It's the Dynamic Duo! Batman and Robin!... and Red Robin and Red Hood and Nightwing and Batwoman and Batgirl and Orphan and Spoiler and Bluebird and Lark and Gotham Girl and Talon and Batwing and Huntress and Azreal and Flamebird and Batcow?
Since when could just anybody do what we trained to do? It makes it all dumb instead of special. Like it doesn't matter anymore.
-Dick Grayson (Batman Inc.)
Shoehorning in a character that's been MIA from the Bat-Books for some time now into arguably the biggest role in DC? Ugh.
Dick I can understand not putting him there again. Tim, eh, his "Batman" never seems to go over very well, Damian is too young (and small), and I doubt Duke is interested. Jason, oddly enough, was a Batman on another Earth, even a member of the Justice League, without being all grimdark. But right now, and for the forseeable future, it doesn't seem to be in his deck either.
Frankly, I'd rather Nightwing, Wally Flash, Donna Troy (no codename needed), Tempest, Omen, and some of the OG Titans pick up the mantle of the League as their own aliases.
Half of the Fab Five sucking so hard is probably why DC would never allow for Dick and his generation to step forward. But there are other characters that could join them rather than just making the League Abnett's Titans run.
It's the Dynamic Duo! Batman and Robin!... and Red Robin and Red Hood and Nightwing and Batwoman and Batgirl and Orphan and Spoiler and Bluebird and Lark and Gotham Girl and Talon and Batwing and Huntress and Azreal and Flamebird and Batcow?
Since when could just anybody do what we trained to do? It makes it all dumb instead of special. Like it doesn't matter anymore.
-Dick Grayson (Batman Inc.)
Screw mantles. Dick's gen needs to ditch that mentality. Otherwise everyhing they do will be looked at as a stepping stone or an in between.
I really don't know how you separate it from them at at this point. Everything they do is already looked at being less than the gen above them in every single way. It has been like that for decades. They will always be compared to their mentors and will always lose out to them. They will never be treated as equals.
Dick as Batman again for a bit would at least mean DC probably will put some talent on his book, and maybe it could springboard into something else when he goes back to Nightwing. The New 52 complete botched the transition back to Nightwing and maybe they could have a shot at doing it right. Won't happen as DC and the writers all seem to not want to redo what Morrison did.
Talent like Tynion? The current Bat office can't recruit for **** even for Batman, and like you said Batman Reborn, as good as it was, did jack crap to spring board him into anything after. They don't want to springboard the character to begin with. And not only do they probably not want to redo what Morrison did, as Batman reborn wasn't that long ago, it would be very hard to even come close to what Morrison did. First because Morrison is Morrison, and second cause the introduction of Damian complimented the idea so well. So unless they are getting Morrison to come back to really make Dick and Damian the new Batman and Robin for the next decade, im good with Dick not being Batman again for a summer. Cause i don't think it would lead to anything for him after, and right now i think he would be better served trying to develop him more independently and with more distance from Batman. Though of course they aren't doing that either, and he'll likely just continue to be buried further and further under lazy old creators with last minute poorly thought out ideas.
Last edited by Godlike13; 10-08-2019 at 09:40 PM.
They'll never be treated as equals no, but neither is anyone else.
The Titans generation doesn't have to be viewed as equals to the Trinity and League (in-universe they should be perhaps, but we all know fandom and editorial will never actually treat them that way), they just have to find their own unique niche. If all Nightwing does is protect a grimy, dank city and fight gangs, mob bosses, and psychos, then he's never going to be seen as much beyond a second tier Batman. But if Dick is doing something completely different, where his narrative isn't in direct comparison to Bruce's, then he can be viewed as the king of his particular niche. People won't really consider him Bruce's equal, but by serving a different role Dick can become as much an equal as anyone can. No one truly considers Ray Palmer to be Bruce's equal, but Ray at least gets to be the best at what he does. That's all Dick, Roy, Donna, Wally, etc, need.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
Let's be real. DC has no plans for Dick and his gen. He doesn't even technically have a gen, since he is part of gen 2 with Superman, Batman, etc. He will be old when they age up everyone. I want to be hopeful but let's be realistic. For the past year, we got Ric and the Titans butchered. It will also last for another 6 months or more. If we can't get the message then DC would continue fooling us the fans. Even if they bring back Nightwing, I won't buy the issue. The only time I will come back is if we get another Black Mirror. Then I will buy the tpb. But I won't support this garbage DC calls comics.
Here’s the thing: Nightwing is the same age as Batwing. He’s not going anywhere. I know this talk about Jon becoming Superman (And Teen Lantern becoming Green Lantern?) Seems to make it sound like all current adults are going to the retirement home, but that’s not going to happen.
It's the Dynamic Duo! Batman and Robin!... and Red Robin and Red Hood and Nightwing and Batwoman and Batgirl and Orphan and Spoiler and Bluebird and Lark and Gotham Girl and Talon and Batwing and Huntress and Azreal and Flamebird and Batcow?
Since when could just anybody do what we trained to do? It makes it all dumb instead of special. Like it doesn't matter anymore.
-Dick Grayson (Batman Inc.)
Golden Age Detective Comics #38
The 80s Secret Origin
Dark Victory
Robin Year One
Nightwing Year One
The Judas Contract
All-Star Batman and Robin
New 52 Nightwing #0
New 52 Secret Origins #1
New 52 Secret Origins #8
Schumacher's Batman Forever
BTAS Robin Reckoning
Titans episode... something
Have I missed any Dick Grayson origin? Now that I list it there's a lot.
Does he have a different one in silver or bronze age?
Which one doesn't have Batjerk?
Batman Year Three
I also think The Gauntlet is more of an origin than Robin: Year One
It's the Dynamic Duo! Batman and Robin!... and Red Robin and Red Hood and Nightwing and Batwoman and Batgirl and Orphan and Spoiler and Bluebird and Lark and Gotham Girl and Talon and Batwing and Huntress and Azreal and Flamebird and Batcow?
Since when could just anybody do what we trained to do? It makes it all dumb instead of special. Like it doesn't matter anymore.
-Dick Grayson (Batman Inc.)
The Batman - "A Matter of Family."
I think there was also an issue of the Young Justice tie-in comic that outright showed Dick's origin (and that The Flying Graysons were a whole troupe of Graysons instead of just Dick and his parents) but I forget which issue it was.
Am I mis-remembering the finale for season one of the Teen Titans cartoon showing someone falling from a trapeze while going through Dick's memories? I know there was a scene of Dick taking the oath in the Batcave.
Oh yeah
The Batman is the one where Bruce is really young, and actually drawn really young, right? What's the one where it's 3D and he partners with Katana?
I never watched Teen Titans cartoon so can't confirm
So Batjerk. I only know ASBAR and Nightwing Year One.
I don't think I can count BTAS since I'm not clear if he decided to hire the criminal from the beginning or because Dick punched him. Wait... he knocked up Babs later, so even though it wasn't tied to his origin, I'm gonna count it.
I'm gonna count Robin Year One because even if Dick did ignore his order and caused a man's death, Bruce also fired him without any explanation that he did it because he doesn't want him to experience that kinda thing again, leaving Dick to feel guilty about everything, the man's death and disappointing Bruce/Batman.
Next question, how old was he in every origin?
Oh. Yeah, I know I'm gonna watch it someday because it's iconic, but I also have been avoiding it because that series art was in the middle of that awkward Amerimanga style period where American studios wanted to do anime or anime-inspired, animation but they don't really know how to do it properly, so the result is still kinda cringe. It's not as bad as Totally Spies where they just randomly put extreme anime expression in every scene, but it's not yet as good as Avatar.
Age roll call. The one that I remember.
Trapeze Training - 5
Golden Age origin - 8
Post Crisis origin? - 10?
Birthday Batplane - 10
ASBAR - 12
Silver Age - 12-13? There's a school dance
Late silver age - 14-15?
New 52 Zero Year - 15
New 52 Robin - 16
Bronze beginning - 16-17?
BTAS Sub Zero - high school graduate
Hudson period - 18
Batman Forever - college student
NTT - college dropout
New 52 Nightwing - 21
Rebirth Nightwing - mid-20s
Add more.
Last edited by Restingvoice; 10-10-2019 at 02:35 AM.