Dick Grayson: Robin/ Nightwing/ Agent 37 Appreciation 2021

[WonderNight]

So with Roy’s daughter now presently 11-14. That would put him and his friends their. She didn’t come from the future so natural progression is the only answer for her age.


Cool take I can do grossly simplify it too

Nightwing = Living legacy, Universal Constant

Agent 37 = James Bond wannabe

Grayson was fun and freshs but it cut him off from the world of DC. For someone like him who is beloved by the world working is a detriment. It was the only flaw of the series but a big one. DC intelligence world is underdeveloped and limited and can expand within only one book. I feel like if Dick became a secret agent again he would end up working for Waller on then suicide Squad and no thank you on that.

Actually the true breakout out star of the Titans is probably Deathstroke. I recall him having an awful book a couple years back traveling the world and fighting a different Alist superhero every 2issues.

If I don’t preorder a new issue of Nightwing it will not be there the day after release. He is in demand as Nightwing. The only thing slowing him from reaching household status is a decent live action adaptation of him.

Living legacy? Universal constant? Lmao! A bunch of nothing! Just empty words that don't mean anything in practice.

At least james bond isn't in the dcu, but whatever Nightwing will forever be just another bat underling in a ever growing sea of bat underling so I don't even care anymore.

I just hope when DC starts pushing Jace over him and dick becomes the new tim people won't start bitching because this what they asked for.

[WonderNight]

Also I'd put dick in his late 20s like 28. I just don't believe dc would want Batman, flash, green arrow and aquaman all pushing 50.

[Rac7d*]

Also I'd put dick in his late 20s like 28. I just don't believe dc would want Batman, flash, green arrow and aquaman all pushing 50.

Oliver has a 16 year old son he’s definitely in his 40s
Batman had Lazarus dip at some point so I guess his body is still youngish but DC will probably just ignore his age
Babs has gone through high school college grad school and law school. Early thirties sounds right

[Avi]

My problem with the Bats isn't that they appear, it's that they don't go away again. Sure, featuring them for an arc is alright. But if I bought four random Nightwing Issues, I would find Barbara in at least one of them. And not as part of a cameo.

Which means I actually enjoy featuring different members. I don't hate seeing Tim for a chance, even if I think and wish it would have been handled differently. As Godlike13 mentioned, what happened was so terribly predictable. It was basically a "here we go again" moment.

And it does feel disingenuous to me when Taylor and Redondo criticize the use of so many Batman villains for Dick but overexpose Bat support.

The run so far has been lots of gorgeous art, hype, call backs, jokes and fan service. Style but not much substance. It looks good, I feel good when I read it because it's kinda familiar which is comforting but it's not actually doing anything. Dick isn't treated as the A lister that Taylor promised.

I'm a fan of the batfam but I would rather Nightwing focuses on Dick and what makes him a great hero and character.
[...]

This. This perfectly sums up my thoughts so far.

Well let the arc finish first. Do you want superficial Alist status which is achieved by joining the justice league. Ex Cyborg, Jessica Cruz Naomi. Are you looking for Alist status within the fiction or real life? Do you want him to be a household name?

That can’t be achieved in a few issues. A good run is is a few years worth of issues. A list status, true status is built over time. To be honest Nightwing already on the cusp of it.

Ah yes, who hasn't heard of the A-List run that begins with ridiculing the main character?

[...]
Cool take I can do grossly simplify it too

Nightwing = Living legacy, Universal Constant

Agent 37 = James Bond wannabe

Grayson was fun and freshs but it cut him off from the world of DC. For someone like him who is beloved by the world working is a detriment. It was the only flaw of the series but a big one. DC intelligence world is underdeveloped and limited and can expand within only one book. I feel like if Dick became a secret agent again he would end up working for Waller on then suicide Squad and no thank you on that.

[...]

"James Bond" brought in new and old characters. Established a *gasp* supporting cast! I think taken to the next step, it could have easily smoothed out the flaw you mentioned. I'd even go as far as to say it kind of did.

Grayson is the run that had Dick's and Supes' first team-up since the pre-N52 era. Dick appeared in Starfire. Midnighter. Superman/Batman... We even got that Annual in which Dick interacts with Harley, Constantine, and so on. That's more DCU interaction than Dick got before.

There were ways to let Grayson flow into Agent Nightwing, and I think we would have seen them if Grayson had not been cut short.

Also I'd put dick in his late 20s like 28. I just don't believe dc would want Batman, flash, green arrow and aquaman all pushing 50.

I agree with you. Last stated age was 27, so there is that. I think DC sees Dick approaching 30 but he isn't there yet. Imo, Lian's age doesn't determine Dick's. Dick might easily be a bit younger than Roy same as in YJ.

Came across this and I love it (sorry if it's been posted already)

Flying Graysons

Nice!

[WonderNight]

Exactly Grayson gave dick more world building and growth in the last two years than nightwing has in the last two decades! Not that dick shouldn't be nightwing, just that he should have kept what work about Grayson and bring them into nightwing. Thing's like the globetrotting and espionage, the DCU sandbox is full of awesome locations, settings and characters. Let Nightwing go play in them.
All of the other dozens of bats in Gotham got the street level hero on lock.

Also dick as agent 37 had more interactions with DCU characters than nightwing has had in the last decade in his solo's. Nightwing's head is why to far up the bat's butt. Hell they should put batman's logo back on his book! It fits the current run.

Last stated age was 27! Sounds right to me dick needs a level of youthfulness to him but also maturity and experience.

[Godlike13]

Haven't read the issue yet, but this rings true to me in a "general" kind of way. Tim and Dick used to be really close back in the day. And yeah, that was to help sell the idea of this then-new Robin by having Dick approve of the kid, but their bond was absolutely a major relationship for both characters during the Dixon days and remained so long after Tim became a central, beloved member of the Batfam. We've been bitching about DC ignoring most of Dick's relationships and history, well, that includes Tim.

And normally, yeah Dick's seal of approval is used to prop up Tim (among others) but there's not really any point to DC propping up Tim right now. Tim doesn't have a solo, doesn't have a regular team title, if this is an attempt to sell him then where's the product they're selling? Maybe Taylor screwed up the script, I won't know until I read it, but Tim is part of Dick's family and has every right to appear here.

Like I said before, at this point it’s been done so much. That its just the accepted dynamic. Even when they have nothing to sell with Tim, even when it serves no purpose to the task required, it’s just the established characterization of their relationship.

[Drako]

Oh well, here we go again.

Anyway, Dick is in this preview:
https://aiptcomics.com/2021/05/28/dc...-season-two-1/

Ah yes, who hasn't heard of the A-List run that begins with ridiculing the main character?

Aquaman most famous run of recent years started wth jokes about him. It's not that serious in Nightwing tho.

[Godlike13]

I’m always up for some Dick and Deadman.

[Frontier]

Oh well, here we go again.

Anyway, Dick is in this preview:
https://aiptcomics.com/2021/05/28/dc...-season-two-1/.

It's nice to see Dick and Babs getting along.

[Grayson - The Dark Heir]

It's nice to see I'm not the only one feeling like this run has no substance so far lol. I'm trying to be patient, because the pay-off to all this might actually be worth it, but as of now, I just don't know why the Nightwing book is even being published right now. The first issue being slow and not really doing much of anything could easily be excused because it was the transition issue, but after two more issues I'm just a little disappointed. It's sort of the opposite problem of Teen Titans Academy, which is doing too much, too quickly, but that's something I can forgive just because the focus there is on advancement and an actual mystery, over... just the set-up to Dick being really rich and a new villain that has absolutely nothing interesting about them going on. Flatline in the Robin book was leagues more interesting as a character in her debut in Robin #1.

Batman/Superman is definitely the best book for a Dick Grayson fan right now lol.

[Digifiend]

So with Roy’s daughter now presently 11-14. That would put him and his friends their. She didn’t come from the future so natural progression is the only answer for her age.

Roy was just revealed to have spent some time stuck in the golden age, so that ought to have aged him up a bit in a way that doesn't affect Dick. Maybe he dated Cheshire a bit earlier, but still at the same age, because of it, resulting in Lian being born a few years earlier (say, during the 1970s Teen Titans instead of the New Teen Titans)?

I agree with you. Last stated age was 27, so there is that. I think DC sees Dick approaching 30 but he isn't there yet. Imo, Lian's age doesn't determine Dick's. Dick might easily be a bit younger than Roy same as in YJ.

Roy wasn't older then Dick originally, they're usually the same age. But maybe he is older now, due to what we just saw in the Stargirl special?

[Godlike13]

It's nice to see I'm not the only one feeling like this run has no substance so far lol. I'm trying to be patient, because the pay-off to all this might actually be worth it, but as of now, I just don't know why the Nightwing book is even being published right now. The first issue being slow and not really doing much of anything could easily be excused because it was the transition issue, but after two more issues I'm just a little disappointed. It's sort of the opposite problem of Teen Titans Academy, which is doing too much, too quickly, but that's something I can forgive just because the focus there is on advancement and an actual mystery, over... just the set-up to Dick being really rich and a new villain that has absolutely nothing interesting about them going on. Flatline in the Robin book was leagues more interesting as a character in her debut in Robin #1.

Batman/Superman is definitely the best book for a Dick Grayson fan right now lol.

Nightwing is the point of Nightwing. It’s an introductory character piece. A reintroduction into the character and his world. That’s why you see the humbling, as they want him to be relatable, and why were getting this melding pot of things from different eras being reintroduced.

[HsssH]

Batman/Superman is definitely the best book for a Dick Grayson fan right now lol.

Sadly yes. If I look at 2021 so far then that planet fall issue and Batman/Superman have been most enjoyable Dick content for me.

[Rakiduam]

Sadly yes. If I look at 2021 so far then that planet fall issue and Batman/Superman have been most enjoyable Dick content for me.

It was good but for me most enjoyable has been Let Them Live! It was such a fun reading

[Ascended]

Batman/Superman is definitely the best book for a Dick Grayson fan right now lol.

No argument from me, Yang is firing on all cylinders with that title. I thought after he did Smashes the Klan that a regular monthly, main continuity title couldn't possibly match up, and Smash *is* the better read, but B/S is one of the best things DC is doing right now, easily the best book Superman is appearing in currently, and I don't think the Batman-Superman title (any volume) has ever been this good. I never would have thought of Yang as a potential Nightwing writer, but he's handled Dick so well in these pages I'd happily take him on Nightwing someday.

Got caught up with Nightwing finally, after the distributors got last week's DC books to the LCS. And so far I don't fully agree with a lot of the complaints the run has had. Mostly it seems to me that we wingnuts have become hyper sensitive about how Dick is treated by DC, worried that the dark days of his abuse aren't over yet, and any minor infraction is viewed as a sign that DC still doesn't see the value in the character.

And the stuff that's annoyed all of you pisses me off too. But when I sit back and remove my own biases and "haunted by the ghost of Didio" concerns, I don't think the book is actually doing anything "wrong." Pacing isn't any slower than most comics these days, it's just not cluttered with bloated action or Bendis-esque dialogue. The Bats have every right to guest star, they're Dick's family. Dick getting punked a little bit keeps him from being a uber-competent and boring Gary Stu (and would likely be funny if he hadn't been so abused for so long). Even Dick being in Bludhaven doing typical Dixon era things isn't any different from any other hero who recycles the same villains and plot points over and over again. It's not what many of us want, we want something new and amazing that cements Dick as a major player, but it's hard to complain about Blockbuster returning when we happily accept the return of over-used rogues like Scarecrow, Joker, Zod, and Lex Luthor.

Maybe I'm being so forgiving because, thus far, Taylor's run has hewn close to how Dropkick and I structured the early issues of our fanfic work; we too started off with something that felt like classic Nightwing before building into new territory. We too had Bats cameo in the first few issues. We too made use of Blockbuster and Bludhaven. And by issue seven we had built a very different type of Nightwing out of that classic Dixon era status quo. Maybe I'm gonna be wrong but I still think Taylor is building towards a similar kind of shift, spending these early issues to remind us of who Dick is and where he came from (and why we love him) before launching him into something (at least somewhat) different.