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| ====Richard Grayson of Earth-Two==== | ====Richard Grayson of Earth-Two==== | ||
| After the establishment of DC's ] in the early ], it was stated that the ] version of Dick Grayson named Richard Grayson existed on the parallel world of Earth-Two. There, Richard eventually grew up, and by the ] had become a ]. In the mid-] he eventually joined the ]. This version of Dick died during the ] miniseries '']''. | After the establishment of DC's ] in the early ], it was stated that the ] version of Dick Grayson named Richard Grayson existed on the parallel world of Earth-Two. There, Richard eventually grew up, and by the ] had become a ]. In the mid-] he eventually joined the ]. This version of Dick died during the ] miniseries '']''. | ||
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Revision as of 08:34, 30 August 2005
Comics character| Nightwing | |
|---|---|
| File:5516 2 0001.jpgNightwing #1. Art by Scott McDaniel. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | (as Robin) Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), (as Nightwing) Tales of the New Teen Titans #44 (July 1984) |
| Created by | Robin, Bob Kane Bill Finger Nightwing, Marv Wolfman George Perez |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Richard John Grayson |
| Team affiliations | The Outsiders, Teen Titans, Justice League of America, Justice Society of America (Earth-Two only), All-Star Squadron (Earth-Two only) |
| Notable aliases | Robin, (The Boy Wonder) and later, Robin (The Teen Wonder) |
| Abilities | None |
In Detective Comics #38 (1940), Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane introduced the first Robin, Dick Grayson, the character still best known as Robin. The sidekick debuted only a year after Batman and was part of an effort to soften the character of his mentor, originally a dubious, nightstalking vigilante. DC Comics also thought a teenaged superhero would appeal to young readers.
The name "Robin the Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood, as well as the red-breasted American Robin, which continued the "flying animal" motif of Batman.
Dick Grayson was an eight-year-old circus acrobat, the youngest of a family act called The Flying Graysons. In the original comics storyline, a gangster named Boss Zucco had been extorting money from the circus and killed Grayson's parents by sabotaging their trapeze equipment as a warning against defiance. Batman investigated the crime and – as his alter ego millionaire Bruce Wayne – had Dick put under his custody as a legal ward, and rigorously trained the boy in physical, fighting and investigation skills to be his assistant. Together they investigated Zucco and collected the evidence needed to bring him to justice. However, in the 1995 movie Batman Forever, Grayson's parents were murdered by Two-Face/Harvey Dent during a similar sabotage in the annual Gotham Circus.
Robin's origin had a typological connection to Batman's in that both witnessed the crime-related deaths of their parents, creating an urge to battle the criminal underworld. This provided a bond and understanding between the two.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, DC Comics portrayed Batman and Robin as a team, deeming them the Dynamic Duo, and rarely published a Batman story without Robin, although stories entirely devoted to Robin appeared in Star-Spangled Comics from 1947 through 1952.
Actor Burt Ward played Robin in the 1960s Batman television series, which further made Robin an inseparable part of the Batman mythos.
In 1964, The Brave and the Bold #60 introduced the Teen Titans, a junior version of the Justice League of America, an all-star superhero team of which Batman was a part. The Titans were led by Robin and included other teenaged sidekicks, such as Aqualad (sidekick of Aquaman) and Kid Flash (sidekick of The Flash).
In 1969, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams returned Batman to his darker roots. One part of this effort was writing Robin out of the series by sending Dick Grayson to college and into a separate strip in the back of Detective Comics. Robin appeared only sporadically in Batman stories of the 1970s.
In 1980, Grayson once again took up the mantle of Robin as the leader of the Teen Titans, now featured in the monthly series The New Teen Titans, which became one of DC Comics' most beloved series of the era.
Four years later, Grayson took on the identity of Nightwing, a move that symbolized his increasingly strained relationship with Batman and his desire to take more control of his life as a crimefighter. The name Nightwing came from an alias previously used by Superman. The Post-Crisis version of Grayson had him become the first and only Nightwing, with his costume partially inspired by his father, who at one time wore a circus costume that was a variant of colleague Boston Brand's Deadman costume.
In 1996, DC launched a monthly solo series featuring Nightwing, in which he patrols Gotham City's neighboring municipality of Blüdhaven. The series continues, as of 2005.
For several years, Nightwing led various incarnations of the Titans and became the most respected former sidekick in the DC Universe. He was even chosen by Batman to lead the Justice League when it once appeared that the Leaguers had died in battle. In 2003, after a disastrous battle in which teammate Donna Troy died, Nightwing left the Titans and they disbanded.
Arsenal prompted Nightwing to join a new group that would hunt villains, and he reluctantly accepted, forming the Outsiders. After an event in which "insiders" threatened both the Outsiders and the newest incarnation of Teen Titans, Dick deemed that the teams had gotten "too personal" and quit.
He also appeared briefly in the Teen Titans animated series in the episode "How Long is Forever?" as the future identity of Robin (another argument in favor of the theory that the animated Robin is really Grayson).
Richard Grayson of Earth-Two
After the establishment of DC's multiverse in the early 1960s, it was stated that the Golden Age version of Dick Grayson named Richard Grayson existed on the parallel world of Earth-Two. There, Richard eventually grew up, and by the 1960s had become a lawyer. In the mid-1960s he eventually joined the Justice Society of America. This version of Dick died during the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths.
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