Anyone else feel annoyed that Dick is pretty much expected to become Batman?

[PCN24454]

I feel like it him constantly being attached to Batman is limiting to his character. Despite being Nightwing longer than he was Robin by now, he's still expected to succeed Bruce. It's worse when you realize that Batman has at least four other Robins that could fill the role.

[bearman]

But none more qualified.

[Flash Gordon]

Richard Grayson is the heir to Batman. That's what he has been set up to do since day 1.

Honestly there shouldn't be as many Robins as there are, within continuity. There should be Richard and Damien, and maybe another one in between if you want.

[PCN24454]

Richard Grayson is the heir to Batman. That's what he has been set up to do since day 1.

Honestly there shouldn't be as many Robins as there are, within continuity. There should be Richard and Damien, and maybe another one in between if you want.

So basically everyone but your favorites are redundant?

[Flash Gordon]

So basically everyone but your favorites are redundant?

Did I say who my "favorites" were? Richard Grayson IS Robin, he's the OG. The Watson to Batman's Holmes.

Damian is Batman's son and the current Robin. He's narratively compelling and is an easy sell as ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN.

I said you can slip a second in there if you really want to, but I do very much oppose the notion of a "dead Robin". I don't think Batman, as a character, can operate with that on his hands. I also think it's needlessly grimdark.

Richard Grayson is by far my favorite though, sure.

[Robanker]

He's the best qualified despite his protests. I imagine that makes him particularly infuriating for, say, Damien despite their affection for one another. The latter so desperately wants to be the best Robin and become Batman, but Dick was the gold standard for Robin and abandoned it to be his own man and is also clearly the only person who can be Batman. It's that he doesn't want either and Damien does that kind of makes Dick such a strong foil for Damien. Dick has something of a problem fulfilling his potential. He's one of the DCU's best leaders and has done so on most teams, but refuses to graduate to the Justice League (I'm almost certain that would be the best day of Bruce's life) for more than five minutes. He's the clear choice to take over for Bruce, but he doesn't want to. He's the clear choice to mentor Damien and really push him into being a better person, but he seems to be a bit more aloof and wanting to let him find his own way. Let's not get started on his love life.

Part of Dick's story does seem to imply he has some built-in problem with being at the top or committing to anything for too long.

I think the reason Dick is constantly being pushed to the cowl is that he was great at it and the run was cut short, so nobody had time to really miss Bruce and Dick got what he and he alone wanted: to be Nightwing again. DC is determined to keep him out of that identity, but that's not really relevant to this discussion. He's got the skills, but more than anything, he's his own man and for that reason alone, his Batman wouldn't be a cover band. He'd do something all his own while still honoring Bruce's crusade, but more than anything, he'd see it as the opening act to the proper successor. He'd leave as soon as he could and, ironically, leave his own impossible act to follow.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

I said you can slip a second in there if you really want to, but I do very much oppose the notion of a "dead Robin". I don't think Batman, as a character, can operate with that on his hands. I also think it's needlessly grimdark.

Except...he has. In fact, I think Jason Todd served as a stark reminder of the cost of Bruce's war on crime, at least before he was resurrected and even after that. Tim Drake is also just an amazing character so...yeah, those Robins are more than welcome.

[adrikito]

But none more qualified.

I am agree with him.. He is the most qualified for this..

Damian should expect another 12 years to be really ready for this in all senses..

[Blue22]

Honestly, I don't even like how Damian is expected to become Batman. The title of Batman has always been just as much a curse on Bruce as it is a blessing. Not particularly something you'd wanna pass down to your children. At least I wouldn't want to. I've always liked the idea that Bruce has built up this large family specifically because he wanted Gotham to still have competent protectors when it's eventually time for him to hang up the cowl. Protectors who don't have to shoulder the weight of the city alone because they have each other. Having any of the Robins go on to take up his role as Batman should be Bruce's worst nightmare. Even if (in Damian's case) they want to.

Hopefully Gotham will reach a point where Bruce is the only Batman it needs and can still function when he's gone. But, who are we kidding? That's never gonna happen lol

It's always gonna be either Dick or Damian. Even though I don't want that for either of them.

[Shamrock Holmes]

Honestly, I don't even like how Damian is expected to become Batman. The title of Batman has always been just as much a curse on Bruce as it is a blessing. Not particularly something you'd wanna pass down to your children. At least I wouldn't want to. I've always liked the idea that Bruce has built up this large family specifically because he wanted Gotham to still have competent protectors when it's eventually time for him to hang up the cowl. Protectors who don't have to shoulder the weight of the city alone because they have each other.

While I'm not against the idea of someone else becoming Batman, I like this idea too.

[agentofthebat]

I really liked when he was Batman

[MajorHoy]

. . . Despite being Nightwing longer than he was Robin by now, . . .

Depends on how you're counting how long he was "Robin" and how long he's been "Nightwing".

Dick Grayson was introduced as Robin way back in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940). He first became Nightwing in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984), which was forty-four years later. He only became Nightwing thirty-five years ago, and some of those years he had taken over the role of Batman.

Now, if you're talking about in-comic-book-universe-time, has it been clearly defined how many years he spent as Robin and how many years he was Nightwing? Seems that DC is always being very wishy-washy/fuzzy on those things, changing it again from time to time.

[king81992]

I feel like it him constantly being attached to Batman is limiting to his character. Despite being Nightwing longer than he was Robin by now, he's still expected to succeed Bruce. It's worse when you realize that Batman has at least four other Robins that could fill the role.

Most people expect Dick to someday become Batman because he's the only one of Bruce's protege who doesn't royally screw up in future timelines when the mantle is passed down.

Jason has never been depicted as taking up the mantle in the future.

When Tim takes over he goes full dictator and fascism.This happened twice.

Damian is implied to destroy Gotham and sell his soul to the devil for power or something.

Dick was a pretty good Batman the one time he took the mantle.

[Adekis]

I've long felt like the concept of Dick becoming Batman someday was kind of put right to rest by the fact that he, well, stopped being Batman, in 2011. At the time, I was annoyed by this. I wanted Dick to stay Batman forever, I wanted Bruce to stay dead for, I don't know, a comparable amount of time to Hal Jordan. Actually, if I recall correctly, I wanted Bruce to turn out to be the Phantom Stranger after he died. Anyway. Since then I've come more around to the alternative perspective that Dick is just happier not being Batman or pursuing it, and to me, that's a good enough reason for him not to be.

Tim, on the other hand...

[MajorHoy]

. . . Dick was a pretty good Batman the one time he took the mantle.

He's actually served as "Batman" for longer that a day or so more than once before Morrison/"R.I.P.".

In 1994, after Bane broke Bruce's back and after the Bat-mantle was taken back from Jean-Paul Valley, Dick took the Batman role while Bruce finished his recovery.

He's Nightwing. Has been since the eighties. He's already found a new top-tier, and, at best, becoming Batman would be a lateral move for Dick. (Or even a demotion of sorts, because he is *the* Nightwing, and he'd always be 'the *new* Batman' or 'the second Batman' or 'the best of the runner-ups.')

But Dick wasn't the first "Nightwing".

Superman/Kal-El was the original Nightwing, and he was the original inspiration for Dick taking that name/identity.



Also, in 1977 a relative of Superman (a second cousin named Van-Zee) took over the Nightwing identity in the bottle city of Kandor for a feature that ran in the Superman Family series.