that the 9 deaths from the pileup spark outrage. God knows how much death and destruction from collateral occurs in other places, but here, it doesn’t slide. People mention it. I love not just how righteously angry Blüdhaven feels entitled to be, but how sure they seem that this will lead to their hero responding. Their hero is no greater or bigger or different than them, and on some level, there is belief that he will turn himself in because he is accountable to them.

“Jason doesn’t kill children!”

Is Damian not a child? Did Jason not shoot him?

Huh, interesting question. I’ve never thought about it.