Pitch a Direction: Nightwing

[dropkickjake]

Alright, so having that same conversation about Bludhaven that happens over in the appreciation thread every 5 pages or so actually got some gears turning for me... this is all still in flux in my head, so i hope this ends up coherent... alright here goes:

One of the problems with the Nightwing book has always been supporting cast. They have no staying power. Furthermore, Bludhaven's "Personality" keeps changing. Dick doesn't have much actual connection to the city, and the city doesn't really offer Dick that much anyway.

So here's my idea, and I think it could actually fit pretty well post memory return: Dick Moves Back in with His Parent(s).

Dick is in his early (maybe mid) 20s. He is a millennial. Career changes and moving back in with your parents for a bit is a fairly common experience for his (and my) generation. There's a bit of relatability to the reader in this. He's left Spyral, left the Titans, and being the protector of Bludhaven didn't work out either. He's not independently wealthy and doesn't really have the resume to get an actual job. He's obviously not stoked on it, but moving back in with Bruce is just what makes sense while he gets his feet back on the ground and figures out what's next. Now, in addition to being relatable, Dick is in a situation where his strongest relationships can act as supporting cast in his book. Bruce, Damian, Alfred, and Babs are all nearby. Hell, he lives with three of them.

So to be clear, his home is the manor, but Dick isn't particularly active as a Gotham crimefighter. He's out globetrotting. Chasing down global criminal empires. Teaming up with Gaucho and Nightrunner and Batman of Japan. He's using the skills he learned in his time with spyral to gather intel, build a network of informants and contacts, and recruit allies and agents. Gradually Dick, Bruce, and Alfred realize that Dick is uniquely qualified for one specific job: Running and expanding Batman Inc. Bruce admits that his focus is more on Gotham and the JLA. Dick's experience in Spyral and with the Titans actually makes him a better fit for this than Bruce.

I'd explore this dynamic for a good few arcs. Maybe a year or a bit more of publication time.


First arc: Definitely chasing down Pyg and the Circus across Europe.

[gregpersons]

Alright, so having that same conversation about Bludhaven that happens over in the appreciation thread every 5 pages or so actually got some gears turning for me... this is all still in flux in my head, so i hope this ends up coherent... alright here goes:

One of the problems with the Nightwing book has always been supporting cast. They have no staying power. Furthermore, Bludhaven's "Personality" keeps changing. Dick doesn't have much actual connection to the city, and the city doesn't really offer Dick that much anyway.

So here's my idea, and I think it could actually fit pretty well post memory return: Dick Moves Back in with His Parent(s).

Dick is in his early (maybe mid) 20s. He is a millennial. Career changes and moving back in with your parents for a bit is a fairly common experience for his (and my) generation. There's a bit of relatability to the reader in this. He's left Spyral, left the Titans, and being the protector of Bludhaven didn't work out either. He's not independently wealthy and doesn't really have the resume to get an actual job. He's obviously not stoked on it, but moving back in with Bruce is just what makes sense while he gets his feet back on the ground and figures out what's next. Now, in addition to being relatable, Dick is in a situation where his strongest relationships can act as supporting cast in his book. Bruce, Damian, Alfred, and Babs are all nearby. Hell, he lives with three of them.

So to be clear, his home is the manor, but Dick isn't particularly active as a Gotham crimefighter. He's out globetrotting. Chasing down global criminal empires. Teaming up with Gaucho and Nightrunner and Batman of Japan. He's using the skills he learned in his time with spyral to gather intel, build a network of informants and contacts, and recruit allies and agents. Gradually Dick, Bruce, and Alfred realize that Dick is uniquely qualified for one specific job: Running and expanding Batman Inc. Bruce admits that his focus is more on Gotham and the JLA. Dick's experience in Spyral and with the Titans actually makes him a better fit for this than Bruce.

I'd explore this dynamic for a good few arcs. Maybe a year or a bit more of publication time.


First arc: Definitely chasing down Pyg and the Circus across Europe.

I have pitched this exact direction to anyone who will listen, multiple times... I love it. It's so obviously the right maneuver for this character, and the Bat Franchise as a whole, that it's infuriating it hasn't already happened.

Nightwing should be the Mission Impossible version of Batman — teams doing stealthy sneaky detective work, rotating cast of teammates, globe-trotting adventuring. He should be the face of legacy in the DCU.

It could also be interesting to have Dick Grayson actually work at Wayne Enterprises — something he's never really spent time doing, actually — as the public-facing lead of the Batman Inc project. Grayson graduated from the police academy and was a detective in Bludhaven, so it makes some sense that he'd be qualified to oversee this private defense force.

It could also amusingly lead to speculation among the public that Grayson actually is Batman — it would be funny if the general public wasn't aware of "Nightwing"... and when non-Gotham/Bludhaven citizens encounter Nightwing, they call him Batman by mistake, not knowing the difference.

Edit — Basically this is just a heightened, more Bat-centric version of "Titans" combined with "Grayson" with the "Batman Inc" branding but I think it's a homerun idea ... with Nightwing as the Tom Cruise athletic action star in the middle of it all.

[Kurisu]

Alright, so having that same conversation about Bludhaven that happens over in the appreciation thread every 5 pages or so actually got some gears turning for me... this is all still in flux in my head, so i hope this ends up coherent... alright here goes:

One of the problems with the Nightwing book has always been supporting cast. They have no staying power. Furthermore, Bludhaven's "Personality" keeps changing. Dick doesn't have much actual connection to the city, and the city doesn't really offer Dick that much anyway.

So here's my idea, and I think it could actually fit pretty well post memory return: Dick Moves Back in with His Parent(s).

Dick is in his early (maybe mid) 20s. He is a millennial. Career changes and moving back in with your parents for a bit is a fairly common experience for his (and my) generation. There's a bit of relatability to the reader in this. He's left Spyral, left the Titans, and being the protector of Bludhaven didn't work out either. He's not independently wealthy and doesn't really have the resume to get an actual job. He's obviously not stoked on it, but moving back in with Bruce is just what makes sense while he gets his feet back on the ground and figures out what's next. Now, in addition to being relatable, Dick is in a situation where his strongest relationships can act as supporting cast in his book. Bruce, Damian, Alfred, and Babs are all nearby. Hell, he lives with three of them.

So to be clear, his home is the manor, but Dick isn't particularly active as a Gotham crimefighter. He's out globetrotting. Chasing down global criminal empires. Teaming up with Gaucho and Nightrunner and Batman of Japan. He's using the skills he learned in his time with spyral to gather intel, build a network of informants and contacts, and recruit allies and agents. Gradually Dick, Bruce, and Alfred realize that Dick is uniquely qualified for one specific job: Running and expanding Batman Inc. Bruce admits that his focus is more on Gotham and the JLA. Dick's experience in Spyral and with the Titans actually makes him a better fit for this than Bruce.

I'd explore this dynamic for a good few arcs. Maybe a year or a bit more of publication time.


First arc: Definitely chasing down Pyg and the Circus across Europe.

This is awesome.

[gregpersons]

First arc: Definitely chasing down Pyg and the Circus across Europe.

Second arc: Grayson infiltrates the new Court of Owls as a double agent, sent in to recruit waiting sleeper agents and rescue a missing operative - Connor Hawke, the former substitute Green Arrow - who has been operating as a Talon. With Hawke's help, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Orphan track and take down a nest of Talons.

Third arc: Nightwing works with Gaucho and Huntress to find Blockbuster who has escaped to somewhere in South America and is developing a zombie virus that can turn anyone into a hulking monster; expanding on his plot in Seeley's run, and we find that Raptor is working with Blockbuster but actually is a double agent working with Batman Inc, though he also makes a point to get access to Grayson's spending account and robs it completely, dispersing the funds to charities immediately. Nightwing claims that was his fake account, a decoy, that was money specifically set aside for that move.

Fourth arc: Nightwing, Robin, Red Hood go to Santa Prisca to find Dr. Hurt, whose location is being protected by Bane; they are off-the-books on this one, operating against Batman's wishes, but Nightwing is determined to rescue the Santa Priscan orphaned teenager being courted as Dr. Hurt's own dark "robin." Things go poorly for Nightwing/Robin/Red Hood but they get an unexpected assist by Azrael/Jean-Paul Valley and escape with their lives, thwarting Dr. Hurt and defeating Bane, leaving behind a new operative, the Bat of Santa Prisca.

I mean there's no excuse for it anymore, Dick Grayson as Nightwing has the potential to be an extremely popular character, given all of his exposure through Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go, Young Justice, Titans, the other animated movies, the Arkham games...

Honestly DC has always been a Big Four — Batman and Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman — moreso than a Trinity, i dont care what they say. It's just that the "and Robin" has been under assault for decades as creators have recontextualized Batman as a dark loner and didn't know how to properly do Robin correctly... something that is still being done incorrectly. But there's been enough things that have gotten Robin / Nightwing exactly right that there's now a deep enough well to really build up his mythos.

[marvelprince]

Second arc: Grayson infiltrates the new Court of Owls as a double agent, sent in to recruit waiting sleeper agents and rescue a missing operative - Connor Hawke, the former substitute Green Arrow - who has been operating as a Talon. With Hawke's help, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Orphan track and take down a nest of Talons.

Third arc: Nightwing works with Gaucho and Huntress to find Blockbuster who has escaped to somewhere in South America and is developing a zombie virus that can turn anyone into a hulking monster; expanding on his plot in Seeley's run, and we find that Raptor is working with Blockbuster but actually is a double agent working with Batman Inc, though he also makes a point to get access to Grayson's spending account and robs it completely, dispersing the funds to charities immediately. Nightwing claims that was his fake account, a decoy, that was money specifically set aside for that move.

Fourth arc: Nightwing, Robin, Red Hood go to Santa Prisca to find Dr. Hurt, whose location is being protected by Bane; they are off-the-books on this one, operating against Batman's wishes, but Nightwing is determined to rescue the Santa Priscan orphaned teenager being courted as Dr. Hurt's own dark "robin." Things go poorly for Nightwing/Robin/Red Hood but they get an unexpected assist by Azrael/Jean-Paul Valley and escape with their lives, thwarting Dr. Hurt and defeating Bane, leaving behind a new operative, the Bat of Santa Prisca.

I mean there's no excuse for it anymore, Dick Grayson as Nightwing has the potential to be an extremely popular character, given all of his exposure through Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go, Young Justice, Titans, the other animated movies, the Arkham games...

Honestly DC has always been a Big Four — Batman and Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman — moreso than a Trinity, i dont care what they say. It's just that the "and Robin" has been under assault for decades as creators have recontextualized Batman as a dark loner and didn't know how to properly do Robin correctly... something that is still being done incorrectly. But there's been enough things that have gotten Robin / Nightwing exactly right that there's now a deep enough well to really build up his mythos.

I so down for this! Love the status quo for Dick