Now *this* is gonna get me in trouble!

Okay, so over at Cshiana's blog, she posted this.

Basically at a panel at a convention, Dan Didio said, “I wanted Nightwing dead. Follow Nightwing’s story- he was supposed to die!”

And this is where I piss off EVERYONE
I agree with Dan Didio. Nightwing should have died in Infinite Crisis.

Look, honestly, Dick Grayson has been ruined as a character. He's been ruined for a long time. We all have ideas as to how to fix him.

But in the end, he's been ruined.

Dick was at one point in time, I reckon, one of the most popular characters in the DCU. Girls loved him, Boys wanted to be him...or something like that. He was fun, attractive, brave and competent. But that started to change.

I think the creative staff during Ms. Grayson's run combined with those on Mr. Winick's Outsiders really killed the character.

See, Ms. Grayson's run was polarizing for the character. A lot of people (mostly women) really liked it, liked it better than Dixon's run previously. Which is great. But the problem is, a lot of people started hating it. And really hating the reconception of the character. I'm not going to say which group's right or wrong. I'm not going to try to say Ms. Grayson's run wasn't exciting and well-written, because for all my own problems with it, I did find it so.

But the talent of the writer isn't the issue here. The change in direction for the character actually started in the Dixon run anyway, I think. But regardless, what you have is a character that went from being the character that everyone liked, (even warring Hal and Kyle fans, for example) to being one loved by a small portion of the comic fandom and reviled by the rest.

Usually DC's pretty good about keeping the crossovers compatible. But somehow while Dick Grayson was in the midst of his whole dramatic and traumatic, red suited, teaming with Deathstroke, vaguely mob storyline, he appeared everywhere else as a competent, reasonably settled heroic character. I think that probably says something about the state of mind toward the character at the time.

Winick's Outsiders didn't help either, in fact, it made it worse. While Ms. Grayson tore him apart personally, Winick took apart the one thing Nightwing had going for him. His leadership ability. Dick suddenly went from being a good leader if shaky in his personal life (which I could like, being a Cyclops fan), to being a bad leader as well. Dick in Outsiders was a mess, too caught up in his own pain over Donna to be a good leader and Roy and Anissa suffered for it.

I'm reminded of Dave at Dave's Long Box's about Gambit where he complains that Gambit essentially has "Richard Gere syndrome". Too often written as the perfect lover in chick flicks that men can no longer identify with him as one of the guys. Gambit's whole Rogue tragedy, he argues, basically does the same thing.

And I think between them Winick and Grayson (and their creative teams) managed to do that same thing with poor Dick Grayson. He's no longer really able to be divorced from his angst and pain and victimization. And while that can work for some fans, the majority, I think have been turned off. We all like Dick, but we like the Dick of times past, I think.

And it's only gotten worse OYL. Our options are a whiny incompetent stupid male model and a mercenary who'll pimp Thunder out for World Peace. Joy.

At this point I think Jade is more salvageable.

But anyway, as for Infinite Crisis? Dick *should* have died there.

Seriously, look at his story-arc. He's portrayed as a motivational force for everyone but is largely ineffectual in his own attempts, it's asking about him that keeps Bruce from turning to the dark side. It's Dick Grayson's goodness that even makes Kal-L hesitate in writing the whole Earth-New off the way Alexander Luthor had.

And his death would have created a tremendous impact for the whole DCU. Dick is one of the most loved characters in the universe, if not without anymore. His death would be a meaningful explanation for Bruce softening and trying to reach out to the remaining people around him (Selina, Tim). It'd be a damn good reason for Tim to be batshit crazy and trying to reclone the one lost person he could possibly get back.

Heck, it could even be a more plausible explanation for Cassandra going insane too (though I still don't think that story's what it seems.) She might not have known him as well, but she liked him too, and the ramifications and implications of his tragic line-of-duty loss might have unforeseen effects. Okay, it's a stretch, but it's better than suddenly discovering she had a sister as motivations go.

Now, I've seen people complain about this on message boards too, and the funny thing is, a lot of these folks were complaining that every major death in Infinite Crisis was predictable. You knew by the first issue Conner would kick it. The other deaths were all largely meaningless and without impact. And naturally Kal-L, Superboy and Alexander Luthor were probably going to die, except for whoever would end up the most dangerous, who'd be kept for later use.

But Nightwing's death would have been *shocking*. It would have been horrifying. And it would have been meaningful. He'd be the Barry Allen to Conner's Supergirl. The death that is more mundane in execution (no cradling in Superman/Wonder Girl's arms with screaming grief) but the one that ultimately hits harder, I think.

The fans would grieve for Conner but they'd rage for Nightwing. The turmoil would have been *glorious*.

I'm not surprised that DC didn't have the balls to do it. How in the world could the heroic death of the Sensational Character Find of 1940 *ever* compare in emotion and depth to dozens of dead Titans most of us have long forgotten.

Yeah, the fan fury would be insane. But that would *benefit* the company. Apathetic and disappointed fans stop buying comics, but enraged fans? Enraged fans buy *more*. Enraged fans rant and rave and put up such a fuss that even non-comic readers will peek in and take a look.

And believe me, "They killed Dick Grayson?!" would have gotten them to take a look. The media attention for gay Batwoman would have *nothing* on this shit-storm.

Hey, you gotta give Didio credit for one thing. Like him or hate him. Think he's a genius or completely full of shit...the man has *balls.*

And I can't say I disagree with him: Nightwing should have died.