#dick!batman

[cat-has-arrived]

and if i said the most compelling bat-dynamic is dick as batman, steph as batgirl, and damian as robin. what then

[blade-that-was-broken]

Today I thought about if Dick had to be Batman and he was alone. Like Battle for the Cowl whatever, and people are dressing up as Batman (cough Jason) and being all dumb and murdery and he has to take up this mantle

And then everyone is gone.

Damian’s not there/doesn’t exist/wasn’t sent by his mother in the first place, Tim’s gone, Jason’s fricking crazy, maybe Steph doesn’t do batgirl and stays spoiler so she’s not involved with him. Maybe even Alfred isn’t there (be it retirement, death, whatever)

People don’t like Dick becoming Batman. Some think it’s weird, like he’s wearing his father’s skin (as if Dick doesn’t already feel that way), some think it’s disrespectful, maybe some of his friends are mad and consider him a hypocrite cause he said he didn’t want to be Batman. I think his closest friends would have to be unaware/away cause I don’t think realistically they’d be awful about it. So he’s just kind of alone.

He does his best, does a lot of investigative work and maybe even ends up leaning towards how Bruce was in the early days - less of the vengeance thing but more of the “Batman is a shadow/urban legend” type thing (although I’d find it funny and fitting that he’d show himself to children and therefore kids think it’a a secret only for them, cause they can see Batman and adults don’t really).

But Dick is losing himself in this. Not exactly into the anger but some self loathing and loneliness. He doesn’t know what to do and he doesn’t know how to move on from this. He’s scared to try and change the Batman mantle to fit himself more which just makes him end up hiding more and more.

And then Bruce comes back.

And he finds his eldest son as Batman, a mantle he didn’t want him to take up (not because he’s a bitch but because he knows Dick doesn’t want it and Bruce thinks Nightwing is better anyways) and all alone and he’s just all… what even the heck happened here

[siddyyy-wing]

Dickbats

[gingerpolyglot]

When Dick was little and just starting out as Robin, Batman's cape felt like the safest place in the world.

Robin could disappear into the dark folds and know that B would protect him from anything.

He used to think the cape was magic.

Now, Dick grimaces and chafes under Batman's cowl. Nightwing's suit was designed for freedom of movement as much as protection; the Batsuit is far more restrictive, and he's still adjusting to the difference.

Dick pulls the cape tighter around himself and desperately tries to summon that feeling of safety he remembers from childhood.

It doesn't work.

[nightwingmyboi]

Dick Put Jason in Arkham!

Yeah! That sounds horrible with zero context. And I’ve been seeing an influx of posts recently acting like Dick is a terrible person because he did this...but I just wanted to clarify what happened in canon, because honestly he wasn’t being cruel or horrible. 

First thing to keep in mind is the characterization of the Jason that Dick was dealing with. He didn’t throw Rebirth anti-hero Jason Todd into Arkham...he was dealing with a Jason that had beaten Tim nearly to death twice, one who had nearly killed Bruce on several different occasions. 

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2 Jason attempts to kill Tim, and believes he has with no remorse. It is only luck that allows Tim to survive. 

In fact, Jason had nearly killed Tim very recently before Dick put Jason into Arkham. After Bruce’s death, Jason was written as really unstable. He wasn’t depicted as an anti-hero, he was pretty much a villain. He even describes himself as such: 

Batman and Robin (2009) #23 Jason talks to Bruce about transferring to another prison facility. 

“I am simply homicidal. Will I kill again? Sure. Am I a bad person? Oh yeah.” I would not say that this the characterization for Jason I prefer (not at all), but a psychotic, unhinged Jason Todd was the one that Dick was dealing with at the time all this went down. 

And, in the arc where Jason was arrested, he was running around Gotham on a murder spree, ruining Dick’s own efforts against crime and inciting other criminals to more drastic action...aka causing huge problems when Dick was already incredibly harried juggling all of Bruce’s responsibilities from the cowl to the company to his kid. Jason ends up kidnapping Dick and Damian and trying to unmask them, attracting the attention of a criminal that nearly succeeded in killing Jason. Red Hood is only saved through Dick and Damian’s intervention, and it’s at the cost of Damian getting shot in the back and being paralyzed from the waist down. And yeah, Dick’s upset about it! Why wouldn’t he be! But even so, Dick still (even after having to deal with all of that) tries to help Jason: 

Batman and Robin (2009) #6

Jason refuses to take Dick’s help, and so Gordon takes him in. The long and short of it is that Jason didn’t give Dick any other options. He was a danger to himself and others, he was going to kill more people, he refused to stop what he was doing and get help, so there was nothing Dick could do. 

You’ll also notice in those panels where Jason talks about wanting to leave Arkham, that his reasoning for wanting out is not because he’s being horribly mistreated, but because of his pride. In his mind, he’s not like all the other crazy criminals in Arkham. And his worst complaint? Is boredom. He’s tired of all the psych evaluations.  

And this might confuse people...aren’t we talking about Arkham here? That place is pretty crazy...well, here’s a few other interesting tidbits: The old Arkham, the literal building, had been blown up by Black Mask around the time that Bruce died. It was rebuilt, and went in a very different direction than the old asylum, with more of a focus on helping patients than just locking them up. Dick also spent several comics dismantling the corrupt leadership and practices of the asylum. And he’d go out of his way to check on and investigate the asylum’s activities, even with how busy he was with his other responsibilities. 

Arkham Reborn #3 Dick confronts the director of Arkham upon investigating and discovering the facility is not being run properly. He combs through the mainframe, building plan, and employees of Arkham, uncovering a hidden plot and helping to put a stop to it. 

Batman (1940) #695 Dick goes out of his way to investigate New Arkham on site multiple times in order to ensure that everything is above board. 

Batman (1940) #697 Dick figures out that the head of Arkham is corrupt, stops Dr. Arkham, and puts new leadership into place. 

Dick went through a long, arduous process trying to help better the facility, and Arkham still isn’t perfect, but I’d say Dick really did the best he could to improve things so that Arkham would actual help the patients within its walls. Dick spent a lot of time troubleshooting and shaping and reshaping Arkham in an attempt to fix things. He’s only one guy, but he did as much as humanly possible. So it makes a lot of sense to me that when Jason had become unhinged and couldn’t be allowed to walk free, Dick put him in the safest place he could, a place that he himself had had a huge hand in supervising and revamping. 

Because that was Dick’s main goal. Keeping everyone safe, including Jason. As a result of Jason’s murder spree, he couldn’t be allowed on the streets...but Jason also had made enemies with his tactics, and wouldn’t be safe in a conventional prison either. 

Batman and Robin (2009) #23

And guess what? Dick’s right. When Jason finally does succeed in being transferred to another prison, he is constantly fending off attacks. 

And is in danger. He’s also very much a danger to others, seeing as how he kills 97 of the inmates while he’s there. 

Yeah, Jason killed 97 people. That is incredibly extreme. And the reason Jason killed so many was not out of a sense of justice...it was to provide himself with the opportunity to escape. Not really anti-hero behavior. Once again, not my preferred characterization of Jason Todd, but that’s how he was being written here. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that Dick didn’t lock Jason up a couple doors down from the Joker or anything like that--Joker wasn’t in Arkham at the time Red Hood was put there. He was giving Dick the run around, disguising himself as Oberon Sexton: 

Batman and Robin (2009) #12

So yeah...I’ve kind of had enough of Dick being made into a bad guy for his choices here. Jason really put Dick in an impossible position with the choices he was making, and I didn’t see Dick having a lot of other options here. Dick really tried his hardest to do the right thing for everyone. 

It’s also super difficult to see all of these posts and fics where people act like Dick condemned Jason to being tortured in Arkham when a) that is not even remotely what happened, and b) Dick’s actually been through that in canon himself: 

Batman #678

Batman #681

He actually was put in Arkham, drugged up, and nearly underwent a lobotomy. In fact, this experience might have been part of why Dick went to such lengths and was so determined to fix Arkham up. 

Fandom flipping the script so drastically and inventing this scenario where Dick subjects Jason to something he actually went through in canon, acting like Dick wouldn’t understand what that’s like, and having all the other characters lecture and punish him for that made-up scenario...when he is in actuality a victim himself rather than a perpetrator...it’s kind of messed up. It’d be like if I randomly pretended Jason buried Tim alive or something and had everybody tell him off. That’d make no sense, and it wouldn’t be fair to Jason. Just like it’s not fair to do that to Dick. 

So yeah, in conclusion Dick is not a horrible person! He was really doing his best to do the right thing. And Jason wasn’t just some poor, hapless victim here. I tend to ignore this characterization for Jason, but it’s also very necessary context for how characters were treating him during this time period and that should be acknowledged. People shouldn’t twist things around to try to make characters look bad. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[nightwingmyboi]

Dick Grayson Comic Recs

I’ve been getting an increase in requests for comic recs, so I finally caved and decided to list a bunch of comics and series I recommend about Dick Grayson and put it all in one convenient place. I also wrote out a little description/review, to try to give people an idea if the comic sounded appealing and they wanted to check it out. Some of these are just single comics, others are some series to check out, pretty much in chronological order. 

Robin: 

Robin (1993) Annual #4: One of my preferred Robin origin stories. Fairly solid characterization, and a more reasonable timeline for events than other tellings. Provides an inside look at Dick’s thoughts during this time. 

Batman: Dark Victory #9-13: All of Dark Victory is excellent, these are the issues that Dick appears in. It could be considered another Robin origin story, though it is not solely focused on Dick. Everyone is characterized very well, especially Dick. The plot is very engaging, involving Two Face and a crime family, along with tracking down Zucco. As the name implies, it is a bit grimmer than your usual retelling. 

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet: Dick has been training to be Robin, and he thinks he’s finally ready, but he has to pass Batman’s final test--to keep away from him for a whole night. Of course, the test goes off track, and Dick soon finds himself the target of a ruthless mob boss, his deadly gang of thugs, and the GCPD. Batman chases after Robin, trying to save him before it is too late. 

Robin: Year One: This is a four issue run that gives you a snapshot of the time where Robin is just introduced in the crime fighting scene. It features villains like the Mad Hatter and Two Face. The art style is really fun and dynamic, and we get to see Bruce and Dick start to figure each other out. Lots of Alfred as well! 

Scarecrow: Year One: Another fun look at Dick and Bruce’s relationship, a little further along the road. Dick is very small and cute, and has also basically become Bruce’s therapist lmao! Not a great Scarecrow origin story though.

Legends of the DC Universe #6: The first time Superman and Robin meet. An absolutely delightful team up, I still have cavities from reading it because it is just so sweet. This one is so good, read it. 

Teen Titans: Year One: A short little origin story for the fab five (ie Wonder Girl, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin). A cute introduction to the original titans. 

The New Teen Titans (1980) and (1984): Forming the Teen Titans was a really important part of Dick’s development as a superhero, and some of his best stuff is when he is in a team setting. This run has the team you’d be more familiar with if you watched the animated Teen Titans show: it has Raven, Starfire, etc. Dick decides that he is going to leave Robin behind in issue #39. 

Nightwing: 

The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract: This is the infamous run where Terra betrays the Titans. Dick dons the name Nightwing for the first time in this run (discowing style), and goes off with Joey Wilson to save the rest of the Titans from Slade and Brother Blood. 

Batman #416: Dick meets Jason for the first time, and eventually the two bond over beating up some baddies. 

The New Titans (1988) #55: You can read this series too for some Titans action, but even if you don’t you should skip over and read issue #55. It shows how Dick reacted to Jason’s death, and how Bruce and Dick had a huge falling out. It’s heartbreaking to read honestly. 

Nightwing (1996): If you want to read Nightwing, it’d be best to look at his solo run also. It starts with him moving to Bludhaven, and continues from there. If you’re looking for Batfam cameos, I specifically remember issues #6 and #25 for its really cute brotherly Tim and Dick moments. Issues #13 - #15 have Dick and Batman working together. #105 and #106 have Jason (as Robin) working with Dick. There are a lot of solid Barbara moments throughout with her as Oracle. #138 is when he meets Damian for the first time. There’s a lot here, so I would just pick and choose the arcs that interest you, and go from there. 

Action Comics #771: Another comic where Nightwing and Superman team up. Sue me, I love their dynamic! 

Gotham Knights #17: Dick finally gets adopted in this one. 

Batman (1940) #615: This one is smack dab in the middle of the Hush arc, an arc that focuses on Batman’s relationship with Catwoman and a mysterious new villain named Hush. I like this arc of comics (they recently made it into a movie!) so if you want to read the whole thing it starts at #608. This is just one that features Nightwing a lot. I include it because I really enjoy the dynamic Dick and Bruce have. It’s good stuff. 

Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day #1-3: It’s fun to see Tim and Dick’s generations interact and deal with growing up as superheroes, and there is a lot of drama. Pretty important crap goes down in these comics: several people die, including Donna, and as a result Dick disbands the Titans. If you want to read Outsiders, you should really read this one first. 

Outsiders Vol 3 (2003): Dick is mourning Donna’s death and self-destructing, so Roy forms a team called the Outsiders--a team that is meant to be just business rather than a family. Dick is more stern and his temper is shorter than usual, but I think it is all pretty in character for him, especially since he is grieving. Highlights include Roy and Dick’s lovely relationship.

Teen Titans (2003) #6: Ok, I almost didn’t put this one on here because it is very self-indulgent, but I couldn’t resist. This series has the Teen Titans starting back up again without Nightwing, but in this issue he makes a little cameo. If you’ve seen those panels around where Nightwing lectures the Justice League? This is where it happens. He’s just really cool here. 

Batman: 

Batman #687-688: This follows the Batfam’s initial reaction to Bruce’s death, and how Dick begins to approach being Batman himself. It is technically an epilogue to Battle for the Cowl, but that doesn’t have to be read for these comics to be understood. 

Batman and Robin (2009): This is the series where we see Dick and Damian transform into people forced together who can barely tolerate one another, to some of the closest partners in the Batfam. They develop their relationship very nicely, and we get to see how Dick approaches a lot of the emotional and physical challenges that come with being Batman. Some of the arcs are good, some of them very much miss for me. 

Batman: Black Mirror: This is a collection of Detective Comics #871-881. I’d say these are  my favorite Dick!Batman stories ever. All the cases are very good (really chilling), and the characterizations are top notch stuff. Lots of Gordon, Barbara, and some Tim also. I won’t spoil who it is, but the big villain they have for this book is one of the best I’ve seen for Dick, an almost perfect foil in my opinion.

Batman: Gates of Gotham: A good story, it’s interesting to see how Dick interacts with his siblings as Batman. I think this may be one of the first times Cass and Damian meet, though I’m not positive about that. 

Just as a heads up, I’ve left out some significant events and this isn’t an exhaustive list on everything there is to know about the character. These are just some comics I enjoy. I hope they help you get a start on who Dick Grayson is, and how he figures into the Batfam and the larger superhero community.

[daddywarbats]

Princess Serenity/Mar'i fusion leaves a little to be desired.  meh

Princess Serenity/Dick!Batman fusion - insert Moonlight Knight joke here.

I WILL CALL THE CREEPY MASTER FUSION "PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT" or something stupid like that.

Obviously, the Mari/Dick!Bats fusion is actually just Mar'i and Xu'ffasch's son, if he ever convinced Dick to let him be Batman.  SEARCH YOUR HEARTS.  YOU KNOW DICK'S GRANDSON WOULD BE LIKE THAT IF HE WERE BATMAN. NO CAPES!

[battleonyourterms-blog]

((Oh Damian... you little sweetheart...))