The Psychotic Perspective: Nightwing #0
Perpetual Motion
I love all the Robins, and though Tim is my favorite, there is definitely a soft spot in my heart for Dick. I know Nightwing has the potential to be great, but he has struggled from time to time with poor writers. I have found his DCNU series to be fairly good, but I do not think it has yet begun to fire on all cylinders. Kyle Higgins seems to have a good grasp of the way Dick Grayson talks and thinks, but I felt Higgens undersold Nightwing’s fighting abilities in the last issue. More importantly, the revelation of Pargon’s identity in Nightwing #12 was underwhelming, and the story arc kind of ended with a fizzle despite the fact it had many good things going for it. Now, readers get their largest view yet of Dick’s DCNU past, but does this improve the caliber of Grayson’s adventures or undermine his entire existence?
In this issue, we see glimpses of Grayson’s childhood before the death of his parents and we find out how Dick Grayson became involved in Batman’s war on crime.
Old School DC Fans, Get Ready for a Headache
If you are someone who hates unnecessary rewrites of old DC continuity, get ready to grit your teeth for this issue will have you stressed to the max as Grayson’s origin is majorly altered. Of course, his parents still fall to their deaths and Bruce Wayne still takes Grayson in as his supposedly temporary ward, but everything beyond this has changed. No longer does Batman reach out to Dick because he feels so deeply for Grayson’s suffering. Rather, Bruce sends Dick to the ominously named “Wayne Care Center.” Only after Dick Grayson encounters Batman and discovers his secret identity does Bruce take Dick into Wayne Manor, and Bruce’s interest then is simply to keep an eye on Dick and make sure he will not betray the secret of Batman. From then on, Batman keeps an eye on Grayson as Dick repeatedly goes out in attempt to track down his parents’ killer. I will not give away the rest of the issue, but the changes continue like this throughout.
The Problem
In case it is not clear, let me lay out why these are poor decisions. No longer is Bruce reaching out to Dick in a sense of charity and companionship. Instead, Bruce merely takes Dick into his home in order to protect his secret identity. At the same time, Dick discovers Batman’s identity because he is great at reading people which is something I agree is an aspect of his character, but it is a bit of a leap to say Grayson could immediately recognize Bruce in the Bat Suit just because of Bruce’s hand motions and gritted teeth. Furthermore, this was one of the elements which set Tim Drake apart from the other Robins, but now…not so much.
It Gets Worse
I must complain about one more major change. At the end of the issue, Dick finally dons the Robin outfit for the first time and saves Bruce’s life from Lady Shiva. After Grayson saves Bruce by getting beaten up by Lady Shiva (yeah, I don’t know how that helped either), Batman and Robin make their way back to the Batmobile, but in Dick’s inner monologue, he makes it clear that both he and Batman realized that the role of Robin would just be a temporary gig.
Why would this be on either Bruce or Dick’s minds just a few seconds after a near death experience? Furthermore, why would Higgins make this change in the first place? One of the most important and emotionally gripping stories in the history of Dick Grayson is his transition to Nightwing. Dick was stripped of the mantle of Robin and yet became his own hero, but now, Grayson has never had that formative experience. Instead, it was always the plan for Batman and Robin to go their separate ways? I call bulls***. This is yet another attempt to make the four Robins in five years timetables work, but it still does not compute, and every writers and editors make to try and improve things better only seems to water down the quality of current and preexisting stories.
Ect.
As for the story itself, it is okay. I imagine I would enjoy it if I did not already know the much better history that this issue undermines. Even so, there are quite a few questionable calls. Just for fun, Dick Grayson runs on top and in front of trains at the beginning of the issue before he became Robin. I can see Grayson being reckless with his own life, but I find it difficult to believe he would endanger the lives of others as he does in that scene. He is also a bit of a straight arrow, so why would he go against his parents’ wishes and run away from the police? Commissioner Gordon gives Bruce Wayne the inside scoop on an investigation which makes no real sense…especially when you consider that he was grilling Bruce about being Batman only a day earlier. Finally, I have some serious reservations about Robin and Lady Shiva’s costumes in this issue. I’m not saying they were bad, but I am saying they are questionable.
Conclusion
As a fan of the old DC continuity, this is an abomination. As a standalone issue, it is okay, but it has some problems. It should be a fairly good ride for newcomers, but longtime fans should take a Tylenol before reading.
