Make Up Your Own Nightwing Pun

I gave Nightwing a chance. I really, really did. Out of all the One Year Later books, his was the one I found myself most interested in. During the events of Infinite Crisis, they gave Nightwing the type of push that usually ends with the hero dying (ie, Superboy, Hawkeye, etc), so I naturally assumed that he’d be pushing up daisies by the time the whole thing was finished.

Only, he wasn’t. Somehow, he got a massive push and came out on the other side. At that point, I figured that he’d graduate from being a Beta (according to the OMACs) and jump into the Alpha ranks, where he’d rub elbows with the most elite metas on earth. After being with Batman for all of his formative years, having his own life in Bludhaven for over a hundred issues, and showing an inhuman, death-defying, heroic dose of bravery in the Crisis, yes, I thought that it was time for Dick Grayson to stand alongside the best of the best. Instead, he was put into the worst storyline to come out of One Year Later, with boring enemies, worthless supporting characters, laughably bad scenarios, and a one way ticket back to the B-team.

This cannot be argued. It cannot be said that Nightwing wasn’t saddled with the absolute worst storyline to come out of the Infinite Crisis. I can say this with absolute certainty, because I sat down several hours ago and tried to do just that. I wanted to use my voice in a sea of criticism to say that Nightwing hasn’t been all that bad. I wanted to argue that, although his series hasn’t been the best, well, it wasn’t all that good to begin with. Prior to the Crisis, he was stuck in an arc where he was going undercover with the mob, under his alias of “Crutches,” and I honestly had forgotten how all of that wrapped up. I knew he eventually got out of it and proposed to Babs, but, beyond that, my memory had been washed over by months and months of binge drinking.

So, in the course of laying out my argument, I decided to go back and re-read (or leaf through) all of my old copies of Nightwing. While it was, by no means, the best book out there at the time, Chuck Dixon and, later, even Devin Grayson, put out one hell of a series, and this is a point I will not back down from. Sadly, that fact makes the initial point of how much Bruce Jones has dropped the ball with Nightwing OYL even more of a disappointment.

To begin things, let’s take a look at what Nightwing was up to prior to the events of the Infinite Crisis, when everything changed. He had moved to Gotham’s sister city, Bludhaven, a city more addled with corruption than Gotham itself. The series initially had a strong “Year One” vibe to it, and it was entertaining. Dick Grayson, when he wasn’t fighting crime with a mask was fighting crime with a badge, since he worked his way through the police academy and joined the BPD. He found that the main source of corruption was coming from a crime boss named Roland Desmond, also known as Blockbuster. He was a big goofy looking guy on steroids who spent a lot of time walking around his house in a bathrobe while drinking expensive looking drinks. Dick tried to bring Roly down, but he eventually had to stop being a cop after a chick on the force found out that he was moonlighting as Nightwing. Around that time, Blockbuster also discovered that Nightwing and Dick Grayson were the same man, so he blew up the apartment building Dick lived in, along with the circus he grew up in, etc. Blockbuster basically destroyed everything around Nightwing, which eventually led to a face-to-face encounter where Nightwing was told it would never stop and the killing would ruin his life. During this face-to-face, some bitch named Tarantula was there and threatening to kill Blockbuster, so, Dick Grayson, worn down and on the brink of defeat, stepped back and let her shoot him. From there, Dick went into a downward spiral, got shot during War Games, got sonned by Alfred, joined the mob, and pretty much stopped being Nightwing.

It was at this point that the Crisis started going down, so Dick negotiated a deal with Deathstroke to keep the Society of Supervillains out of Bludhaven; in exchange, Nightwing would train Deathstroke’s daughter in the martial arts. After Chemo was dropped on Bludhaven, we saw a turnaround, where Dick became a hero again, basically, and really stepped up his game. Want proof? Page One, Page Two. ‘Nuff said.

What, exactly, do you call that? I call that a complete character arc. He tried to undo the corruption in Bludhaven by joining the police force, found that that didn’t work for him, at which point, he made a terrible decision, fell over to the dark side, and in a last ditch effort, joined the mob in order to infiltrate it and fix things that way. While he was in the mob, you were never really sure if he was good or bad, which made things interesting, but, at the last minute, he turned things around and came out a hero. During the Crisis, he was the one who sent out the distress call to all heroes, urging a pointed attack against the Anti-Monitor tower in the Arctic. He and Superboy were the only two to answer the call, so they attacked. Superboy died, and Nightwing got his ass tossed around, but he survived. Almost barely, but he made it out. During the final fight in Metropolis, he took another heavy beating and it looked like he nearly died, but he made it out and went with Bruce and Tim someplace far away to train and gather themselves mentally. To gain a balance or something. To rejuvenate and rediscover.

When he came back to New York after a year, he was not well trained, balanced, rejuvenated, or discovered. He was unsure of himself physically, unsure of his place in the world, down in the dumps, disrespecting women (which is a first for the normally gentlemanly Dick Grayson), and all-around lost and confused. Logically, that doesn’t hold. He was down on himself pre-Crisis, but that’s because he saw himself as a failure to Bruce. I’d say he more than atoned for any past sins when he stared down Superboy-Prime and showed not the least bit of fear. Think about that. The greatest threat our universe has seen in over twenty years turned his sights to Nightwing, started to charge, and Nightwing didn’t flinch. Nobody should feel anything less than heroic after that. Anyway, somewhere during the year off, Dick saw himself for who he actually is, so he and Barbara split up and didn’t get married. How would a near-death experience during a moment of utter bravery make Dick think that he’s not deserving of Barbara or happiness? Don’t worry, it gets worse.

One Year Later, Dick Grayson’s returned to America, and he’s living in New York. There’s another Nightwing (not Nite-Wing), and it’s Jason Todd. Only problem is, he’s got a penchant for killing baddies, as we’ve seen in his return as Red Hood. This brings down the heat on the real Nightwing, and the two of them fight every once in awhile. The main villains, though, are two lame-looking albino twins (think Matrix Reloaded with a haircut) who somehow control the crime in New York. Meanwhile, Dick and Jason both stick it to NYC’s top fashion designer, Cheyenne Fremont. During the sex scenes, it becomes painfully apparent that Bruce Jones has never had sex with a woman, let alone seen one naked, and this is a point I plan on coming back to in a future post. They’re awkward and clumsy, not to mention hilarious. Anyway, Cheyenne eventually reveals that she’s a meta with the ability to shoot stuff or something. It’s never really explained. So, she uses a Nightwing costume from her fashion show (yeah, her idea is to make superhero fashion mainstream–get this, she even uses Dick as one of her models) and becomes the third Nightwing in New York City. Eventually, the albino twins reveal their secret weapon: a little midget guy who turns into a giant blob of shit who eats his opponents and shits them out in hard shells. Eventually, his victims also become big giant blobs of shit who can eat people and shit them out. Believe me, it’s true. Jason Todd even becomes one for a bit. Then he leaves town and a worthless storyline, hopefully for greener pastures.

After that, the series slowed down, until just last issue, Dick stops sticking it to Cheyenne, because she’s moving. The Pierce Brothers are kinda defeated, Dick is still moping around, Cheyenne and Jason are gone, and that’s it. I hear Marv Wolfman is taking over next month, so, believe me, he has nowhere to go but up.

The reason I like Nightwing so much is because he’s got a lot of potential. As a younger brother, I have always been able to connect with the guy who can never quite graduate to the big leagues, and, thus, I’ve always rooted for Nightwing. The possibility that he could eventually “make it,” so to speak, excites me. As a character, he’s always served two functions: first, he’s been a solid hero who’s trying to make a name for himself, with giant boots to fill. Second, he’s always served as a source of hope and optimism to Bruce Wayne. Bruce, in his own eyes if no one else’s, failed as a son to save his parents, and Dick has always been Bruce’s way of fixing things and succeeding as a father. Nightwing deserves to be a success.

So, he’s given a storyline with Jason Todd as an antagonist. Any one of you reading this could write a compelling storyline of Jason Todd vs. Dick Grayson. The damn thing writes itself, for crying out loud. Think of how cool a villain Jason Todd could be if he was done as a sort of dark side version of Dick Grayson. Like Shadow Link or Dark Samus or what I think they’re planning on with the upcoming Venom in Spider-Man 3. On one side, a hero. On the other, a villain with the same physical ability and training. Remember all the doppelgangers in Infinity War? Yeah, they were kinda cool (except for the Spider-Man doppelganger, with his stupid eight arms). Anyway, that’d be a cool idea if done seriously and given a chance.

Instead, we’re given a giant blob of shit who eats people and shits them back out encased in hard shells.

Gimme a breaksville.