#questions about nightwing

[zahri-melitor]

so i'm reading certain nightwing volumes from '96 - 02 for my current reading run following NML (shout out to @havendance, cannot thank you enough 🫶🏾) and while some aspects of how he's written is very compelling and interesting to chew on, for the most part it's been pretty....boring?? like i'm gonna keep reading it so i can have as much context as possible, but it feels more like a chore 😩

anyways, i read your response on that “who’d you choose to write nightwing” poll and i’d love to get your opinion on what nightwing runs/writers to read outside of those 8 volumes. i really wanna get into dick grayson’s character and personality! also, if it’s cool with you, anyone else please feel free to add to this!

-dominomasc

Hey, dominomasc. Unknowingly you've just raised one of the fundamental incongruities of how comics work.

Comics are about layers of stories providing depth to a character and about dozens of different interpretations more than they are about a single amazing run. (Some characters have That Run! But on average, most don't). Dick Grayson, a character that has existed for 84 years, has some very fun stories from all sorts of writers. His title, Nightwing, is also an excellent example of how a lot of long running titles often don't really have a stand out section that's head and shoulders above the rest.

I promise, you are never going to run out of stories to read about Dick Grayson (Comicsvine has him at 9,593 appearances as I write this). So yes, this is going to be about two things: advice on finding stories about Dick that vibe for you; and advice on understanding Dick alongside other storylines.

Taking into account what's listed above and the fact I'm moderately obsessive, I have compiled a discussion of most of the major writers who have written Nightwing runs, or who have written major titles that Dick also prominently appears in.

I am at heart a 'Dick belongs to the Bat Office' person and my expertise in most characters starts with COIE. On that basis I'm not going to dip into pre-Crisis here.

Marv Wolfman & George Pérez: New Teen Titans (1980-1993ish). I am not going to explain all the title names here; you're going to have to go get more detail from someone who treats NTT period as their special interest. Wolfman and Pérez are the architects of Nightwing as a character, separate to Robin, that Dick grew into. Read this period if you're interested in Dick as a young adult among the other Titans going through the transition into adulthood and independence, and his relationship with Kory. Basically it's a superhero young adult soap opera. It can be quite uneven in places, particularly towards the back end, and there are approximately a thousand discussions over which storylines are good and which should be fired into the sun. I am not a subject expert for this period.

Because of the state of the Titans titles in the early 1990s, the Bat office demanded Dick Grayson back under their control. Exactly when they got him back is slightly debated, but it would be fair to say Batman #500 (October 1993) marks his transition back to being a Bat character (around the start of Knightquest); by KnightsEnd and Prodigal (July 1994-January 1995) Dick is once again firmly a member of the Batman set of characters, and has remained so to date.

Prodigal, by Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Doug Moench: (Batman #512 to Robin #13). Use a reading list here as the stories are spread across multiple titles. Prodigal is 12 issues about Dick's first time being Batman, with Tim as his Robin, and his feelings about returning home to Gotham as an adult. Robin #13 in particular is possibly the most important issue of the story, as it's the foundation of a reset in Bruce and Dick's relationship with each other and how it is going to be characterised for the next decade or so.

Chuck Dixon: (Nightwing #1-70 1996, Nightwing: Alfred's Return, and a bunch of other one shots) So Dixon is probably DC's most prolific writer of all time, and is the architect of what's been treated as 'default Nightwing'. In this run, Dixon creates Bludhaven and the situation of Dick being its protector, out of a desire to be his own man apart from Bruce. He sets up an extensive Rogue's Gallery for Dick, the most famous of which is making Blockbuster one of Dick's main enemies. He has Dick working at a cop bar and then decide to enter the Bludhaven Police Department in an attempt to investigate it from the inside due to the levels of corruption. This is also the run where Dick and Babs get together as adults. Basically, everything about 'default' Dick that you probably know comes from this run. Dixon's great for character interaction, for world building, and and particularly at making various titles tie together - because he was writing at least 1/3 of DC's entire line for a while there he's the king of crossovers, giving a lot of depth to friendships because characters just pop between titles he's writing. His actual plots however vary between middling to occasional flashes of greatness. I'd consider The Hunt for Oracle (#45-46 and BOP#20-21) and the Shrike story (#55-58) to be the standout storylines in his Nightwing run; for individual issues I'd also point to #6 and #25 for his relationship with Tim, #16 for Dick building his car, and then his crossover issues in events tend to be quality.

Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty: (Robin: Year One 2000, Batgirl: Year One 2003, Nightwing: Year One - Nightwing #101-106 1996) I am separating these three out from the rest of Dixon's work as they're quite important as retcons over Dick's backstory. Robin and Batgirl are well regarded rewrites of events; Nightwing is less so, partly because it's a solid example of the Jason personality retcon, and partly I think because a lot of people reading this were still well across the two 1980s versions of Dick's transition from Robin to Nightwing. I highly recommend Robin Year One, particularly with the Shrike storyline of Nightwing, as they are interlinked.

Devin Grayson: (Nightwing #71-100 & #107-117 1996, Nightwing/Huntress 1998, Gotham Knights #1-11 & #14-32, The Titans #1-20 1999) Oh, Devin. Devin Grayson is a Dick Grayson superfan (she uses Grayson as her surname because of Dick). She is really good at character introspection - Gotham Knights #1-11 contains some amazing character work. She's also not shy about establishing her own headcanons on characters and retconning their backstories. Devin's biggest contributions to the Dick Grayson lore are in establishing him as Romani and actually writing Bruce adopting Dick. Her run on Nightwing is best understood as a whump, break-the-cutie run, where Blockbuster sets out to destroy Dick's life, and in the process gets Dick fired, breaks up Dick and Babs, burns down Haly's Circus (for the first time), blows up his entire supporting cast, chases Dick out of Bludhaven and leads to Dick going under cover in the mob essentially to punish himself (also not the only time). Dick's also sexually assaulted in Nightwing #93 but I really beg people to read this in context of the rest of the run; this should be looked at as PART of the whole flow of whump, rather than as a separate situation. Grayson also had the title taken off her before she got to the 'comfort' part of the extended hurt/comfort storyline she was writing. It reads a lot better if you think of this in a more transformative fandom, ficcish manner of story rather than as a more standard run. If her Nightwing run is too grim for you, I highly recommend Gotham Knights and her Titans run; Devin Grayson is honestly best when she's writing a constellation of characters around Dick more than when she's writing Dick himself. She adores his friends and family. Standout issues to get a sense of Devin include: Nightwing #100, a self-reflective issue on Dick's history; Nightwing #81, where Dick's in hospital and Cass goes after Slade for him; Titans #15 1999, where the Fab 5 go on a camping trip together to get back to their roots and deal with a lot of tensions in the group; and Gotham Knights #8-11, Transference, where Dick and Tim team up to rescue Bruce, who's been brainwashed by Hugo Strange.

Jay Faerber: (The Titans #21-41 1999) Honestly Faerber's run on The Titans is not that Dick Grayson focused. It's entertaining if you want to read some solid Titans dynamics, but the standout characters you read this run for are Roy and Donna. Seriously, if you're into Roy, Cheshire and Lian drama I highly recommend Faerber's work; otherwise it's not an essential run for Dick.

Judd Winick: (Outsiders #1-25, 34-49 2003, Batman & Robin #23-25 2011) Winick tends to write an angrier and darker edged Dick Grayson, and he has a bunch of really common tropes you see pop out in his writing. These are no different, and thus include an awful lot of violence and characters having sex (so much sex). He can be quite funny as a writer, but honestly his Outsiders run does not have much of that humour. The Batman & Robin story is basically Winick finding some space to tie up his Jason Todd plot before Flashpoint obliterated it, more than an actual story about Dick. If you want a good encapsulating issue to get the vibe of Winick about Dick, take a look at Outsiders #21, which has a good chunk of Dick and Roy AND Dick and Bruce in it, though it's helpful to remember that this issue is set very shortly after War Games and so Dick is in a massive guilt spiral.

Bruce Jones: (Nightwing #118-124 1999) It's One Year Later! Bruce Jones moves Dick back to New York City (as Bludhaven went boom due to Chemo in the lead up to Infinite Crisis) and theoretically sets up Dick's status quo out to Reborn. So. The story Jones is most famous for is the first 4 issues of the run, which are generally referred to by fans as the TentaTodd story. Jason Todd turns up to run around annoying Dick by ALSO dressing up as Nightwing and committing crimes. He also turns into a tentacle monster for a bit. It is certainly a story that exists, but it actually is pretty in line with Jason and Dick's relationship up to Flashpoint: Jason turns up to be a brat who wants attention, does violent things, and Dick exhaustedly kicks the shit out of him and gets him locked up while despairingly going 'why is this my life'. Because of Jason running around killing people as Nightwing, the NYPD get mad at Nightwing and start trying to hunt him down. Jones is for the completionist.

Marv Wolfman: (Nightwing #125-137 1999) Lacking any better ideas, Wolfman gets a run on Nightwing. It's not Wolfman's finest work, to put it bluntly, and it's very obvious that Marv hasn't actually read any of Dixon or Grayson's runs. Marv does set Dick up working as a gymnastics and trapeze coach, which is always a decent job for him. If I had to pick one story from Wolfman, read Nightwing #127, where Dick gets buried alive and digs his way out of the grave.

Peter J. Tomasi: (Nightwing #140-157 1999, Batman & Robin #20-22 2011) Tomasi loves Dick Grayson, and particularly loves Dick's connection to his friends and family. Let me put it this way; in the lead up to Final Crisis and Blackest Night every title got an Origins and Omens short story on the back of an issue. Most books used it to write creepy or introspective reflections on awful stuff especially deaths that have happened to the characters. Tomasi used his to have Dick take Barbara skydiving for her birthday, and echo a bunch of themes from his first issue. I think this is one of the most mature and grown up looks at Dick prior to Flashpoint; Tomasi treats Dick as a grown adult with an adult relationship with Bruce. I love Freefall. Read Freefall to see some really interesting meta on Dick's relationship to the concept of falling and to the concept of catching falling people, a theme that's frequently present in his stories.

Grant Morrison: (Batman & Robin #1-16 2011) Astonishingly given how much of Reborn was designed by Morrison, they don't actually seem to care that much about Dick as a character more than as a prop to set Damian against. Dick's extremely focused on Damian in this title but also does not actually appear to like Damian very much. If I were going to recommend one story out of it I'd probably point to Batman & Robin #7-9, because Dick gets to be a giant hypocrite in them and tries to resurrect Bruce. It goes badly, for all involved.

Scott Snyder: (Detective Comics #871-881, Gates of Gotham, and like every Bat event during n52) The Black Mirror is probably my favourite piece of Dick!Batman storytelling set during Reborn. It's just elegant in terms of how hard Snyder pushes Dick and how his reactions are very much not those that Bruce would have. This is helpfully extremely obvious in that The Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham are actually part of a trilogy, the third act of which is Court of the Owls and due to Flashpoint Snyder had to rewrite CotO quite extensively including swapping Dick out of being Batman and having Bruce as the lead. Read The Black Mirror for Dick having a minor breakdown while solving a complex case with links to James Gordon and Babs. Read Gates of Gotham for incredible Dick & Tim & Cass & Damian fourway storytelling that shows the dynamics of every pairing out of the four.

Fabian Nicieza: (Nightwing #138-139 1999, Batman #703 & #713, parts of Battle for the Cowl, Nightwing #51-56 2016) The thing about FabNic is when he's on, he's very much on, and when he's not it can be painful. I actually almost would have skipped him on this list, but he very much deserves recognition for writing the Nightwing issues of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul, which alongside the Robin issues portray exactly how far Dick will go for Tim; and for Batman #703, which is the only issue prior to Bruce's resurrection that actually puts Dick, Tim and Damian on page together as heroes. He also got saddled with writing the start of the Ric Grayson saga under the script of Scott Lobdell, which, well, is definitely at the 'not well regarded' end of his oeuvre. FabNic is again a writer that is really good at character interaction, and I tend to find whenever I'm reading events where there's heaps of writers involved and he's there, the issues I really enjoy are the ones he's had a hand in.

Tony S. Daniel: (Battle for the Cowl, Batman #692-699 & #704-707 & #710-712) Oh, Tony Daniel. Why. Daniel's stories are probably the most classic-Batman of the Dick!Batman stories. His stories revolve a lot around drama at Arkham Asylum, with Harvey and Gilda Dent, and with the Falcones. On balance I think you could probably actually trade Dick out for Bruce in half these stories and it wouldn't make a huge amount of difference. If I were going to suggest one to try, maybe go with #710-712? It's Harvey focused and it has Kitrina Falcone and doesn't actually depend on the whole Jeremiah Arkham thing.

Kyle Higgins: (Nightwing #1-12, 0, & 15-29 2011) For a reboot of Dick Grayson down to his fundamentals, and working within the requirements of the 5 year time line, I like Higgins' work on Nightwing. Sure, I could have done without him burning down Haly's circus, again, and all the Court of the Owls revelations, but some of that was clearly dictated to him, and they way he gave Dick time as a teenager with relationships with other characters at Haly's before his parents died worked quite well. If I were going to cite a favourite part of this run it's probably the last section, #18-29 when Dick moves to Chicago and tries the 'strike out as my own hero with my own city, screw you dad' thing for the first time in the new timeline. Higgins put in quite a bit of cast building work and it's a shame none of it ever got used again between Forever Evil and then Rebirth just ignoring everything during this period.

Tom King and Tim Seeley: (Nightwing #30 2011, Grayson #1-20) I'm going to treat these two together here as I can't actually easily subdivide the run between them. This is the longest period Dick goes undercover working as a spy because his life has just gone to shit. He is both spying on Spyral (for Bruce) but also his job within Spyral is as a spy and special agent. Think James Bond, except Dick also gets to be the focus of the objectification camera. Some people enjoy it as a change of pace, some people can't stand it because it's just a very weird story for Dick and Dick's generally personally unhappy when he's stuck undercover, and it definitely is a highlight in the 'did you know Tom King worked for an intelligence agency? Tom King is working out his feelings about working for an intelligence agency again' oeuvre. If you want to try an issue, I recommend Grayson #5 as probably the best character and storytelling piece in the entire run.

Tim Seeley: (Nightwing #1-34) Good stuff I can say about Seeley's run includes that he used Rebirth as a impetus to rebuild Dick's status quo. He did quite a lot of world building for a new version of Bludhaven, he got Dick back into Nightwing and back into a blue V costume for the first time in 7 years, he's interested in looking at the Grayson family and not so much in terms of the Court of the Owls stuff. He likes Dick and Damian's time as Batman & Robin. Seeley's also a fan of a lot of character beats in terms of Dick's characterisation that were pioneered by Devin Grayson - particularly in terms of Dick being easily attracted to women, being impetuous and hot headed at times, and in the Romani retcon. I don't necessarily see eye to eye with Seeley on all of his characterisation and story choices, but he does a lot of repair work on getting Dick back to being Nightwing, including things like repeating beats from the Dixon and Grayson runs so that Dick has that backstory again, and what that means for his character. I might suggest Nightwing #8 2016, because it revolves around Bruce and Dick and the concept of falling (I'm a sucker for a good falling metaphor) or #9, which is literally a discussion of the changes between n52 and Rebirth with both of the Clark Kents, and in which Clark points Dick to return to Bludhaven (in a sort of re-encapsulation of Clark originally giving Dick the inspiration for the name Nightwing, but this time pointing him to what people treat as his default 'home'). If you like the shape of Dick as Bludhaven's hero from fic, you probably will find Seeley's run has stuff to enjoy.

Sam Humphries: (Nightwing #35-41 2016) So Humphries' storyline is another good example of what a lot of the current run of Nightwing contains since 2016 - reinterpretations and new versions of old stories. In this case, it's an adaption of the Hanging Judge storyline to have taken place in Bludhaven in Bruce and Dick's past. I don't mind it as a story, but it's definitely there to remind you of old story beats.

I haven't yet read Benjamin Percy's run, or any of Ric Grayson yet (which is a combination of Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza and Dan Jurgens), or Tom Taylor's run, so I don't want to give you too explicit opinions on these.

In general terms from experience on other titles and what other people have said: I really loved Benjamin Percy's Detective Comics #35-36 story in n52 and I suspect his Nightwing writing is a perfectly acceptable fill; nobody particularly likes the plot surrounding Ric Grayson, and the fact Scott Lobdell had a hand in plotting it seems to me to explain a bunch of the aspects of the scenario premise that upset a lot of people; Dan Jurgens is a DC workhorse who can turn his hand to anything; and Tom Taylor's run has been described as many as 'rewrite the arc of Devin Grayson's run but make it light and fluffy and free of consequences'. I honestly think if you haven't read much Nightwing yet, Taylor's run may be a good transition run to try to see if he's your vibe; I keep getting the impression he probably makes a good intro for new readers.

If you have any other writers you would like my impression of, please ask specifically; as I've said, Dick's been written by a LOT of people over the years.

[notrobinsomethingworse]

Dick: Happy Birthday Tim.

Tim: Yeah. Thanks.

Dick: How’s finally getting out of those teen years?

Damian: Don’t be absurd Grayson. Timothy is turning 17.

Dick: What? No he’s 20.

Tim: Aw first name?

Damian: It is my only gift to you.

Tim: Thanks Dames.

Dick: We are not changing the subject.

Jason: I dunno what to tell you dickbird. Baby birds turning the big one seven.

Dick: Jason you tired to kill him three years ago…

Jason, shrugs.

Steph: I mean he’s always been the little one. Even for me.

Dick: Steph he was the same age as you when you were dating…

Steph, shrugs: Can we have cake?

Tim: Hey! I haven’t blown the candles yet!

Dick, struggling: Cass… please.

Cass, ruffling Tim’s hair: little brother.

Tim: Aww thanks Cass.

Dick: Bruce come on. You gotta believe me.

Bruce: Hm

Tim: You did gaslight me for my 16th birthday. That was before Jason came.

Bruce, thoughtfully: Hm.

Dick: WHAT- No. I’m talking to both of you about that later. Tim is 20. It’s physically impossible for him to have been 17 FOR THREE YEARS.

[Varying degrees of staring]

Tim, whispering: Dick? Yeah kinda pointless doing this. I’ve tried before, they all just shrug it off.

Dick: What? So how old are you?

Tim: Probably 17? I’m starting to think I’m cursed or something honestly. I’m not too worried about it unless Damian starts becoming my older brother or something strange.

Dick: What.

Tim, nodding: Pretty sure I accidentally made a deal with the devil or something. Not quite sure. My memories a bit fuzzy on that year.

Dick: WHAT.

[starlingfawn]

through starless sky to blackest ground

[pinkiemachine]

I’ve scoured the internet for tidbits of info, such as: Dick’s favourite ice cream flavour is mint chocolate chip, Stephanie likes waffles, and Jason is a messy eater. But now I’d like to hear from you! What are some random batkid facts that you know? Or, what random/embarrassing/interesting facts do YOU think should be canon? Like, should Tim be allergic to avocados? Does Duke have any secret hobbies? Should Stephanie randomly know how to juggle six beanie babies at once? Comment your thoughts!

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Deathstroke kept working at the lock on the upstairs window while talking to him, calling him "Nightwings secret son" in the creepiest voice Danny has ever heard as Danny watched him from the computer monitor. This guy had been trying to break in and kidnap Danny for days but the house keeps fighting him off and Danny was on his very first stay-cation away from ghosts. He wasn't going to deal with this wierdo if he could avoid it.

He had put a lot of work into setting this up. He and Jazz had convinced thier parents to go to a two week occult conference in Fawcett City and leave Danny home alone while Jazz was off taking collage classes in Central City in hopes that it will help her get into her dream collage when she turns 18. Danny even sent Vlad on a while goose chase that sent him into the path of that trench coat guy people kept warning him about before shutting down the portals.

Danny refuses to let all of his effort go to waste and the house is pretty well defended so he decided to just use this as entertainment as he munches on dry cereal.

They didn't have any popcorn in the house and he's not leaving with captain crazy still out there.

Eventually Danny gets bored and @s Nightwing on Chirper simply telling him that Deathstroke was trying to kidnap him and it has something to do with Nightwing. He sends him a fail compilation video of all the times Deathstroke failed to get into the house and getting progressively more angry. The last video showed Deathstroke absolutely enraged.

Danny thought that Nightwing probably had a similar situation with Deathstroke that Danny himself have with Vlad and that he'd laugh and show it to all his superhero friends and they'd mock him together.

He was not expecting half of the batclan in Amity Park 3 hours later. Nor was he expecting to get kidnapped by the bats the moment he was out of the house.

He was most upset by everyone calling him a dick though. Was what he did really that bad? Talking back to adults usually didn't get him anywhere so he just kept quiet and went with them, expecting to have to give testimony to the police or something.

[foolilazuli]

Roy: Oh hey, Damian, what’s up?

Damian: Stay out of my brother’s pants, you pervert

Roy: Wtf???

[hmslusitania]

i loveee your ✨mostly crack✨ fic idea and i'm wondering... do you have any other dickroy headcanons (&/or fic recs)?

Firstly thank you so very much 🤩🥰

As far as headcanons hmm idk it’s difficult because I either ship them as a thing that happened when they were teenagers or as a “Roy’s got two hands and he’s using both of them to chase after his daughter and make sure she’s okay while Dick and Donna hang onto the straps of his quiver” kind of way.

But okay like one, obviously, and this is probably canon and I’m just eliding a panel from my memory but, Dick absolutely helps teach Lian gymnastics and acrobatics.

Also Dick and Roy tend to have this competitive edge between them over leadership and secret identities and usually being the only people on their shared team without actual superpowers and that competitiveness absolutely carries over into any romantic relationship they have and it’s the same kind of competition bullshit but like it’s A Thing now.

Also as adults, many of the OG Titans will occasionally revert back to bratty nicknames for each other from when they were all fourteen (canon) but I think the first time Roy calls Dick “short pants” in public after they’ve hooked up, Dick just like. Blue screens.

And like, Dick is not known for being a man who has flings but Roy kind of is, and so I think most of their friends would assume this is just a short-lived whatever, maybe make some off-colour joke about how their whole competitive dick-measuring contest has gotten out of hand — surely they could’ve just gotten Huntress and Kory to compare notes? — and it’s their mutual grave offence at this entire suggestion that does actually make both of them realise “oh shit this is real.”

[superbat-lmao]

Pt. 4 of this (now showing in select theaters near you).

Bruce's recovery took longer than he wanted it to.

The people that shared in the why of how long his recovery took were unabashed at his anger and frustration. Namely, Alfred and Clark. Although he had the distinct feeling that Dick, Barbara and Jason were also less susceptible to his thoughts on the matter. In that order.

Part of Bruce's initial training with the League had involved sensory deprivation. Compared to everything else, martialing his mind had been easy compared to the other types of endurance he had tested himself against. But then, he had only his own safety to contend with, back in the beginning.

Now, it was as though some spiraling thing lived inside him and could not be contained. It threatened at all times to come crashing out into the open, this nameless and painful feeling. He had seen Dick, standing before him in the cave as though part of a dream, and all Bruce could feel was this thing welling in his chest. At seeing his ward so close and unable to prevent him from leaving.

It had taken Dick being shot to realize it, that Bruce's ability to martial his thoughts slipped and shattered entirely if his safety was threatened. If Dick's life was at risk.

And Bruce couldn't shove this thing down. He had been fighting against it but it was a losing battle. Firing Dick from Robin had sated it for a moment until Dick had taken back to the scene as Nightwing. With Clark's blessing, no less.

He had no where to put this feeling, this desperate grief and fear of loss. This vulnerability.

For as much as it fought against him, standing there, high on painkillers in the cold recycled air, he had been unable to say anything. From the look on Dick's face, there was nothing he could have said.

The next morning, from the look on Clark's face, he hadn't said enough.

Like a trick knee, Bruce's barometer for reading Clark could always tell when a storm was coming. And one had been long due since he'd fired Robin.

Unlike Jason, who told Bruce in plain terms exactly what he needed from him, back before he knew Batman was Bruce, Clark and Dick were more circuitous in their anger and demands. Jason asked for things he could provide, like the inane chatter he had learned to do as Brucie, or for him to make his footsteps louder, or listen to him talk about books. There was no implication that Bruce had been expected to know this, just that once Jason asked, he try to stick to it. It felt like finally he could do something right for his children.

The feeling of accomplishment chaffed against Clark asking him to voice things he couldn't name, much less describe. And Dick, demanding he not just to accept his reckless behavior, but to encourage it. Unthinkable and unnamable things. Intangible. He didn't know where to begin in his thoughts, much less finding the words. And even if he did try and voice the thing in him screaming for Dick to be safe, it came out as taking away the mantle of Robin. Doing perhaps, more harm than good since now Dick was alone and unprotected in a city where he wouldn't willingly call Bruce for backup.

With the discomfort in his shoulder bled through the dawning realization that Bruce didn't know how to repair his relationship with Dick. That for once, he may have well and truly broken something he lacked the skill to rebuild.

It was on his mind incessantly, like sand on desert winds it grit through his thoughts, ever present even as they changed direction this way and that. He could finish reading no report without seeing the blank look Dick had leveled at Jason laying on the couch, quiet and warm next to him. Bruce knew only one person he could have learned that from.

But as much as he agonized over it, there was no solution.

The nightlife was too dangerous for his children. He could not risk them in his crusade. If he could find the words to tell Dick how much he feared losing him, only then would he be able to convince him to give it up. But he didn't have the words.

And that was how he healed. Slowly, and with much on his mind.

Only when Jason was asleep would he spend time in the cave with Clark, going over reports and sitting through his endless needling about Dick.

Clark handled his shifts as the Bat with his usual annoying grace. Reports written with the same fastidiousness he illustrated at the Daily Planet but his filing had the same quirks as when he worked at the Watchtower. File names and organization that he knew would make Bruce twitch. Because it was fine. Just fine. But not as Bruce would have done it. Which the man damn well knew.

What Clark had handled with less grace was Jason's presence and Dick's lack thereof.

It was why Bruce kept him in the cave. Jason had handled the topic of him being a superhero, but was still skittish around unknown adult men. Clark, with all his sensitivity as Superman, rarely reigned in some of his more enigmatic qualities, things that Dick had loved about him. In this regard, Jason was Dick's opposite and until Bruce was back on his feet, he couldn't handle the emotional clash between Clark and Jason. Jason's feelings of safety were hard won, and he wouldn't endanger that by bringing someone into their home who he clearly disagreed with and could be combative towards.

And they were definitely combative.

So Bruce was split in two. One half in the cave, listening over comms as his ward and teammate bantered and handled his city with a lightness that made him squint. And the other half, upstairs, stationary and confined but not alone.

He settled into the fact that he would have only Jason within arm's reach for the foreseeable future.

The only aspect of the nightlife that Jason remained interested in was checking up on his friends from the alley. Everything else was hit or miss. The current hits so far were Wonder Woman, the Batmobile, and Batgirl.

The current misses were Nightwing, "Batman", and patrol reports he and Alfred would loosely discuss since Alfred also had him in the dog house.

It was clear to him that everyone, save Jason, was unhappy with him about how he talked to Dick. Or didn't talk to Dick.

In fact, little progress was made on that front until Bruce's recovery was far enough along that he went out himself.

Until he was standing on a rooftop, watching Nightwing and "Batman" standing together on another rooftop, talking quietly between themselves.

In the silence, he remained still, even as he heard footsteps next to him.

When he turned, it was to the distinct outline of Batgirl against the Gotham skyline.

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. 5 (sold separately)

[noir-renard]

You gotta be careful when visiting Gotham, make sure you put dirt under your pillow. Just ask anyone it's a thing.

original audio by cartervailmusic on tiktok

[ghost-bxrd]

(Don't know if this was asked already but)

What are the Titan's first reaction to Dick calling to them in owl hoots?

And what's their reaction to Batman answering Dick the same way?

At first he wouldn’t make any birds sounds around them at all, opting to wear contacts and talk as little as possible.

The first time they witness the bird sounds would probably be in response to Robin hijacking the comms after Dick didn’t check in with him at the alotted time, suddenly Nightwing is just standing off to the side, hooting and chirping softly in the the comms.

The titans are definitely confused because??? They thought Nightwing was human???? But apparently the name means something after all so whatever. If they can have an alien on the team then a bird-man-whatever is nothing. And Dick, upon seeing that they really don’t care at all, starts making bird sounds more frequently around them. And the Titans likewise learn to interpret some of the sounds (“look!” Is a sharp hoot, “stop!” a chittering hiss, and “nice-move-but-I’m-going-to-show-you-where-it-really-hurts-now” is an amused little chirrup).

The real surprise is Batman and Robin responding to Nightwing with the same sort of bird sounds and it takes them a good moment to realize that—- yep, “tall-dark-and-scary” just hooted at him like an owl. And now, apparently he’s not mocking him because Nightwing appears very happy about it and Robin also makes those weird little cheeps and trills that genuinely don’t sound like they should be coming from a human throat at all and—-

Yep, now Nightwing is??? Cuddling Robin???? Is that a thing?????? And making the softest bird noises yet?????? (One of the Titans definitely tries approaching them but the dead stare Dick gives them makes them backtrack very quickly. The message is clear: no approaching Robin.)

((Jason meanwhile jabs Dick in the ribs hard and pointedly makes his way over to the Titans to cheerfully say hello and let them know that if anything happens to Nightwing on their watch, he’s going to become their worst nightmare. The Titans are reluctantly impressed but also very much aware that Nightwing is still giving them that eerily blank stare that promises a world of pain if anybody even thinks about harming a hair on Robin’s head. Like they ever would. Batman’s wrath alone wouldn’t be worth it, but now they’re starting to see that Nightwing might be even scarier than him.

Wally eventually takes one for the team and introduces himself to Jason, offering to share some silly stories about Nightwing from their last mission and eat ice cream.The speedster is the first Titan to get his individual bird call.))

The Titans obviously aren’t going to question Batman hooting at Nightwing (no way, they value their skeletal integrity thank you very much) but that day, many wild rumors and speculations about Batman are born, some them gaining enough attention that JLA hear of them.

None of them want to ask, but the running bet is either that the Batfamily are all metas with bird characteristics (“It explains how they can stomach swinging through the city like that Roy! They’re meant to have wings, but now they have to compensate!”), or that they’re secretly some kind of eldritch entities that embody all the weirdness of Gotham City (“No Donna, think about it, it makes sense! Remember all those random owl statues and carvings around the city? They’re literally an embodiment of that cursed place!”)

[violentdick]

-source: Batman (1940) #17-

Weapon of Choice: "Weren't always so friendly." Yeah, I'd say attempting genocide against a wide breadth of people isn't really friendly.

[littlefankingdom]

~ Nightwing (2016)

Bruce gets worried if he doesn't have any news of his children frequently, even Dick who is nearly 30 years old. He needs to know they are alive and well. Also, it's a deep worry he cannot hide from the public, and this man is a master of the art of "hiding your emotions".

When Dick is mad at Bruce, he still send news to Alfred, because Alfred worries too. If Dick isn't checking in with Alfred, that means he is talking to Bruce (at this moment in this issue, Dick is drugged and unconscious)

It's also when he is mad at Bruce that Dick gets in bigger troubles, and is too stubborn and angry to ask for help, which make the worries worse. Bruce knows it his own fault if his son gets in danger but doesn't call him.

Bruce is a dumbass that has difficulties letting his children go, and cannot communicate to save his life, but we knew that.

Where is the Bat make-up line, DC? After the Batliner, the Batshadow, now the Brucie Foundation.

[pinkiemachine]

Hey. Pst! DC Lore Masters. Got a sec?

K, so like, I’ve seen Teen Titans… and some of Young Justice… but I’m interested in the comics.

See these guys up here? These guys specifically (Robin/Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, and Cyborg), what’s the condensed version of each of their stories? Is there a way to condense it? Is there even a story to condense?

I’m familiar with Raven’s story—half demon, Trigon wants to use her to end the world, blah blah blah, etc etc—and I know some of Starfire’s origins on Tamaran and Beast Boy’s past with the Doom Patrol, and of course there’s Dick Grayson which I know most of the story already, but like… especially Cyborg, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl… what are their stories? Who are their arch nemeses? What journey do they go on? How do they grow as people? Am I asking the wrong questions? I am just curious, and Google isn’t helping me rn…

Thanks…

[voiider]

fake psychic Tim but its just. its just psych. Jason dies and batman goes off the deep end so Tim (instead of becoming robin) starts going ham on the 'tips to the police' bc if the police can deal with the smaller crimes then Tim doesn't have to worry about batman killing a petty thief.

Except he's running himself into the ground and he starts getting sloppy bc he's giving the local police info, and bludhaven info (bc dick) AND probably giving Nightwing info when he can and someone catches him or he leaves a paper trail and then Officer Dick Grayson apprehends him and takes him in for questioning and Tim is like "you can't talk to me without my parents or a lawyer present, I'm a minor. And my parents are in Guatemala, so you better call my lawyer."

and Dick is like "kid you're not in trouble i just need to know who's giving you this information." Because there is NO WAY this kid isn't working with someone. Someone who is using a child to drop off information, which while noble to help the police, is putting this child in danger and tim is like, pretty offended actually. That it's being implied that he COULDN'T do this himself.

So he's like "im not working for anyone."

and Dick is like "you have to be getting the info from somewhere. I just wanna help."

and Tim is like AUGH ADULTS "I just- i figured it out on my own" and its CLEAR that Dick doesn't believe him which is, first off, super insulting, never meet your heroes, and second he shouldn't be talking anyway or admit that he goes out at night or Dick will do something stupid like try to make him stop. So he's like (rolling eyes) "I'm psychic. Are you happy? Can I have my phone call now?"

[call-me-oracle]

barbara gordon in batman: urban legends #2 (ghost in the machine)

bonus:

[thenonbinarydetective]

You wanna know something that bothers me about how some people suggest Flamebird as an identity for Jon, but solely base that decision on Damian being Nightwing

Like if you know anything about Superman, Nightwing and Flamebird are the Fable of the House of El. So it’s just so weird to make Jon taking up a title that’s important to HIS family dependent on Damian taking another title that’s important to the House of El.

I don’t want this to sound like a weird slight against Dick because we know he got the name from Superman and he honors it. Cause I feel like someone might somehow misconstrue this as a slight against human taking a Kryptonian name when it’s not that at all

I’m really only talking about how whenever I see Flamebird!Jon it’s more about Damian than Jon honoring his Kryptonian heritage.