Dick Grayson: Robin, Nightwing, Agent of Spyral - Appreciation

[Badou]

Actually, they say the cast involved is from "ground level to higher," and that "Dick Grayson is involved." They say nothing at all, at least in the panel, as to who is at what level and what they are doing.

I don't think we have any evidence at all that Earth 2 Dick Grayson was ever involved with Bruce. There is no evidence that he wasn't, either, of course. In terms of age, I don't know. The Earth 2 characters we have seen, unlike their counterparts in the previous continuity, seem to skew somewhat younger rather than older. Of course, in the case of Jimmy Olsen that was because he was in suspended animation.

On the CBR article on it they said:

"We're in a situation where we're continuing what's going on in 'Earth 2' and there are some catastrophic events on the way and we're bridging into the future. On the ground level, we have characters like Dick Grayson who are surviving on the ground, then you bump up a bit and you have the World Army -- then, to the top level. Having all of this play out at the same time is really interesting; figuring out who deals with what and what's happening to the world"

So I take it Dick is going to be the focus of the ground level stuff. Maybe show how the invasion impacts normal people in the cities. Though I think this will probably be an older Dick Grayson that retired. Since Earth-2 Bruce had been operating as Batman for at least 20 years before he died. He was in his 40s probably as he had a 16 year old daughter with Catwoman before dying. So there is plenty of time there to have had Dick as Robin then retire. Though in the old Earth-2 Dick retired and then as an adult went back to being a hero, but took up the Robin identity again. I wonder if they will have him be Robin again or something else. Kind of a shame Batman is taken as an adult Robin always feels a little strange. Then again maybe he will be young and be Thomas Wayne's Robin or something. They can go in a lot of directions.

[Dzetoun]

On the CBR article on it they said:

"We're in a situation where we're continuing what's going on in 'Earth 2' and there are some catastrophic events on the way and we're bridging into the future. On the ground level, we have characters like Dick Grayson who are surviving on the ground, then you bump up a bit and you have the World Army -- then, to the top level. Having all of this play out at the same time is really interesting; figuring out who deals with what and what's happening to the world"

So I take it Dick is going to be the focus of the ground level stuff. Maybe show how the invasion impacts normal people in the cities. Though I think this will probably be an older Dick Grayson that retired. Since Earth-2 Bruce had been operating as Batman for at least 20 years before he died. He was in his 40s probably as he had a 16 year old daughter with Catwoman before dying. So there is plenty of time there to have had Dick as Robin then retire. Though in the old Earth-2 Dick retired and then as an adult went back to being a hero, but took up the Robin identity again. I wonder if they will have him be Robin again or something else. Kind of a shame Batman is taken as an adult Robin always feels a little strange. Then again maybe he will be young and be Thomas Wayne's Robin or something. They can go in a lot of directions.

Good catch, hadn't seen that one. You are right that sounds certainly like the Earth 2 Grayson.

The Earth 2 characters seem to skew either younger or older depending on plot needs, so as you say there are any number of things they can do. They could, if they wanted to go the older route, use the Batman Beyond veteran Grayson version, which seems to be popular with some fans. I suppose a lot depends on whether they want to make use of the Earth 2 Grayson in the future. It would probably be easier to work a younger Grayson (say the age of Prime Earth Grayson or younger) into future stories, whereas an older version seems more likely to get killed off to sell the weekly's plotline. Of course, the Crisis event next year may end up simply erasing Worlds End and resetting Earth 2 regardless.

If Earth 2 Grayson was ever Robin, one would assume it would be shown in World's Finest when that delves into the past. That would be a way to fill in the backstory of an older Earth 2 Grayson.

[byrd156]

Kind of a shame Batman is taken as an adult Robin always feels a little strange. Then again maybe he will be young and be Thomas Wayne's Robin or something. They can go in a lot of directions.

I always liked the Earth 2 Robin that he was an adult, also his ridiculous costume was always awesome to look at.

250px-Robin_Earth_2.jpg

[dropkickjake]

When does World's End start? (also, why are so many things ending in the DCU these day? geez.)

My guess is that this Dick Grayson never met Bruce. I'm really curious to see who he is, whether he's younger or older. I wonder if he's had heroing experience.

[byrd156]

When does World's End start? (also, why are so many things ending in the DCU these day? geez.)

My guess is that this Dick Grayson never met Bruce. I'm really curious to see who he is, whether he's younger or older. I wonder if he's had heroing experience.

Yeah I don't think Earth-2 Dick ever met Bruce and that Helena created the Robin Identity. So they can probably go where ever they want with him.

[Dzetoun]

When does World's End start? (also, why are so many things ending in the DCU these day? geez.)

My guess is that this Dick Grayson never met Bruce. I'm really curious to see who he is, whether he's younger or older. I wonder if he's had heroing experience.

It starts in October. I am interested in seeing what they do with Earth 2 Grayson as well. They could go either younger or older or the same age. Given what they did with Jimmy Olsen, it's possible they may put other kinds of twists on the character. My guess, and of course I'm speculating wildly based on nothing at all, is that if they plan to continue doing things with the character after World's End he will be younger or at most the same age as Prime Earth Grayson. I would guess, along with you, that he has never met Bruce and that he becomes involved with the Earth 2 and Prime Earth heroes as the weekly progresses. If, on the other hand, he appears as older and having experience with the Earth 2 heroes, my expectation would be that he gets killed off to sell the story.

All of which is probably wildly wrong. My story speculations almost always are. Anyway, the solicits for the first four issues are in this article:

http://www.newsarama.com/21566-dc-co...citations.html

[Dzetoun]

Synder's new Batman arc is going to be set post Eternal, so that is going to be post 2015 April from the other Batman books if they are all doing to stop then. I wonder if Dick's "death" and identity being made public will be addressed by then in any other title. We haven't heard anyone aside from the Grayson team even mention it, which is a little worrying.

Anyway, apparently the next DC Batman Animated movie is going to be based on Synder's Court of Owls story, but it is called Batman verses Robin which is a little odd. I guess this is supposed of follow the New 52 animated continuity so this is after the Son of Batman movie. Wonder how much this is even going to be related to the comic story.

http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/07/26...ce-league-sto/

In terms of the animated movies, Newsarama announced this today:

Update July 26, 2014: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced the titles of the next two DC Animated films to follow 2015's Justice League: Throne of Atlantis.

Batman Vs. Robin will feature the first animated appearance of the Court of Owls, but it apparently won't be based directly on that Scott Snyder Batman storyline. And Justice League: Gods and Monsters will be written by and based on an original story by DC animation legend Bruce Tim.

As far as the stuff with Grayson, I expect that King and Seeley are, unfortunately, pretty much on their own with that one. It seems like the creative teams at the Batman Office were kept standing by while delays mounted and the higher ups dithered about the exact trajectory of Dick Grayson's new direction. By the time the relevant decisions were finalized, they had to shoehorn the new direction in around already planned and scripted, and in some cases already penciled, stories. I would guess it would be at least October before many of the books could bring their scripts around to the Grayson issues, and by then it would take such an effort that, unless editorial simply mandates it, they likely will not want to do it. After all, this is precisely the kind of thing that a writer would not want to waste precious panel space on -- i.e. an event in the larger universe that at most would serve character development without providing any help in moving along his own storylines.

[K. Jones]

Pre-Crisis, or up to and around it, Dick Grayson of Earth-2 was a lawyer in a law firm that Helena Wayne was a junior partner of, right? Not that I think "law & order: gotham" is the most appropriate 'ground level front line' story to tell in the midst of something called "Worlds End".

But Darkseid doesn't just attack Prime Earth-0 with alien invasions ... sometimes he gets in there and does subtle street level terrible crap.

[Dzetoun]

Pre-Crisis, or up to and around it, Dick Grayson of Earth-2 was a lawyer in a law firm that Helena Wayne was a junior partner of, right? Not that I think "law & order: gotham" is the most appropriate 'ground level front line' story to tell in the midst of something called "Worlds End".

But Darkseid doesn't just attack Prime Earth-0 with alien invasions ... sometimes he gets in there and does subtle street level terrible crap.

I believe he was also the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa at one point. A diplomatic career fits better with Worlds End, but it isn't what you'd call street level.

[oasis1313]

I thought the Earth 2 Dick Grayson was dead?

[Dzetoun]

I thought the Earth 2 Dick Grayson was dead?

Where'd you hear that? Didn't even know he was sick.

[JasonTodd428]

Where'd you hear that? Didn't even know he was sick.

I don't remember hearing that but I do remember that there was a rule about having no duplicate characters on Earth 2 minus "Flash" and "Green Lantern". Admittedly I though it was a silly rule to begin with given that there were two duplicates running around on that world anyway and Bats, Supes and WW all existed there as well.

[Dzetoun]

I don't remember hearing that but I do remember that there was a rule about having no duplicate characters on Earth 2 minus "Flash" and "Green Lantern". Admittedly I though it was a silly rule to begin with given that there were two duplicates running around on that world anyway and Bats, Supes and WW all existed there to at one time.

Well, they've already broken that one, though. They not only have Clark running (well, flying) around, they also have Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Solomon Grundy, and the Joker. Granted, the first two are in different forms than their Prime Earth counterparts, Solomon Grundy isn't strictly speaking alive, and the Joker is now dead, but still, the rule seems effectively shattered.

[JasonTodd428]

Well, they've already broken that one, though. They not only have Clark running (well, flying) around, they also have Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Solomon Grundy, and the Joker. Granted, the first two are in different forms than their Prime Earth counterparts, Solomon Grundy isn't strictly speaking alive, and the Joker is now dead, but still, the rule seems effectively shattered.

Pretty much shattered, yes. Then again it was "technically" shattered already because of the existence of a "Flash" and a "Green Lantern" or at least in my own mind it was. On the surface those "character names" are duplicates after a fashion after all.

[Claude]

Pretty much shattered, yes. Then again it was "technically" shattered already because of the existence of a "Flash" and a "Green Lantern" or at least in my own mind it was. On the surface those "character names" are duplicates after a fashion after all.

Except the rule was pretty clear. When Earth 2 started, it was for solely Earth 2 characters. Jay Garrick and Alan Scott would exist there, but Hal Jordan and Barry Allen wouldn't. Kendra would live there, but she wouldn't meet Kata Hol - because he wasn't an Earth 2 character here.

It was a pretty good way of launching the comic as "A Different World" rather than just a parallel of the main one. Clearly, the "rule" was relaxed before the end of Robinson's run.