How much does Dick Grayson's tenure as Robin matter to you as a fan?

[Buried Alien]

Dick Grayson spent the first 44 years of his existence as Robin, but he has been Nightwing for the past 33 years. Undoubtedly, many readers of Nightwing's adventures today were not even born when Dick appeared as Robin in monthly comics.

That being the case, how important is Dick's time as Robin to you as a fan? If a new writer were to retcon Dick's career as Robin out of continuity completely, or reduce it to some ridiculously brief time like five days, how would you feel?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[JBatmanFan05]

How much does Dick Grayson's tenure as Robin matter to you as a fan?

That being the case, how important is Dick's time as Robin to you as a fan? If a new writer were to retcon Dick's career as Robin out of continuity completely, or reduce it to some ridiculously brief time like five days, how would you feel?

It's very important. Utmost importance. I don't know what you have in mind, but it'd be a colossal mistake to wipe that out. I'm very much in the Morrison "what if all this happened in one man's life?" type of fan when it comes to continuity. Dick's time as Robin is integral to his story (as Bruce's foremost "son") and Bruce's. "Dick as Robin" stories and flashbacks are popular too. With the right team, DC could even exploit that period more.

Dick (as Robin, THE Robin) is a very important Golden Age comic character, and that should always be remembered and respected.

[TheCape]

He is the first sidekick, you can't simply erased that.

[Godlike13]

Its important.

[Buried Alien]

It's very important. Utmost importance. I don't know what you have in mind, but it'd be a colossal mistake to wipe that out. I'm very much in the Morrison "what if all this happened in one man's life?" type of fan when it comes to continuity. Dick's time as Robin is integral to his story (as Bruce's foremost "son") and Bruce's. "Dick as Robin" stories and flashbacks are popular too. With the right team, DC could even exploit that period more.

People on the main DC Forum are mooting the newly hired Brian Michael Bendis as the next writer for NIGHTWING. Love Bendis or hate him, he does carry a reputation for taking characters in radical, often controversial directions. One concern I have if Bendis is assigned to Nightwing is that he will seek to eliminate or minimize Dick's history as Robin, something that was already attempted during the New 52 era by other writers.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Frontier]

It means a great deal to me.

He was my first Robin.

He was the first sidekick, the one that all sidekicks look up to or were created to mimic.

He was Bruce's first kid.

He began the legacy of the Robins.

He and Bruce were the Dynamic Duo, both in comics and in my childhood.

[JBatmanFan05]

People on the main DC Forum are mooting the newly hired Brian Michael Bendis as the next writer for NIGHTWING. Love Bendis or hate him, he does carry a reputation for taking characters in radical, often controversial directions. One concern I have if Bendis is assigned to Nightwing is that he will seek to eliminate or minimize Dick's history as Robin, something that was already attempted during the New 52 era by other writers.

I even suggested Nightwing, but you're right that I'd vehemently want Bendis editorially controlled as far as him even considering a radical retcon to Dick's past. That's a dealbreaker. All that being said, I think it's a tad presumptuous to think Bendis would try to take main continuity Dick in this direction or that he'd be allowed to in this Rebirth world. We shouldn't just presume that Bendis would go against all DC tendencies and traditions. He would know the DCU has a certain brand and elements to it. We're not Marvel (no matter how many of the big two's events seem to mirror each other lol).

If Bendis is assigned Nightwing, I hope he doesn't do anything crazy like eliminate his entire history as Robin...or write that Dick was only Robin for five days before turning it over to Jason Todd for the next six years.

As you said in the main forum: I agree.

[Buried Alien]

I even suggested Nightwing, but you're right that I'd vehemently want Bendis editorially controlled as far as him even considering a radical retcon to Dick's past. That's a dealbreaker. All that being said, I think it's a tad presumptuous to think Bendis would try to take main continuity Dick in this direction or that he'd be allowed to in this Rebirth world. We shouldn't just presume that Bendis would go against all DC tendencies and traditions. He would know the DCU has a certain brand and elements to it.


As you said in the main forum: I agree.

I do worry, though. Bendis is a powerful, influential figure in the industry, and now that DC has expended so much to acquire his services, it will likely cater to Bendis's desires (to some extent). I would worry less if the New 52 didn't already demonstrate DC's tendency of late to undervalue Dick's heritage as Robin. The combination of Bendis's reputation and DC's recent track record with Dick's time as Robin is what concerns me.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Pohzee]

The reason that Nightwing works is because of his graduation from Robinhood. That growth is central to his character as Nightwing. Without that evolution, he really is a redundant not-Batman/not-Robin. I think that Robin is more important to him as a character than Nightwing. He has succeeded in other mantles besides Nightwing, but all of that depends on the foundation built by his tenure as Robin. Though it has been watered down to the point that it may now be considered a descriptor rather than the title or character that it once was, Robin was one and the same with Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson is not only a Robin, he is the second half of the Dynamic Duo. He is the Robin.

[JBatmanFan05]

I do worry, though. Bendis is a powerful, influential figure in the industry, and now that DC has expended so much to acquire his services, it will likely cater to Bendis's desires (to some extent). I would worry less if the New 52 didn't already demonstrate DC's tendency of late to undervalue Dick's heritage as Robin. The combination of Bendis's reputation and DC's recent track record with Dick's time as Robin is what concerns me.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I think the concern is fair. But I'd also caution against getting ahead of ourselves about it too. Bendis here is new territory, it's unclear if he'll have some different approaches to continuity and "legacy" and such. If say he did Earth One Nightwing (and not main continuity Dick), he could do whatever with that and I'd be fine (though I'd probably not read it since I don't read the Earth One titles).

[masahikotahara]

Dick Grayson's tenure as Robin means the world to me. In the early 90s I really had to come to grips with the fact there was a new Robin (Tim Drake); being born in 1984 myself, I didn't even know about Jason (Todd). Only later I learned about the history of the Robins. Dick will always be the first/the best Robin, leaving him an example to follow (to some degree, I grew to love Tim Drake in his own right after A Lonely Place Of Dying).

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[Jim Kelly]

Grayson as Robin, the Boy Wonder, is important in the comics. I'm not comfortable with having these words put in my mouth: "NO! Dick's time as Robin is SACROSANCT and must NEVER be removed or minimized!" I wouldn't go that extreme, but that was the only option in the poll that allowed me to voice support for Dick as Robin.

In other media, there hasn't always been a Robin or if there was then it wasn't always Dick. And I'm okay with there being other stories where the situation was different.

If you turn it around to focus on Richard Grayson's life rather than Bruce Wayne's life--as seems to be the perpsective here, then it's very important for Grayson that he was Batman's partner in his young life. Whereas, from the perspective of Batman it's less important that he had Grayson as a partner.

The whole character of Dick Grayson is built on that history with Batman. Without it, I don't see the point. You could take any random person and turn him into a hero that goes by the Nightwing codename.

[CPSparkles]

What the hell is Robin without Dick Grayson?
Or Batman and Robin without Dick Grayson?

[dietrich]

He is the most important of all the robins. His tenure is the most important. Damian was Robin when I got into comics but growing up Robin=Dick Grayson He is the mantle.

[dietrich]

What the hell is Robin without Dick Grayson?

A bunch of not Dicks and Damian