For you, is Dick Grayson better as a Batman-centric or DCU-centric character?

For the purposes of this discussion, let's try to sideline the whole "Ric Grayson" and "Didio hates Dick" debates, as they are already being rehashed over and over and over again by numerous other threads. If you want to argue/complain about that, please do so on those threads.

I really dig Dick Grayson. He's a really cool character that is largely unburdened by the misery that too often makes Batman such a drag, yet he has all the stuff that makes Batman so cool. After Wolfman & Perez's New Teen Titans became such a huge hit, Dick became less and less of a Batman-centric character and more of character at home within the larger DCU as Nightwing, a name that gave equal weight to the two pillars of the DCU, Superman & Batman. This was the strongest indication yet that Dick Grayson was now his own man, rather than just Batman's sidekick. In the late 90s, the Batman books reabsorbed Nightwing, gave him a way cooler costume and a new city to operate out of.

From that point on, Nightwing has bounced back and forth between Batman's world and the larger DCU. Obviously, he works really well in both, but where do you tend to enjoy him more? If you could define the character's role, how would you position him within the DCU, more closely associated with Batman or the DCU?

The Batman stuff doesn't seem to be working in his favor anymore, so im gonna go with DCU-centric character. Dick needs to get out of the Bat office, and away from those editors, in a bad way.

I always favor the larger universe.

I agree with Tom King that Dick Grayson is the fourth pillar of the DCU and he's always been one of my very favorite characters.

I can't choose one or the other. I love him being back and forth between the two.

the more characters operating in the wider DC universe independently, not chained to the Batman and the Trinity, the better. I'm starting to become of the mind that no hero should stay Batcentric in Gotham besides Robin, everyone else who isn't Robin should be allowed to graduate and make their own way in the wider DC landscape eventually.

While the Batverse link should ALWAYS be acknowledged, Dick works better operating within the wider DCU.

Both, but Nightwing deserves to be his own man.

While popping into Gotham every so often, I would very much prefer Dick be part of the greater world. Wolfman's and Perez's Teen Titans established Dick as a worldly character that, after losing Jason specifically, became kind of everyone's big brother for the younger heroes. And not just the ones in Gotham or tied to Bruce.

And while the Trinity has been a staple for comics since the 40s (either directly or as an influence), Dick, since his Robin days, has been just as important (whether DiDio likes it or not).

Gotham limits him a lot as a character. In the Bat verse he is mostly used as the first protégé than can never replace or be on equal ground as his mentor. He just has no more room to grow there as a character or a hero. His only place in that world is as a guiding hand for the sidekicks or as Batman s conscience.

It's not a coincidence Dick's best stories are from his teen titans, Spyral and Bludhaven years. He can grow as a person in this stories and as a hero.

[QUOTE=married guy;4525064]While the Batverse link should ALWAYS be acknowledged, Dick works better operating within the wider DCU.[/QUOTE]

This.

I never want to see Dick Grayson moved so far from the Batverse orbit that we get another [I]Knightfall[/I] situation where Batman has to call in back-up and Grayson is an afterthought behind someone Bruce just met.

On the other hand I don't want to see Nightwing treated as Batman Jr always playing second fiddle or worse in comparison to Batman. And that requires not constantly putting him in a supporting role in the Batverse but letting him stand out on his own amongst the major DCU players.

A balance, with Dick commuting between the two.

[color=red]Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)[/color]

Ideally he can be part of both, but until the Bat office stops using him as Bruce's punching bag for trauma, get him the hell away from those editors.

[QUOTE=married guy;4525064]While the Batverse link should ALWAYS be acknowledged, Dick works better operating within the wider DCU.[/QUOTE]yes Dick's past should always be acknowledged BUT he shouldn't live in it either.

Dick in the greater dcu is the only way he can reach his full potential. He can't be the a core pillar of the dcu as someone else's side character. Plus the bat corner is so bloated there's no room for a niche.

Batman sits on the throne of that corner, it's time dick get his own. It's the only way forward for him as a solo character.

In the real world, I think Batman would have delegated his Justice League duties to Dick a long time ago. It makes sense and Dick is better at the team stuff.

[quote] In the late 90s, the Batman books reabsorbed Nightwing, gave him a way cooler costume and a new city to operate out of.
[/quote]

And made him go through the same angsty stuff he had figured out in the 80's.

The larger DCU. He was part of the original trinity. he's wasted by the Bat office. The 4th pillar benched in service of King's batman and handed over to guys like lobdell to play with. Wasted.