Wait okay but #1 UNC(LE)WING is so fucking underrated that shit is ridiculous.
Not only was Dick the guy that helped Roy get Lian back in the first place,
Which led to a frankly unreasonable amount of cat fights with Roy’s ex over Roy and Lian,
And Dick actually being the guy to retrieve Lian against all probable odds (not only the fact that he literally had to move heaven and earth to get her but the “I never thought you’d help me after I lied to you” 😭 😭)
And not only did Dick literally go to Ireland with Roy to help him figure shit out,
But like… look at him.
That man’s an unc. No question. No debate. Uncwing is canon.
Hello! I'm fan of your metas and Dick Grayson posts. I just wanted to ask you that I've seen a lot of fics where Bruce does not want Dick to become a cop in Bludhaven. Is it really canon? And why was he so opposed to Dick becoming a cop?
Thanks! And yeah, Bruce was not a fan of Dick being a cop. Dick does actually try to talk to Bruce about it, but when he initially proposes the idea, Bruce does his best to shoot it down.
Detective Comics #750
This conversation pretty much lays out the reasons Bruce is against the idea...primarily because he’s worried for Dick safety. Those are the first words out of his mouth, “It’s dangerous.” Dick can’t use the skills he usually utilizes as Nightwing without putting his secret identity at risk. That means that Dick is going into deadly, dangerous situations, and he’s handicapped. Bruce doesn’t like that. There’s also the fact that he doesn’t approve of Dick using a gun. As a police officer, Dick would be required to carry one.
But Dick doesn’t wait for Batman’s permission. He goes through with his plan and joins the police academy without telling Bruce. Bruce unhappily puts up with Dick’s job for necessities sake, but as soon as things turn around in the force, he once again pushes Dick to quit.
Nightwing #75
And he assumes that Dick will quit. When Dick continues to do police work, it puts a strain on their relationship.
Nightwing #81
I feel like this is a good example of Bruce’s concern transforming into him being a bit of a domineering control freak, and not taking Dick’s wants into consideration. Dick values his independence, and doesn’t appreciate when Bruce busts in and tries to take control of his life. On the other hand, Dick is taking on way too many responsibilities during this period of time, he does end up getting hurt because of it, and Bruce isn’t wrong to be concerned. These two can make things so hard for each other, sigh.
I know Dick was young when Bruce took him in, but there is something so aching and vulnerable about Dick a) referring to his parents as "The Graysons" and b) listing these very basic things as things he hoped to learn about them. Of course I know from a logical perspective that Dick wouldn't retain much memory of his parents, but in the larger frame of this conversation with Bruce, and how Dick thinks about family in this entire arc, it really drives home that Bruce was the primary parent he had and remembers.
I do think about this a lot still, especially in relation to Babs telling Dick that Bruce is the be-all, end-all for him AND the fact that Dick was the youngest out of all of the kids to be orphaned, and I think the next level codependency and the way that Dick acts towards Bruce and thinks about Bruce pulls into sharper focus. Bruce Is It. You know? He's it.
You know, as sweet as it is that Wally thinks so highly of Dick, it also makes me sad to see the way he talks about him here: “a machine,” “perfection in a mask,” like he’s just the effortlessly and inhumanly perfect standard the rest of them are held up to, not a human being who’s struggling in his own right.
This is a long-running theme in their relationship, too:
Wally: And I’m not like Dick. I can’t juggle half a dozen problems at once and still do everything so perfectly. Sometimes I envy him that talent. (New Teen Titans #28)
Roy and Gar and several other characters have made similar comments over the years - Tim even teasingly refers to Dick as “Mr. Perfect”. And it’s lovely, it’s great that so many characters admire and look up to him. But it also belies the fact that Dick’s “perfection” tends to come at a high cost, and it’s always a struggle for him. He had to drop out of college because (contrary to what Wally assumes here), he couldn’t effortlessly juggle everything and “still do everything so perfectly”. He constantly works himself past both his physical and mental breaking point. And what Wally describes up there about how Roy is “always competing with someone… Ollie, Dick, even himself… and coming up short” is actually strikingly similar to how Dick’s described his relationship to Bruce:
Dick: When I’m with Batman, I’m a mass of insecurities. No matter how much I try, I can never be as good as he is. (New Titans #57)
Wally and Roy and the others might look at Dick and see a “machine”, an unattainable standard of perfection that they’ll never be able to match, but Dick just looks at himself and sees someone who’ll never be as good as Bruce. More than that, he sees himself as a constant failure for not living up to his own impossibly high standards for who he thinks he should be, much like how Wally says Roy is competing against “even himself”.
I’ve pointed out in the past that Dick is obsessed with the idea of “failing” people, to the point that I’d even argue it’s his deepest fear. And it’s something he believes he’s been guilty of many times over, even though the people in his life couldn’t see things more differently. (In one particularly heartbreaking exchange, he tells Babs that “I know I failed you”, and her response is “You never failed me. I don’t know if you’re capable of such a thing.”) Even as an adult, we see him still beating himself up for “failures” from his earliest days as Robin, nearly a decade (or more) earlier:
Dick: I almost failed him. I couldn’t save Meany and I nearly got Batman killed.
Tim: It was a no-win situation, Nightwing. You both came out alive. That’s what’s important.
Dick: I know you’re right. But it doesn’t help. (Robin #0)
Of the Titans, only Donna seems to fully understand how far from perfect Dick really is, and how deeply he struggles to act like he is:
Donna: Dick’s pushing himself. He works with us, on his own, he goes to school, and then he works alongside the Batman. And you know how he feels about the Batman. He wants to be as good… even though he never can be. He’s just not driven the way the Batman is. He hasn’t got that same fanatical obsession. So Dick’s all tense trying to do too many things at once. The best you can do is get him to relax. (New Teen Titans #28)
It’s vitally important to note that this is the same issue where we see Wally talking about how he envies Dick’s ability to “juggle half a dozen problems at once and still do everything so perfectly”. Wally might look at Dick and think he’s just effortlessly staying on top of everything, but we’re very purposely shown that it’s not true. Dick’s trying to “juggle” far more than he’s actually capable of handling (he mentions in the same issue that “I haven’t had more than three hours’ sleep in the last three days”), and we see the constant pressure making him tense and irritable, to the point where Donna has to explain to Kory why he’s acting this way.
This is true throughout Dick’s life, something we’ve consistently seen throughout his history. Dick isn’t “perfection in a mask”, nor is he a “machine” who can effortlessly stay on top of everything. What he is is an overachieving perfectionist who tries to take responsibility for everything and everyone and mercilessly beats himself up about it when he fails in even the slightest way. And it’s kind of sad that as close as they truly are, as many years as they’ve been friends, Wally still doesn’t seem to quite understand how deep that struggle goes.
Hello, I love your blog and I had a question that I felt you and might be able to help shed some light on for me. When Dick's friends died (ex: Wally, Donna, etc) did any one ever comfort him or was it ever shown how he coped with it? Was it ever explored at all or brushed off after an issue? I just want to know because Dick is usually there for his friends when they lose someone but have anyone been there for him when he lost someone? I'm curious...
Sure! I can think of three times in particular where people really stepped up for Dick to help him out when he was grieving.
Donna’s Death
When Donna died (saving him), Dick was devastated. Their relationship is often overlooked in more recent comics, but these two were incredibly close. They were so candid in loving and supporting each other, and there really wasn’t anyone quite like Donna in Dick’s life. Platonic soulmates. So Donna’s death really hit him hard. He disbanded the Titans.
Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day #3
And spent several weeks in mourning. He completely isolated from his friends and family in his apartment in Bludhaven.
Outsiders Secret Files
He was seriously depressed. I’d say Roy was the person that kept Dick going during this time. I mean, you can already see in these panels...Roy reached out over and over to make sure that Dick didn’t suffer through this all alone. And when nothing seemed to get through to him, Roy formed the Outsiders and pushed Dick into joining, to try and draw him out of his own head.
One thing I like about this period of time is that Roy lets Dick grieve. Even when Dick is unpleasant and angry and sad, Roy stays by his side. He lets Dick be less than perfect, which is nice.
And I think it’s very telling that even as Dick tries to push everyone away, the one connection that he allows himself (or can’t help but allow himself) is his bond with Roy. Some of the only times Dick even smiles during this period of time are because of Roy being cheesy and joking around to cheer him up.
Outsiders #1
And Dick seems most like himself in those moments where they are together.
Outsiders #11
But, even when Dick’s joined the group, he isn’t magically better. Throughout his time as an Outsider, you can tell he’s really struggling. He’s harsher, his temper’s shorter, and he generally isn’t fun to be around. Dick is still in so much pain over Donna’s death that he thinks cutting himself off from everyone will protect him from that pain in the future...
...but his “never become close to another human again” plan is clearly unreasonable, and backfires right in his face over and over. Comics (especially recently) rarely allow death to have such an impact, but Dick was really allowed to struggle with Donna’s passing for an extended period of time.
The Return of Donna Troy #2
He really only recovers once Donna returns from the dead.
Jason’s Death
Jason’s death was also something Dick really struggled with. He felt a lot of guilt for allowing Jason to be Robin and not being there to prevent his death.
New Teen Titans (1988) #55
When he went to Batman, so that they could support each other in their grief, Bruce really only added to his distress...punching him and exiling him from the manor. So, Dick’s main source of support was the Titans, particularly Starfire.
Dick felt comfortable enough with Kory that he could open up and talk about how Jason’s death effected him. Starfire in turn did her best to support and reassure him. All his friends really banded together to be there for him best they could.
Dick also went to therapy in the aftermath of Jason’s death. He tried to talk through some of his grief and guilt. While there, he once again cites Kory’s forthrightness with her emotions as helping him come to terms with his own feelings.
New Teen Titans #57
But even with his friends support, Jason’s death is something that really stuck with Dick for a long time...there are several times over the years that he talks about his guilt surrounding the event. Jason remained a common element of many of Dick’s nightmares, even years later when he was solo in Bludhaven. I think because Bruce and Dick never talked about things, it was harder for either of them to move past things. Dick did make peace with Jason’s death over time.
Secret Origins Annual #3
Nightwing Secret Files
Batman #691
Like how he made peace with his parents deaths...Dick moved forward and tried to remember the positives, rather than treat Jason’s death like a burden like Bruce. Though there were certainly relapses, like how he beat the Joker to death for Jason’s sake for example. Grief is complicated.
Bruce’s death
Bruce’s death was of course...a very big deal. I’d say that Alfred was Dick’s main source of support in the aftermath.
Batman #687
Dick had to be strong, for Gotham and his brothers and the League. To prove that he could be Batman. But Alfred was the one who Dick was able to grieve with. In a lot of ways, they really supported each other. And Alfred’s help and advice eased Dick’s transition from Nightwing to Batman.
Batman #687
Batman and Robin #2
I am very much of the belief that Dick would not have been able to handle being Batman without Alfred’s support. They were really thick as thieves during this time. The rest of the family, and even a lot of the wider superhero community, was not giving Dick an easy time lmao. I also think that the work (and Damian) kept Dick very busy, and helped him keep a lot of his grief at bay.
That’s all I got.
I’m sure you can kind of get a sense of this, but the Titans were a huge part of Dick’s support system in a lot of ways? It’s part of why I feel their absence so keenly in recent comics...
Nightwing catching Jason Todd as Robin TWICE from falling off the train with the exact same “I got you.” reassurance
Nightwing #105/#106 (1996)
VS
his “I’ve got you” to Tim Drake as Robin in an eerily similar moment
Nightwing #25 (1996)
Then his dismissive, simple answer earlier in that same comic when asked how often he thinks about Jason. How often is sometimes?
What was he thinking about during that eerily similar moment? Was he thinking about that moment with Jason? Did he just feel a sense of deja vu? Is it just instinct to catch Robin like that, to reassure him like that?
And was he thinking about how he was wrong when he said it to the other Robin?
