Dick Grayson: Robin / Nightwing Appreciation 2020

[dietrich]

As much as I loved Seeley, Shawn always felt pretty forgettable. He never really wanted to do Bludhaven, and I think that Shawn is a product of that. "Oh well I have to do this? Um... here is a... *checks notes* ...love interest."

I like Shawn especially after the Nightwing must die arc. She levelled up a lot

[Jackalope89]

I like Shawn especially after the Nightwing must die arc. She levelled up a lot

Shawn wasn't a bad character, to be sure. But in the grand scheme of things, just not that up there.

[Digifiend]

Oh isn't this canon?

If I understand right, vols 5 and 6 of Beyond are set in the Futures End continuity.

[redmax99]

If I understand right, vols 5 and 6 of Beyond are set in the Futures End continuity.

it's set in the rebirth continunity. future ends only meant to bring them in to mainverse they even mention dick getting shot by kgbeast

[Digifiend]

Then that's ANOTHER set of characters listed on the Fandom wiki incorrectly. They have Conner and Bart from Young Justice listed as Prime Earth when both are actually definitely the pre-Flashpoint characters and thus should be listed as New Earth. In Conner's case that means they have two different characters' stuff mixed in together, and it'll be the same for the Beyond characters.

[Frontier]

As much as I loved Seeley, Shawn always felt pretty forgettable. He never really wanted to do Bludhaven, and I think that Shawn is a product of that. "Oh well I have to do this? Um... here is a... *checks notes* ...love interest."

I think he was a little more into her then that, because he seemed happy to be introducing some new romance in Dick's life, but maybe his lack of enthusiasm for Bludhaven effected how he wrote her.

[dropkickjake]

I think he was a little more into her then that, because he seemed happy to be introducing some new romance in Dick's life, but maybe his lack of enthusiasm for Bludhaven effected how he wrote her.

Yeah, in effort to be comical I may have minimized his investment in her, but he certainly had much more enthusiasm for Batman's global strike force of one. I think he lack of enthusiasm for the city permeated every arc set in Bludhaven and influenced her as much as anyone. In any case, there was never a point where she felt like a character that would outlast her creator.

[SiegePerilous02]

Shawn could have easily lived in Gotham and there'd hardly be any difference. Probably the only decent thing to come out of new Bludhaven, along with She Bullock (forgot her name, but her and Harvey on the force together would be gold).

[Blue22]

I liked Shawn. I was actually kinda bummed when her pregnancy turned out to be a false alarm. Out of the MANY women Dick's been paired with, both in and out of canon, she's the only one aside from the usual two that I really have a damn about seeing him with.

[Restingvoice]

Shawn could have easily lived in Gotham and there'd hardly be any difference. Probably the only decent thing to come out of new Bludhaven, along with She Bullock (forgot her name, but her and Harvey on the force together would be gold).

Svoboda. I like her too.

The problem with Shawn was they rush it. She's just introduced and now she's suddenly the love of his life, they do a date montage, and fans of Kori didn't take kindly to Kori being relegated to just a college fling that's not comparable to Shawn, which, objectively, they're right, Kori wasn't just a college fling.

Also, Seeley (and King) is the one who makes Dick says he'll always come back to Babs.

So when Seeley left and she doesn't appear again, then it's back to DickBabs tease, it only serves to reinforce the idea that... yeah... we figured that it's not gonna last that long

[Rac7d*]

Svoboda. I like her too.

The problem with Shawn was they rush it. She's just introduced and now she's suddenly the love of his life, they do a date montage, and fans of Kori didn't take kindly to Kori being relegated to just a college fling that's not comparable to Shawn, which, objectively, they're right, Kori wasn't just a college fling.

Also, Seeley (and King) is the one who makes Dick says he'll always come back to Babs.

So when Seeley left and she doesn't appear again, then it's back to DickBabs tease, it only serves to reinforce the idea that... yeah... we figured that it's not gonna last that long

In the timeline they created she is a college fling from 17-21 then they split and then barely talk anymore
The problem that kori has never dated anyone else after dick of any significance aside from Roy

[Restingvoice]

In the timeline they created she is a college fling from 17-21 then they split and then barely talk anymore

Yeah, and that's the other problem. In a long time characters like these, people's emotional memory of a classic story will be stronger than whatever new facts DC makes because that's what a good story will do to readers. So if the new facts they make are not better than what they have, it will be rejected.

So the thing they shouldn't do when promoting a new love interest is not to downplay the old one.

[Godlike13]

The post New 52 Nightwing books had nothing to do with that.

[L.H.]

Shawn could have easily lived in Gotham and there'd hardly be any difference. Probably the only decent thing to come out of new Bludhaven, along with She Bullock (forgot her name, but her and Harvey on the force together would be gold).

This. I liked Svoboda since her first appearance. Shawn was interesting for a couple of issues, than the rushed romance and the whole pregnancy plot ruined everything. I'm still pissed of for the Dick/Helena relationship, top.
And I agree with Restingvoice: downplaying the old love interests doesn't make the new one appealing

[Badou]

I'm completely indifferent towards Shawn, but I did really dislike the pregnancy scare story as I thought it was dumb. Everyone knew she wouldn't be pregnant and it was so much pointless drama and Dick acting like a headcase. Also hated how Seeley wrapped up the Helena romance in Nightwing after it was built up so slowly in the Grayson series. It was massively disappointing to see how the Grayson series was basically cancelled for Rebirth just as it was about to start its big Spy Wars arc, and I kind of wish Seeley had just left the Helena romance hanging in the Grayson series than to quickly bring it back at the end of his Nightwing run and rush some unsatisfying conclusion for it.

But the main reason Shawn was created was because Dick had no reason to give a **** about Bludhaven when Rebirth started. He had never been there, knew no one there, and was only going there because Rebirth Superman told him to go there randomly since that is where DC wanted the Rebirth Nightwing run set. So because Dick had no connection to Bludhaven Seeley was left trying to figure out a way to have Dick care about it. So he created Shawn as a way to tie Dick to the city and anchor him there, which made the romance feel rushed and Dick talking about how she "might be the one" felt unearned, but Seeley needed her character otherwise Dick acting like Bludhaven is some super important place to him would feel even more out of place than it already does.

As for Dick's future or alt reality kids I really don't care about any of them. They all feel completely forgettable and I have no desire to see them again in a story. Although I think in general most alt/future children comic stories are pretty bad. It is really tough to write a story like that where it works I think.