LuigiBat

I think its more likely that this is non-canon to the main Batman timeline set out in the New 52, granted there was the Batman Beyond suit in the latest issue of Snyder and Capullo's Batman but that doesn't mean we'll see Terry McGinnis wearing the cowl in the main timeline in my opinion.

This series is most likely going to fill the void between The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond animated series and subsequent comic spin offs. It makes sense for this to be the case as in the Batman Beyond show there was no real explanation of what the hell happened between TNBA and BB except for why Bruce retired from the role of Batman, the Batman Beyond: Hush arc somewhat touched upon events leading to Dick and Bruce's falling out but again left a lot of questions. I for one always wanted to know what happened in the timeframe between TNBA and Batman Beyond, I imagine a great many others did too. I think this will be a good test of Higgins ability as a writer, the audience already knows the ending (Bruce falls out with everyone, goes it alone etc) so it will be interesting to see how he keeps readers hooked throughout as the story unfolds.

I quite like the Prankster, I think she (no way is it a dude) could very well end up being a Catwoman type character for Dick in terms of their relationship. Certainly from what I've gathered the Prankster isn't really an evil character, in a way the character is dispensing a form of justice but not in the manner Bruce or Dick would have us believe is 'right' (personally see no problem with leaving a guy who trades pictures of children to be eaten by a wolf). I'm just hoping at this point that the Prankster doesn't get killed off like every other new character introduced in the Nightwing series so far.

Gut instinct tells me it will be Damian. DC have angered a lot of people by killing Damian in the mainstream continuity, they will likely make him Earth 2 Batman as a means of softening the blow.

I might sound a little crazy but my gut instinct tells me that there might be some 'shock' revelation about Harper at some point in the future (think the Robin reference in TDKR), most likely that her mother's maiden name was Cain and that she was born with the name Cassandra but later changed it (would make sense as she's quite tom-boyish).

Just a thought though, likely complete rubbish.

I can't imagine that this 'zero-year' will be featuring Dick Grayson on a regular basis. I suspect that the first of the eleven planned issues will revolve around Dick and Bruce's relationship at the moment when Dick was first taken in. I can't imagine there being more than a passing reference to the Teen Titans, or rather the group of individuals who were Titans pre reboot but have since been described as just a group of friends, and I suspect the Bludhaven question might be dodged entirely.

I for one am more excited (from a Dick Grayson point of view) at the crossover with Batman and Robin. I believe that Bruce will be partnering up with Dick, Jason and Tim in the coming issues, each issue likely focussing on the relationship between the particular ex-Robin and Bruce as they try to help him recover from the loss of Damian.

In actual fact I kinda think this zero year combined with the death of Damian is something of a reversal of when Jason died, back then Dick wasn't really there for Bruce (or really able to help him if he was around) and it seems like this is the case now. Damian and Dick shared a closer bond than the others, it'll have hurt Dick the most in my honest opinion (Bruce has lost 'sons' before now), and with Bruce not able to/not willing to help out it'll be interesting to see what happens.

@Nathaniel_Christopher said:

Personally I think that DC has a chance to really develop Dick here, have him go through a prolonged rough patch, and then come through it better and stronger than ever. Damian's death should be a heavy blow to Dick, perhaps the heaviest he's ever suffered in his lifetime. For all intents and purposes, Damian is Dick's Jason, except unlike Bruce Dick was there when it happened, which could and should lead to massive amounts of guilt on Dick's part. Follow this up with the fact that Damian basically having been Dick's brother/son and perhaps the person Dick was closest to after Bruce it makes perfect sense for him to be distant towards people. If anything, this is a perfect opportunity for the falling out with Bruce that fans were clamoring for a little while ago when Death of the Family ended.

Personally though, I truly do hope Damian comes back at some point. Not because i'm a fan of deaths being cheapened by resurrection (Jason Todd has had some good stories in the years since and is now being written at his best, but part of me will always think he should've stayed buried) but because 1)the character still has a massive amount of potential, and 2)given his family tree it'd make perfect sense for once.

This basically sums up my views on the matter.

Also, with this whole new JLI thing going on it'd be interesting to see how it affects Dick's interaction with the rest of the team.

Chicago seems like a great choice all round. It's not somewhere thats been touched upon all that much, plenty of opportunity to give Dick a whole rogues gallery of his own to rival Bruce's. The zero-tolerance policy on masked vigilantes has likely resulted in a lot of crime plaguing the city, I can imagine it being much like Gotham was in Batman's early years, Dick will have to deal with this in order to earn people's trust.

The ending panels of Batman 17 do basically show that Dick will be on his way out of Gotham, he brushes Bruce off and rides off on his motorbike.

Glad he's moving away to start anew (nowhere else to go but up from here) now. Perhaps we won't see Dick getting his ass kicked so much now. One thing I've found contradictory is how Dick could've been Batman for a year yet consistently gets shown being beaten to a pulp by villains in his own series. Doesn't add up.

@bilwit: I'd hardly say Tim's been demoted at all, he's still being portrayed as some wonder child and to cap it all off he's being given a lot of history that was Dick's (forming Teen Titans etc). Him being put in the Teen Titans isn't really a demotion because that series is essentially solely about Tim, much like RHATO is predominantly about Jason.

Its all well and good for Snyder and Higgins to be treating the character with respect but it doesn't make it any more acceptable for Dick to get kicked around and beaten on a regular basis in his own series. It feels like (as occurred in the 1996-09 series quite often) they're showing Dick all too often struggling to beat (or being beaten by) guys who wouldn't be afforded more than a panel or two in a Batman comic, only to then have him best someone immensely skilled (William Cobb in New 52 and Ra's Al Ghul in an issue of the old series spring to mind) at a later date.

Great read and a fantastic topic started by @Nathaniel_Christopher .

Not sure what I can add at this point however looking at it from a 'glass half full' perspective as opposed to a 'glass half empty' perspective I do think that there's a chance that Dick is being knocked down so he may be rebuilt? Higgins loves the character, he likely fell in love with Nightwing through reading the numerous story arcs and relationships which are now seemingly defunct and no longer officially part of the character's history. I'm going to speculate here that Higgins and others at DC (who share a fondness for Grayson) likely looked at all that had come before and concluded that although it made them love the character ultimately he still remained inferior to Batman even after Bruce's death. Perhaps they wished to strip away everything and completely destroy (but not kill) Dick so that they might have a clean slate on which to work and build the character up again stronger and better than ever before? The Joker arc will certainly see the final 'destruction' of Dick Grayson and of course from there on things can only get better (one would hope).

Dick being on a team again is good news, though I'm less than enthusiastic about Babs being on the same team (likely going to spawn a predictable and dull love story) but I guess I can't have it all my own way. Will be interesting to see how he managed to cope given that he *technically* hasn't been on a team before now and doesn't have any previous leadership experiences. Best of all Dick leaving the area is a chance for him to basically say "f**k you Tim and Jason, have your bromance", frankly I don't care if Dick doesn't get along with either of them, so long as he has a good relationship with Damian I'll be happy.