With cowl on: Pulling straight 40-year old man

But then Dick tugs it off to reveal the saddest, eternally teary face known to man.

So long as Dick can hide his face, he can maintain the facade of Batman. He is physically and intellectually capable of doing so. But as soon as you reveal the eyes, as soon as emotional vulnerability is possible, it immediately gives away how lost and unwell he is in the position.

(Note: it also it worth mentioning that this is not a single artstyle choice. The images above were pulled from a Rebirth comic, but the post-Final Crisis Dickbats run had the same dynamic.) See:

With Cowl

Without

It’s for Bruce. Duh.

“Must have been a sadist”, Jason says.

<Checks notes>

Yeah. Uh huh. Yup. Right on the money there. Immaculate.

And in fact one of the most important panels regarding Dick period.

It looks mundane. It’s not common to see in the wild at all. Barely circulated. So: Why is it important, you ask?

Well, there’s this classic conception of Dick during New Teen Titans as, well, an asshole. And he was. Point to how he handled the marriage in Tamaran, or other relationship conflicts. Point to the decrease in his quippy humor and personability, in NTT and in other books. Point to his uncharacteristic struggles to empathize.

All of these things were out of character for the Dick Grayson that had been established nearly a half century prior, up to and including the early issues of NTT itself. But these changes are some of the most common examples used to paint Dick as a cold, sometimes mean, dickish (no pun intended) guy.

So, isn’t it very very funny that he was partially mind controlled this entire time, SINCE HE WAS CAPTURED BY BROTHER BLOOD LIKE 40+ ISSUES AGO, OR MULTIPLE YEARS WORTH OF COMICS IRL, with the DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF MAKING HIM LASH OUT.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND???

DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS? HOW MUCH THIS CHANGES THE CONTEXT OF EVERYTHING??? DO YOU????? I DON’T THINK YOU DO. THINK ABOUT IT AGAIN.

Alternatively:

Dick: bet