On Dick Grayson:

From a Newsarama interview:

NRAMA: Okay…he needs help on a big problem...who does he turn to?

FN: Ghostbusters? Seriously, I am of the very firm opinion that if you want anything done right in the DCU, you turn to Nightwing, so... there you go. We did say lots of guest-stars!

I wish that the people who actually wrote his title believed this.

What is Wrong With Dick Grayson... I've said it before, I dislike Nightwing. But I don't want to dislike this character. I *want* to like Dick Grayson. There are some great things at the core of the character, but it's so damned bogged down with the fangirl-bait angst and worse *incompetence*.

Look, I don't mind that Dick will never be the detective Tim and Bruce are. But he has 10-15 years of experience. That experience should show, damnit. He should have some measure of competence. Especially having undergone Batman's training. Hell, he *became* Batman for a little bit and did decently if with a different style than Bruce.

I'd like anyone who's read Nightwing lately to tell me that they seriously believe this man could *ever* have taken over for Batman.

I think I know what the problem is. And it's not any particular writer's fault. It's that from the inception, the Nightwing series was flawed.

I don't mean that a series revolving around Nightwing on his own is necessarily flawed in and of itself. But mistakes were made, irreparably...

See, the problem with giving sidekicks and ex-sidekicks their own comics is that they have to be completely independent and self sufficient, without interference from their mentors. It's why early Robin issues constantly suffered from the "broken communicator" problem. Robin would stumble across the Penguin or the Joker and think, "Oh no, this is too big for me to handle alone." He'd then try to call Batman, but for whatever reason can't get through, so he'd have to solve his problem alone.

Nightwing should have been easier, and was, in a sense. Dick's an adult, and thus relocation is plausible, keeping him from being under Bruce's direct influence. Making him a cop as his day job was an interesting idea as well, a way to explore justice in both a civilian and vigilante direction.

The thing was, the creative team wanted it both ways. They wanted Dick able to act independently from Bruce, but they wanted him near enough to participate in any and all crossover events. Thus Bludhaven, only half an hour away from Gotham, might has well have been the other side of town.

Given that Dick was so close, they'd need to manufacture additional reasons to keep him separate from the others. Which led to constant isolation.

The problem though is that Dick Grayson's strength is in his interactions and bonds with people. But by isolating him, they turned his emotional strength into a crippling weakness. What use is it being the charismatic, diplomatic liaison character when there's nothing to liaise. He was fine on the Titans because he could lead, thus his primary strength remained a strength, but in Nightwing?

On his own, his greatest strength is a weakness. And unless they wanted to go with constant crossovers, they had to play it up. So the Batman/Nightwing relationship ended up constant repetitions of: Misunderstanding->"Bruce doesn't love me!"

So the angst starts piling up. Now, at the risk of being sexist, I think it's fair to say female fans tend to be more attracted to angst than male fans. Soap operas, romance novels, and chick flicks tend to play it up. Not to mention that at his best, Dick is attractive, sexy and charming.

So they play that up too, Dick becomes a giant playboy, with Kory, with Barbara, with other women. Because it's fun. As well, the angst rises too. The relationships by nature can't really work out because pairing off a solo character tends to be tricky. Yeah, they managed with Superman, but that was after how many years? And especially with such a fangirl-bait character. Dick can't marry Barbara because it would mess with both of their solo comic lines. Dick can't marry Kory because, honestly, the relationship tends to lack a lot of the resonance that Dick/Babs has for long term fans. Kory's a great character, but I don't think anyone seriously believed that marriage to work out.

Now, a natural side effect of the conflict keeping him artificially isolated from the rest of the group is that when he *does* show up in crossovers, the Batman/Nightwing conflict starts to dominate. Leading to more "Bruce-doesn't-like-me" woe. It's a vicious cycle.

When the Titans is cancelled with Graduation Day, Dick loses the outlet for his good points. Outsiders was/is fun, but Dick's constant dwelling on Donna's death left him acting like an ice-bitch...it's depressing that that characterization is still more appealing than what's in Nightwing.

But the downside is that where there had been *one* comic where Nightwing wasn't angsty, and got to show his strength, now none of them do that.

Now Dick Grayson has been made synonymous with gratuitous angst instead of Batman-level competence with a more approachable, cheerful demeanor. And writers like to tear him down even further.

To give Ms. Grayson credit, I believe her tear-down-Nightwing arc was meant to ultimately make a stronger character in the end. The problem is, that kind of long term plan doesn't make sense in a comic format. Because unlike a book, readers have to keep buying issues, and if they're not having fun, they're going to stop. And editorial mandate can interfere, as they probably did here, and leave you with an unsatisfying conclusion.

But what does that leave us with? A character whose *status quo* is his emotional torment and enforced isolation. So naturally to keep the quo, they're going to take more from him, up to and including his natural ability.

And it's especially annoying because some of this is *fixable*. The Nightwing portrayals that have been the best thus far, Obsidian Age and Infinite Crisis *also* took steps to help resolve things between Bruce and Dick. Which the Nightwing writers seem to be ignoring.

The Bruce/Dick conflict is *unnecessary*. Bruce trusts Dick enough to do his job, and now he's farther away from Gotham anyway, that interference from the Bat is not an issue. The writers of Robin have figured out that Tim is independent enough to maintain his own adventures with only the occasional appearance from Batman.

And even Batman writers have realized that it was time for a change. He's actually being a *mentor* to Tim, treating him as a very competent young man who still needs some guidance instead of his destined successor to be molded. And he apparently took Tim and Dick to a team building thing in Budapest.

Which means he's *trying*. He's reaching out to Selina and Helena also.

Before OYL both characters made steps. With each other in Infinite Crisis, with others in IC, Dick proposed to Barbara (which I honestly doubted would work given their temperaments...and I don't want to see a great character like Barbara stuck with that wet blanket...she deserves better), and Bruce even ended up reaching a break through with the Birds of Prey.

But where Bruce gets to keep his development and growth OYL, Dick's back to the depressingly repetitive status quo. I have never liked Batman, but now...I'm liking him more than Nightwing. And that's just wrong.

The thing is, Dick Grayson isn't unsalvageable. Yet. But something drastically needs to be done. First, the creative team has to finally let go of the Dick=angst idea. A little angst is fine, but this is ridiculous. They need to finally remember who Dick Grayson is supposed to be. He's more than a grown-up Robin. He's a man with all of the training necessary to be a Batman, but who also knows how to work with people, how to lead and inspire without fear.

Once, Ms. Simone said with regards to Barbara Gordon: Barbara is Batgirl is Oracle is Batgirl. The strength that initially inspired a young librarian to dress up and fight crime in high heels and a mask is always in the character even as she herself has grown into a strong woman.

The same should apply to Dick Grayson. We should be able to say Dick is Robin is Nightwing is Robin. But I think people have forgotten that.

They've forgotten that Dick Grayson is *supposed* to be the strongest of the Batclan, not the weakest. He's the boy that, having experienced the same crushing loss as Bruce, did NOT let it corrupt his indomitable spirit. The first Robin wasn't a flawed and reckless boy killed in the line of duty, nor was he a lonely, brilliant child looking for human connection in the form of a man in a mask.

When Tim Drake became obsessed with the Batclan, it wasn't because of Batman, it was *Robin*. Robin had been his inspiration and his draw. Tim Drake became Robin because "Batman needs a Robin", but his initial idea was to get Dick Grayson to do it again. Because Batman needed *that* Robin. He needed Dick Grayson. He needed *light*.

The Robin is the bird of the morning, the light of hope in the dark Gotham night that things are *going* to get bright again. That day is on its way. And no one embodied that more than Dick Grayson. The strength to see the darkness of the night and yet firmly belong to the day, unwavering and optimistic and bright and beautiful.

And that's what Dixon, Grayson and Jones and their editorial teams have forgotten in all the angst and sex. But just because Dick has grown past Robin, doesn't mean he should lose everything he was. Dick Grayson is light.

Don't let Jason Todd overshadow Dick in his own damn title. Let Dick *be* what he's supposed to be. Bring that light back to the DCU!