Nightwing Returns Again and in Nightwing New Costume

Another Batman family title returns as the former Batman (and Robin), Dick Grayson once again takes up the mantle of Nightwing. Though there is something slightly different… his costume is now black and red instead of black and blue! Here’s what DC had to say: After a tenure as the Batman of Gotham, Dick Grayson resumes his mantle as Nightwing! As Dick embraces his identity, Haley’s Circus, the big top where he once performed with his family, returns to Gotham – bringing with it a history of murder, mystery and superhuman evil. Nightwing must confront friends and enemies from his past as he searches for the source of an even greater evil.

Female Nightwing

Why Nightwing Should Be The Next Batman Film

 

Warning:  spoilers ensue! If you haven’t seen Dark Knight Rises yet you might want to stop reading here… But for those of you who have seen the latest Batman movie, by all means, continue reading on…. Director Chris Nolan and actor Christian Bale have both said in several interviews going all the way back to last year that they will be making Batman films no more; Nolan even going as far as writing a farewell letter to the franchise. But it was made pretty clear by the end of the Dark Knight Rises (to the delight of many fans, I’m sure) that there will most likely be another Batman installment surrounding Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, Officer John Blake, whose first name was revealed at the end of the film to be Robin.

So should the next Batman film be about Robin, the younger, albeit smaller half of the dynamic duo? I say no. I think they should make the next film Nightwing instead. Here are a few reasons why….

1. Robin became Nightwing as an adult in the comics. There will be no way to completely satisfy all the die-hards because there are just too many versions of both Robin and Nightwing over the history of all the comics to begin with. Plus, they already changed Robin’s name from Dick Grayson for Dark Knight Rises probably to create suspense for those already familiar with the name. So it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to just forego any more talk of Robin and make his alter ego Nightwing instead.

2. Nightwing is not a side-kick. If Christian Bale’s not going to play Batman again, they’d be stupid to recast. There have been so many versions already and besides Bale, Michael Keaton’s been the only other decent one (not counting the TV show, of course). And I think it would be a seriously dumb move to have Robin assume the Batman identity in the next movie because Bale has pretty much solidified himself as the iconic Batman and they already have all of Gotham thinking Batman’s dead.  So… if Batman’s gone, for all intents and purposes, an entire movie about Robin, who everyone knows to be Batman’s side-kick, would just be lame.

3. Nightwing’s costume is way cooler than Robin’s. Okay, this might be a little superficial, but they even had to make some changes to Robin’s costume for the Arkham City video game, which while it does look a lot better than before, I still like Nightwing’s better.

We saw at the end of Dark Knight Rises that not only did Bruce Wayne donate his mansion to the orphanage that (Robin) John Blake grew up in, Batman gave him directions to the Batcave so all that nifty equipment is now at Blake’s disposal. What’s he going to do with the suits that are already there? Just a little blue here and there and voila! Nightwing. Plus, he’s already been shown as being a police officer and their colors are black and blue already. Not to mention, Nightwing uses batons and so do cops, typically.

4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. JGL is such a great actor and a popular one at that. We have yet to see him really break out in a studly, manly role. We’re already familiar with his versatility and he’s done the trusty right-hand man thing before in Inception. This would be his turn to be the badass so why set him up as being in someone’s shadow to begin with by making him “the boy wonder?”

5. Catwoman. I doubt we’ve seen the last of the kitty cat. Selena Kyle was shown sitting in the café across from Bruce Wayne at the end of DKR hinting at her continuing presence in the saga as well. And how about this scene from the New 52 February 2012 issue of Nightwing? Meow!

Nightwing

Real Name: Richard John “Dick” Grayson 
Other aliases: Robin Occupation: Police officer Former 
Occupations: Private detective, circus acrobat 
Known Relatives: John and Mary Grayson (parents, deceased) 
Base of Operations: Blüdhaven Group 
Affiliation: Outsiders 
Past Group Affiliation: Titans (founding member), The Flying Graysons 
First Appearance: (as Robin) Detective Comics # 38, 1940; (as Nightwing) Tales of the Teen Titans#44,July1984


Young Dick Grayson, circus performer with The Flying Graysons, watched in horror as his parents fell to their deaths from a sabotaged trapeze. The boy was taken in by Bruce Wayne, who turned out to be Batman, Gotham’s Dark Knight. Dick insisted on becoming his partner, and after intensive training became Robin, Boy Wonder.

Robin was a founding member of the Teen Titans, most of whom were originally the teenage sidekicks of older heroes: Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. Robin was the leader of the Titans through most of its incarnations. Over the years, his relationship with the Batman became strained. He kept pushing himself to be as good as Batman, but knew he never could be. Finally, concluding that Robin would “always be the back half of ‘Batman and...’” he decided to complete the break and forge a new identity as Nightwing.

Nightwing eventually left the Titans. Returning to Gotham, he was called upon to be Batman while Bruce recovered from a debilitating spine injury. After Bruce’s recovery, Nightwing worked sporadically with Batman and the new Robin, eventually graduating to become a solo costumed hero with a city of his own.

Dick Grayson-Nightwing-Robin I

On the left you have the Flying Graysons made up of Dick Grayson and his parents. The elder Graysons died during a trapeze mishap leading to Dick Grayson becoming the ward of Bruce Wayne and joining him in his battle against crime as Robin to Bruce's Batman.

You can see from the left that Dick's first pre-Flashpoint Robin costume is modeled on his parents' costumes.

On the right you have images from Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows' New 52′s Nightwing #3. On the first image we see imagery of Dick's parents in bluish costumes with his father's costume, lapel and all, inspiring Dick’s first Nightwing costume (see opening image of this column for the pre-Flashpoint evolution of Dick’s costume including his leisure suit Nightwing costume that seems to still be “in” New 52 continuity).

The second image on the right seems to also show Dick, I think, in a Robin costume falling from a zip line. Now, I think that may be Dick during his tenure as Robin, but perhaps it is him in a Flying Grayson's costume? The latter seems unlikely since that costume is such a departure from his parents' blue threads. So, if in fact that is Dick Grayson-as-Robin's new originating costume he has taken a page from Tim Drake’s pre-Flashpoint black and yellow cape get-up in the New 52. You'll notice no short pants here either; some kind of gray trunks and matching boots now. Peter Pan has been exorcised from the New 52!

In any event, looks like Dick's original Robin costume has be retailored and we also now know the origin or inspiration for Nightwing’s original lapeled costume. Project Runway DC Universe?

I'm loving the New 52,  and particularly its ex-Robin books, even if Marv Wolfman and George Perez's New Teen Titans run is no longer in continuity.

Does Nightwing have a bulletproof suit?

Nightwing Suit: Nightwing's current costume is made of a version of the Nomex fire-resistant, triple-weave Kevlar-lined material. It is an excellent protection against damage, and it's also electrically insulated. Instead of a black cape for stealthing, the suit is light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area. The current costume, a stylized blue "wing" across his shoulders and extending to his hands, coloring his two middle fingers, over a black torso and legs. Nightwing's costume is tailored specifically to his unique style of crime-fighting. As such, his costume has fewer body-armor inlays than Batman's, anticipating a decreased need for shock-absorption and an increased capacity for motion. ("Move more, get hit less.") A caveat of this configuration can be exploited by capable fighters who are both fast and strong, such as Superman. Should Nightwing need to engage an enemy who is capable of exploiting this weakness, he has supplemental body-armor overlays which he can attach to his gauntlets, his mask, his shoulders, and boots. 

Nightwing Mask: The mask, in the form of his symbol, is fixed in place with spirit gum, and includes a built-in radio transmitter/receiver and Starlite night-vision lenses. 

His gauntlets and boots each contain eight compartments in which he can store items. They have a self-destruct feature built into them, similar to the ones in Batman's utility belt, and, as another security measure (especially when the hero is unconscious), the suit contains a one-use-only taser charge, which automatically emits a high-voltage electrical shock when someone attempts to tamper with either the boots or gauntlets. 

Nightwing Gauntlets: Each gauntlet's sections can contain a wide array of equipment, such as: 
sonic or smoke pellets, 
modified batarangs ("Wing-Dings"), 
knockout gas capsules and throwing tracers. 
The right gauntlet is also equipped with a: 
100,000-volt stun gun. 
Nightwing Boots: Like the gauntlets, his boots can carry vital elements like: 
flares, 
a rebreather as protection against any airborne noncontact toxins, 
a mini-computer equipped with fax, modem, GPS and a minidisk rewritable drive. 
Other items are lock picks, a first aid kit, a mini-cellphone, flexi-cuffs, antitoxin assortment, signal flares, wireless listening devices and a small halogen flashlight. 

Held in spring-loaded pouches in the back of his costume, Nightwing carries a pair of Escrima sticks made from an unbreakable polymer that are wielded as both offensive and defensive weapons. Some depictions have displayed these tools with the mechanism to shoot a grappling hook attached to a swing line (like Daredevil's billy clubs), while, in other instances, he is seen using a "line gun" like the one Batman currently uses.

Direct from DC vault: yes his suit is bullet proof enough to stop Armor piercing rounds, but a depleted uranium round will shoot right through him.

NIGHTWING'S COSTUME AND INVENTORY

The Bat-utility belt is ridiculous, and Nightwing's costume/compartments only marginally less so. I think it has long been a fan joke that Batman's belt is contiguous to hammerspace; in fact, I'm pretty sure that was the previous Batman's superpower over at capeandcowl. In striking a balance between ludicrous canonical interpretation and ... sanity ... here's a description of PostHumans!Nightwing's costume and what he carries, mostly taken from Wikipedia and the DC Comics Database. 

"Nightwing's costume is tailored specifically to his unique style of crime-fighting. As such, his costume has fewer body-armor inlays than Batman's, anticipating a decreased need for shock-absorption and an increased capacity for motion. A caveat of this configuration can be exploited by capable fighters who are both fast and strong."

The Suit:
Nomex
triple weave kevlar
insulated against electricity
light sensitive (turns darker in the light) (how does this help??)
mask: built-in radio transmitter/receiver
mask: starlite lenses (night vision)
steel-inlaid collar
one use only taser charge - automatically emits a high-voltage electrical shock when someone attempts to tamper with his suit

Inventory (stored in gauntlets and boots):
sonic or smoke pellets
modified batarangs (I am not calling them "wing-dings", Dick)
knockout gas capsules
throwing tracers
a rebreather - protection against any airborne non-contact toxins
lock picks
small halogen flashlight
wireless listening devices
flexi-cuffs or zip-strips - made of a lightweight diamond-impregnated nylon overlaying a banded steel core; they slide closed and have to be cut off with a diamond-edged cutting utensil
line-gun or grappling gun - uses a strong clamp attached to a high-tensile wire for scaling surfaces and/or traversing gaps; can be recovered by releasing the clamp and rewinding the cable, based from one that is designed as compact climbing gear for commando units, and can lift several hundred pounds
miniature camera
miniature cellphone
some money
small evidence bags

Weapons:
two escrima sticks made of unbreakable polymer
completely normal not bizarrely named batarangs
regurgitant gas pellets - tear gas with an additive to make you throw up
100,000 volt stun gun in his right gauntlet

Bats and Birds 10 Great Traits of Nightwing

When deciding that Grayson/ Robin/ Nightwing is indeed my favorite comic book character, I had to ask myself a few questions. What makes a great comic book character, and what makes him a hero? Does the character have an appropriate amount of costume changes to make multiple action figures? Could he/she beat up Batman/ Not lose to Batman too bad? The following glowing traits of Nightwing are the results of these questions, and my personal feelings on why he is my favorite comic book character. Plus I have a deep seated desire to stress the sheer awesome power of Batman and his Robins across the DC Universe. This will be covering a lot from the pre-New 52 era, which still mostly applies to the Batman family after the events of Flashpoint.

Confidence – You just have to look at Dick Grayson’s first costume for proof of this. The kid was wearing green scale underoos and pixie boots for years around criminals, who were a superstitious and cowardly lot. Many fans and haters over the years have questioned this particular choice of costume, considering the length Batman goes to protect himself while Robin stands beside him as a clearly lit, unprotected target. The New 52 has obviously retconned this initial costume, but fans of Grayson know that he owned the hell out of that suit because he was just that damn good.

Camaraderie – Batman has made a career of being a loner, and has never been one to spend unnecessary time among his peers. Nightwing may have learned everything he knows from Batman, but he never lost his ability to connect with the outside world. With numerous relationships and friendships among the superhero community, Nightwing is the buddy every hero wants to have, especially if you are getting into some trouble. In a sad fact of the New 52, Dick’s best friends Wally West (Flash III) and Donna Troy (Wonder Girl I) appear to no longer exist, leaving the hero seemingly without his friends that influenced this all important trait.

Respectful – Grayson’s relationship with his mentor and father figure has more often than not been strained almost to the point of breaking, but has persevered over the years because of a deep rooted sense of respect. As Bruce Wayne’s first ward and Batman’s first sidekick, Dick grew up affected by two very distinct lifestyles and personalities from the same man, which may have kept him at a distance for most of his life. Despite dealing with this hardship, the respect and love between the father and the son has been an endearing trait of both men.

Inspiring – Dick has always been someone to look up to, with a strong of moral code and a desire to do the right thing. This has proven a valuable trait over the years as he has faithfully served the big brother archetype for the Robins that followed in his footsteps. Possibly the best big brother in comics, Nightwing has done his fair share of mentoring with each of the Robins save one (Stephanie Brown didn’t receive much brotherly love from Grayson as her career as Robin was fairly short lived), and while Batman is clearly the father of the family, Grayson plays the cool oldest brother role perfectly.

Romantic – Nightwing is a smooth talker. No doubt about it, he ranks up near Daredevil status as a premier player of the DC Universe. Of course, he does it in a way that reflects his morals and is less sleazy than some of his comrades, notably Roy Harper (Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow). With that being said he has an impressive list of ex’s dotting his resume that include the alien princess Starfire, Gotham vigilante Huntress (pre-new 52), the on-again off-again relationship with Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl, and more recently his connection with the daughter of the man who murdered his parents, Sonia Zucco.

Leadership – Blessed with the tutelage of Batman and his own finely honed strategy skills, mixed in with his camaraderie and ability to interact with his fellow heroes has evolved into a respected skill for leadership. As one of the founders and leaders of the Teen Titans, he honed his skills as both Robin and Nightwing, growing with the team into the leader of the Titans and the eventual leader of the Outsiders. He has led the Justice League on two occasions, as both Nightwing and Batman. Much of what defined his life over the years has stemmed from his role as a leader of heroes. In the New 52, he remains unattached to any group and free of the burden of leadership, despite unofficially serving as ‘second-in-command’ of the Bat family.

Experience – We again have to move outside the New 52 here, as their current 5 year timeline doesn’t account very well for all the Robins, especially the historic career of Dick Grayson. He first donned the tights between the ages of 9 and 13, and lived the life into presumably his early/late 20′s, although comics aren’t known to be specific on age due to an expanding timeline that spans decades for us and years in the comic. The first of the sidekicks, he has been operating as a costumed crime-fighter longer than almost any character in the DC Universe, and has been a fixture of comics since the dawn of the superhero age. He has been involved in a large way in almost every DC event, and his seniority is recognized by his peers.

Dependability – Dick is a man who can be relied on without question. As his relationships with the rest of the DCU continued to grow, so too did his reputation, even among the bigwigs like Superman. Dick Grayson rode along with batman as Bat and Supes developed a friendship, and has earned his spot as a trusted friend of big blue. An assemblage of heroes wouldn’t think twice about following an order from Nightwing, especially when both Superman and Batman would be the first to get behind it. As this is pre-New 52, it’s hard to determine how much of that reputation follows him across this shortened DC timeline, but I would imagine he still stands tall as one of the most trusted heroes of the DC Universe.

Worthiness – As the only man to successfully wear the mantle of the bat, Dick Grayson grew into his mentor’s cape and accepted the role he had been following (and trying to escape) for the better part of his life. Not only did he accept the mantle as well as the burden of being Batman, he did it in a way that didn’t change who he was as a person. This new life as Batman really showed the differences between Dick and Bruce, from fighting style to personality. Taking Bruce’s son Damian under his wing as the new Robin was the feather in the cap that really sold the idea that Dick Grayson had legitimately grown into the role. The stories involving Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin were some of the best, and one of the few reasons I accepted Damian as the new Robin. Dick’s acceptance of the cape and cowl and his new role as Batman was a momentous moment in the life of Grayson, and proved just how worthy he was to fill the shoes of Gotham’s protector.

Adaptability – Something I have always loved about Dick Grayson is the growth his character has taken over the years, which is due to his ability to adapt to change. His beginning as a victim evolved into a defender of the same, he has grown from sidekick to successor, and adapted to every situation that came along accordingly. He effectively took over a new city away from Batman and prospered there, until it was destroyed completely during Infinite Crisis, of course. Every event of Nightwing’s storied career has improved him and made him a better person, crime-fighter, and a lasting character that I have enjoyed reading my entire life. When he made the biggest change of his life and took over as Batman, the next step of his life was a time of hardship and loss, but he embraced the change and excelled in his new role.

So now you are realizing that this week’s Bats and Birds was mainly a reason for me to gush about Nightwing. Which I feel little to no shame for, because Dick Grayson AKA Nightwing is my favorite hero.