The character of Robin was invented specifically to be a brighter contrast to the grim vigilante Batman, to bring some fun to Batman’s life and both literal and metaphorical color to his adventures. While the majority of the characters who have taken on the mantle of Robin (I broke down the four primary Robins in this newsletter) have fulfilled this purpose well, the brightest and most jovial has always been the very first, Dick Grayson.
In fact, Dick Grayson might just be the most-liked character in DC’s entire pantheon. In-universe, he’s the character other heroes go to when they need a friend or a shoulder to cry on; even his mentor, Batman, turns to him in times of distress. Dick’s also worked with, led, and/or gained the respect of just about every group of heroes there is. Back during the days of Infinite Crisis, DC Editor-In-Chief Dan Didio wanted to kill Dick off specifically because he knew his death would effect pretty much every one of their characters, and the event’s writers had to talk him out of it because they knew Dick’s real life popularity matched his in-universe, and that the fan outcry would be too great to ignore.
Life is never easy for a comic book character, though, and being upbeat and personable hasn’t spared Dick his fair share of pain. He went through quite an angsty phase in his late teens/early twenties when he quit being Robin and took up the mantle Nightwing instead. His time as Nightwing saw his adopted city nuked off the face of the Earth, the dissolution of at least two engagements (one on the altar!), and the deaths of multiple close friends and family; twice the poor man’s been raped, though I don’t know if the writers of those stories realized that that’s what they did to him1. Even some of Dick’s most fun and well-received stories have been ones where he’s had to leave behind the life he built for himself as Nightwing to take up someone else’s mantle or mission, such as when he filled in as Batman for a few years when Bruce was “dead” or when he faked his death and went undercover as a spy in Grayson.
The last several years of Dick’s existence, though, have perhaps been the greatest indignity he’s ever faced. Batman writer Tom King was in the process of isolating Batman by robbing him of his allies one-by-one, and thus had Nightwing shot in the head by Russian assassin KGBeast. Though King’s writing treated Dick as if he was dead, the pages of Nightwing instead revealed that he survived but was suffering from amnesia. This new persona called himself “Ric,” and went on his own convoluted stories (that seem to involve driving a cab and getting brainwashed by the Joker?) that I, quite honestly, didn’t follow because I thought the whole idea was stupid and that the execution of the first couple issues I did read wasn’t much better. Online response isn’t everything and, admittedly, my comics circle can be small and insulated, but I never ran into anybody who was excited about this idea.
Finally, though, Dick has regained his memories and his mantle as Nightwing, and March’s Nightwing 78 has billed itself as a much needed, grand return-to-greatness for the character.
The new creative team of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo ensures that this return to greatness lives up to its promise. I’ve spoken about Taylor’s writing in this newsletter before, describing his ability to highlight what makes each and every character he writes compelling by honoring their history, relationships, and core characteristics, and this certainly holds true for Nightwing as well. Under Taylor’s pen Dick Grayson is charming, dashing, and heroic, a metaphorical light to all those around him. It’s a position that the art makes quite literal.
This is just stunning work from Redondo (whose previous collaboration with Taylor, Suicide Squad, made my “Best Comics of 2020” list) and colorist Adriano Lucas. The detail of the buildings and their lights, as well as the colors of the sunset, are gorgeous. The layout is smart, with the horizontal line of the crane leading the viewer’s eye straight to Nightwing, who is surrounded by negative space that makes him stand out even more. But my favorite detail is that Nightwing is surrounded by the light of the setting sun, like a halo. Dick Grayson is a light, all right.
This motif pops up in other places throughout the issue as well.
Nightwing 78 opens up on a flashback, a sequence that finds a young Dick taking on a squad of bullies picking on a defenseless classmate (it also seems to be one of, if not the, first meetings of Dick and future-Batgirl — and his future-girlfriend — Barbara Gordon). Brought home by the police, Dick expects to be chewed out by Batman for using his skills in such a public way, but instead he’s met by Alfred, who praises him for standing up when people are in need. The light motif returns; this scene places Dick in front of a window just so that he can be fully enveloped and immersed in light in that final panel, equating it with Dick and the heroics Alfred describes.
Taylor and Redondo make this a mission statement for their take on Nightwing; under their pen, he’s a character who can’t help but to do right, who’s driven by the light inside him to help everyone no matter what, as someone who will always stand up to bullies. Smartly, then, they also establish Dick’s home-base of Blüdhaven as, essentially, a bully in its own right, a mean town full of mean people, be they as small in scale as the jerks torturing a stray puppy (which Dick saves and adopts), or as large as Blockbuster, the superpowered businessman secretly running the city who murders the Mayor when he defies him.
The stuff with Blockbuster is clearly set-up for stories to come, but this issue itself chooses to end, not with an action climax, but an emotional one. In an incredibly smart bit of plotting, the climax returns to the same three characters who kicked the issue off; Dick and Barbara gathering together to read Alfred’s will2.
Again, this is another phenomenal sequence. Redondo nails the emotion; Dick’s face radiates with sweet, sadness-tinged happiness in that final panel, and the body language and acting create a real sense of emotional intimacy between Dick and Barbara, recalling their previous romantic relationships, but even more importantly, their long-term friendship. Alfred’s letter is also a brilliant piece of writing on Taylor’s part. On a narrative level it sets up future plots and conflicts for Dick — what’s the best way to use the money he inherited? — but it does so while not only staying perfectly in character for Alfred, but also continuing to build up Dick as a kind, compassionate, intelligent, selfless hero. After all, if Alfred says it, it must be true, right? Readers trust Alfred implicitly, and Taylor knows that.
I absolutely adore Dick Grayson, but it’s been so long since he’s had a good series I was starting to give up hope. My heart leapt for joy the moment I heard Taylor was taking over Nightwing, and he did not let me down; reading this issue felt like pure magic. He just gets the kind of hero Dick is, the light he can bring to the DC Universe. I’m so excited to see where it goes next.
(Also, Taylor managed to sneak in a diss on the whole “Ric Grayson” mess, and that alone’s worth the price of admission.)
JOKER #1
I was also pleasantly surprised by the first issue of the new Joker ongoing. Now, Joker’s admittedly a character who’s been over-exposed in the past few years. The idea of him headlining his own series also turned me off at first. When villains star in their own stories they often face off against even worse villains, becoming anti-heroes, and while this can be interesting for almost any other villain, Joker is literally the one villain in all of fiction who should never receive this kind of treatment3.
Thankfully, writer James Tynion IV solves this problem by keeping Joker in the background. This series is about the Joker, but it doesn’t star him; he doesn’t even physically appear until the very last page of the first issue. Instead, the series stars (now former) Commissioner Jim Gordon, and Joker’s presence is felt in other ways. The opening pages of the issue find the aftereffects of Joker’s most recent attack on Arkham rippling across Arkham; meanwhile, the specter of the Joker keeps showing up to haunt Gordon.
There’s no escaping Joker, even though he’s not even physically in Gotham City right now, and that strikes me as an incredibly clever way to make a Joker series without actually making a Joker series.
I was also impressed by the structure of the issue. While its opening act deals with the aftermath of the Arkham attack and the final act sets up the premise, with Gordon being offered 25 million dollars to track down and kill the Joker by a mysterious benefactor, the middle section is purely character study, diving deep into Gordon’s psyche to see the ways the Joker has permanently scarred him. It does so by eschewing dialogue entirely, conveying events, emotions, and even entire conversations solely through Jim’s internal monologue.
This allows Tynion to dole out exposition about the state of Gotham and Gordon’s past and future while also delving into Gordon’s emotions, putting the readers into Gordon’s shoes in a way no other combination of words and pictures could. By the end of this sequence we truly understand not only why the Joker is Gordon’s own personal boogeyman, but the sheer overwhelming level of despair Joker’s personally brought him. Joker has a good premise, but it’s that emotional core that makes the book feel vital and urgent, that makes it a success.
I didn’t walk into Joker 1 expecting it to be bad — I like Tynion as a writer too much for that — but it’s still damn impressive to me that he was able to pull off a Joker ongoing. It shouldn’t work, but it does, and man, I respect that.
ABOUT
“Do You Know What I Love the Most?” is a newsletter from Spencer Irwin about his relationship with the stories he loves. Spencer is an enthusiast and writer from Newark, Delaware, who likes punk rock, comic books, working out, breakfast, and most of all, stories. His previous work appeared on Retcon Punch, One Week One Band, and Crisis on Infinite Chords, and he can be found on Twitter at @ThatSpenceGuy. If you like this newsletter, please subscribe and share with your friends!
Logo by Lewis Franco, with respects to Saves the Day.
First there was a New Titans story from the early 90s where Dick’s teammate, the illusion-caster Mirage, disguised herself as Dick’s girlfriend and slept with him. While the story allowed Dick to feel rightfully violated when he found out, it never treated it with the gravity it deserved, since Mirage remained a Titan for a while after that (she was eventually raped by Deathwing, a man who had been mentally manipulated into thinking he was Nightwing’s evil counterpart, and had his child, because comics are bad and fucked up sometimes). Then there was a Nightwing story from the mid-2000s where the vigilante Tarantula, after murdering Dick’s archenemy right before his eyes, initiated sex with him despite his essentially being immobilized by shock and a traumatic emotional breakdown at the moment. The writer has said of this scene, "For the record, I’ve never used the word 'rape', I just said it was non-consensual," which is the most offensive oxymoron I’ve ever heard.
The same story by Tom King that led to Dick being shot in the head also eventually led to Alfred’s death at the hands of Bane. Deaths in comics are never permanent and I’m sure he’ll be back in a few years, but for the moment, the various Batman titles seem pretty determined to explore what a world without Alfred looks like for these characters.
Hence why I have absolutely zero interest in the Joaquin Phoenix Joker movie.