Publication history of Dick Grayson

Dick continues his adventures with Batman and begins studying law at Hudson University. However, Robin loses interest in his studies and starts to take on solo missions, and finds himself to be a capable crime-fighter. Shortly afterward, the mysterious Raven summons Dick Grayson and several other young heroes to form a new group of Titans. Robin assumes leadership and moves out of the shadow of his mentor.

Dick, now 19, realizes at that point that he has grown up: he no longer relies on Batman, and he and the Dark Knight disagree on crime-fighting methodology. Robin's newfound independence and Titans' duties in New York leave less time for his former commitments in Gotham. He also drops out of Hudson after only one semester. Dick also rediscovers his self-worth among the Titans. Batman, however, is less than pleased. He informs Grayson that if he no longer wants to be his partner, then Dick would have to retire as Robin. Furious, hurt, resigned, and confused, Dick Grayson left Wayne Manor—but not for the last time. Helping him through this difficult time are his fellow Titans, including Starfire, a beautiful alien with whom Dick eventually falls in love. He hands over leadership of the Titans to Wonder Girl and takes a leave of absence from the team.

Dick Grayson as Nightwing, from Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (1984)

In Pre-Crisis continuity, the "parting" between Dick and Batman is entirely amicable. Dick passes the mantle of Robin over to Jason Todd voluntarily, in a memorable scene wherein he states that "Robin will always be the second part of Batman and..." Bruce gives every impression of being pleased with his ward's coming of age, and maintains this attitude until the Post-Crisis retcon that rewrites the origin of Jason Todd and the circumstances of Dick's departure from the role.

In the Pre-Crisis continuity, the maturing Dick Grayson grows weary of his role as Batman's young sidekick. He re-names himself Nightwing, recalling his adventure in the Kryptonian city of Kandor, where he and Batman meet the local hero of the same name.

Nightwing: Secret Files and Origins #1 and Nightwing: Year One tell the full Post-Zero Hour version of how Dick Grayson gives up his identity as Robin (having been "fired" by Batman). Uncertain what to do with his newfound independence, Dick considers giving up fighting crime to study law, but he could not imagine his life any other way. Turning to someone that he knows would understand, Dick asks Superman what he should be, if not Robin. In reply, Superman tells a tale of long ago on Krypton, about a man who was cast out of his family, just like Dick. He dreamed of a world ruled by justice and set out to protect the helpless and victimized as Nightwing. Dick then decides to honor the legendary Kryptonian by renaming himself Nightwing. This tale retroactively erases the notion that anyone else before Grayson and Bette Kane ever held the titles of Nightwing and Flamebird, except for the birds and the legendary figures named after them.

In an adventure in which all of his Titans teammates are captured by Deathstroke the Terminator and delivered to the H.I.V.E., Dick reveals his new identity of Nightwing and helps to free them with the help of Jericho. Grayson finally moves out of the shadow of the Bat and would lead the Titans through some hard times.

Bruce and Dick would remain at odds with each other for a long time due to each having feelings of betrayal for each other and neither accepting the blame. Following the death of Jason Todd, the animosity between the two increased. Nightwing would be sought out by Tim Drake, wishing for him to reprise his role as Robin. Dick's refusal would lead to Tim wishing to become Robin and Dick returning to the Batcave to plead Drake's case. He is recalled to the Titans when many members are abducted by the Wildebeest Society, his relationship with Starfire becomes strained and he is called back to Gotham, but he proposes to wed her. The wedding ceremony is interrupted by Trigon who forces Starfire to leave Earth. It is during this time that Dick is given his new costume.

Dick Grayson assumes the role of Batman during the "Prodigal" storyline; from Batman #513 (Dec. 1994), art by Mike Gustovich

Following Starfire's abandonment of Earth, Dick returns to Gotham to find Bruce Wayne paralyzed after losing a brutal fight with Bane. Their relationship is once again worsened when Dick finds that Bruce did not leave the mantle of the bat to him, but rather the unstable Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael). After Bruce returns as Batman, Dick finds he has no place in Gotham and returns to the Titans where he once again feels abandoned, due to Arsenal being placed as the new leader, and is forced to return to Gotham. There he finds Bruce once again feeling his back pains and reluctantly asks Dick to substitute as Batman, being his prodigal son. Much like he did with Jason, Dick grows a little brother bond with Tim Drake and lays demons to rest when he defeats Two-Face. When Bruce is well enough to return to action, Dick returns to action as Nightwing and begins to restore his bond with Bruce.

In 1996, following the success of the miniseries, DC Comics launched a monthly solo series featuring Nightwing (written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Scott McDaniel), in which he patrols Gotham City's neighboring municipality of Blüdhaven.

Upon the request of Batman, Dick journeys to the city of Blüdhaven to stop the gangster Black Mask. He then becomes the arch-enemy of the gargantuan genius Blockbuster. Dick decides to stay in Blüdhaven until he destroys Blockbuster's drug cartel. After Cyborg is put in danger by a galactic threat, Dick reunites the Teen Titans to rescue him. They reform as the Titans, but Dick is pulled away to Gotham City when it is declared a No Man's Land. Following the recuperation of Gotham, Dick stays active as both the leader of the Titans and stays in Blüdhaven, but after the JLA disappears, Dick is named the leader of a new League. Following the deaths of Lilith and Troia, Dick officially disbands the Teen Titans, though Tim Drake would re-found them years later. Dick then returns to Blüdhaven and becomes more and more like Bruce, straining his relationships and eventually blurring the line between being a police officer and a vigilante. The vigilante known as the Tarantula then kills the Blockbuster, and Dick refuses to save him, something that haunts him to the point of temporarily retiring from crime-fighting.[2] At length, Nightwing shakes himself from his depression and takes responsibility for his inaction. He captures the Tarantula and turns himself in to the police. Amy, however, feels the world needs Nightwing free and so prevents him from being charged.

Due to a crisis of conscience, Dick adopts the new villainous persona of the Renegade in order to infiltrate Lex Luthor's (Alexander Luthor Jr. in disguise) Secret Society of Super Villains. This ruse includes Nightwing aligning himself with his long-time enemy Deathstroke in order to track the manufacturing and distribution of Bane's Venom serum and to keep tabs on the Society's activities in Gotham and Blüdhaven. He also begins training (and subtly converting) Deathstroke's daughter the Ravager.

Deathstroke takes revenge on Nightwing when Blüdhaven is destroyed by the Society. The Society drops the supervillain Chemo on the city, killing 100,000 people. Dick tries to rescue survivors, but is overcome by radiation poisoning, only to be rescued himself by Batman. Nightwing confides that he let the Blockbuster die and asks Batman to forgive him. Batman tells him that his forgiveness does not matter; Dick has to move beyond the Blockbuster's death. Inspired by his mentor, he proposes to Barbara Gordon, who tearfully accepts his proposal with a kiss.

Batman then entrusts Nightwing to alert other heroes about the danger that the Crisis poses. Dick flies to Titans Tower, but due to the chaos resulting from the Blüdhaven disaster, the OMAC onslaught, and other Crisis-related events, the only hero who answers his call is Conner Kent. They are soon after joined by Wonder Girl. Together, they locate and attack Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s tower, the center of the Crisis, only to be repelled by Superboy-Prime. Prime is ready to kill Nightwing when Conner intervenes, sacrificing himself to destroy the tower, ending the destruction of the universe.

During the Battle of Metropolis, Nightwing suffers a near-fatal injury from Alexander Luthor Jr. when he attempts to save Batman's life. Originally, the editors at DC intended to have Dick Grayson killed in Infinite Crisis as Newsarama revealed from the DC Panel at WizardWorld Philiadelphia:[3]

It was again explained that Nightwing was originally intended to die in Infinite Crisis, and that you can see the arc that was supposed to end with his tragic death in the series. After long discussions, the death edict was finally reversed, but the decision was made that, if they were going to be keeping him, he would have to be changed. The next arc of the ongoing series will further explain the changes, it was said.

Saved by the Justice Society, Nightwing recovers with Barbara at his side. As soon as he is able to walk again, Batman asks him to join him and Robin in retracing Bruce's original journey in becoming the Dark Knight. While Nightwing is hesitant, due to his engagement with Barbara, she encourages him to go and returns his engagement ring so he can make an honest decision for himself. Barbara feels that it is important he rediscover himself, and until he does, they are not yet ready to be married. They part on good terms, though, before he departs. Dick leaves her an envelope containing a photograph of them as Robin and Batgirl, along with the engagement ring on a chain and a note promising he will come back to her one day.[4]

Soon after his journey with Batman and Robin ends, Nightwing returns to Gotham, following Intergang's trail. He works with the new Batwoman and Renee Montoya to stop Intergang from destroying Gotham, shutting off dozens of fire-spewing devices spread across the city.

One year later, Dick Grayson returns to New York City (his previous home base with the Teen Titans) in order to find out who has been masquerading as Nightwing. The murderous impostor turns out to be the former Robin, Jason Todd. Grayson leads the Outsiders once again, operating undercover and globally.

Nightwing follows an armored thief named Raptor, whom he suspects is responsible for a series of murders. Later, Raptor himself is murdered in a manner similar to the other victims by an unseen contract killer, who proceeds to bury Grayson alive. Nightwing frees himself, wondering the relation between his experience and a mysterious voice who tells him that he is "supposed to be dead". Nightwing is having trouble finding things to keep him busy during the day due to the cast on his right arm. Incapacitated from his injuries, he tries without luck to find jobs, which forces him to take a job as a low-paid acrobatic instructor at a local gym, and continues to research into the mysterious assassin.

At one point, Dick agrees to attend a party for Bruce and their relationship seems to flourish. Bruce praises Dick for his success on the Raptor case, and also mentions to look into the Landman Building which hosted ex-Lexcorp scientists; most likely those who worked on the Raptor project. Dick also continues to keep a close brotherly relationship with Tim Drake, and helps Tim deal with his many losses during the last year.

After dealing with the Raptor issue, NYC is plagued by a villainous duo called Bride and Groom. Nightwing begins pursuit of these two after some grisly murders, including that of the Lorens family (close friends of his after the Raptor incident). Dick began to get obsessed with finding them, not knowing how far he was willing to go to take them down. Eventually, he formed a makeshift team with some "villains" to find them. They located them, and after killing some of his "team," Nightwing chased them to a cave, where Bride began a cave-in and the two are trapped there.

Nightwing, along with a group of former Titans, are summoned again by Raven to aid the current group of Teen Titans battle against Deathstroke, who was targeting the latest team in order to get at his children, the Ravager and the resurrected Jericho. Nightwing and the other former Titans continue to work with the current team soon after the battle with Deathstroke so as to investigate the recent murder of Duela Dent.

When the Outsiders were targeted by Checkmate, Nightwing agrees that his team will work with the organization, so long as their actions in Africa are not used against them in the future. The mission, however, does not go as well as intended, resulting in Nightwing, the Black Queen and Captain Boomerang being captured by Chang Tzu. Later, Batman is called in by Mister Terrific who then rescues Nightwing and the others. Afterwards, Nightwing admits to Batman, that while he accepts that he is an excellent leader, he is not suited to lead a team like the Outsiders, and offers the leadership position to Batman.

Batman accepts the position; however, he feels that the team needs to be remade, in order to accomplish the sorts of missions that he intends them to undertake. As such, he holds a series of try-outs for the team. The first audition involves Nightwing and Captain Boomerang, who are sent to a space station under attack by Chemo. During the mission, a confrontation erupts between Nightwing and Boomerang, who has grown tired of fighting for redemption from people like Batman and Nightwing. After taking a beating from Nightwing, he manages to throw him into a shuttle heading for Earth and quits the team. Afterwards, Nightwing furiously confronts Batman. Batman does not deny his actions, and states that this is the sort of thing that the new Outsiders will have to deal with. At this, Nightwing resigns completely from the Outsiders, which Batman feels is best, judging Nightwing too good for that sort of life.

In order to help himself regain a sense of purpose, Nightwing opted to stay in New York again, and play the role of the city's protector. He takes on a job as a museum curator; and uses the museum as his new base of operations. During his short time there, Dick finds himself once again confronted with Two-Face, who years ago delivered Dick's greatest defeat. This time, however, Dick soundly defeats Two-Face.

Nightwing joins a new team of Titans, with the same roster of the New Teen Titans, to stop an as-yet unnamed offspring of Trigon from enacting his vengeance over Raven and the Titans of every generation. Nightwing yet again leads the team, and they manage to stop the sons of Trigon from accomplishing their first attempt at global destruction and again a few days later.

Following the defeat of Trigon's sons, the Titans are approached by Jericho, who had been stuck inhabiting the body of Match, Superboy's clone. The Titans managed to free Jericho, but found themselves once again in trouble, because Jericho's mind had become splintered due to all the bodies he had possessed in the past. Torn between evil and good, Jericho possesses Nightwing's body in order to keep from being captured. During this time, Jericho forces Nightwing to relive all of his greatest pains. Soon afterward the JLA arrived, intent on taking Jericho in, but they fail to apprehend him.

Following this, Nightwing decides to leave the team again, due to the events of the "Batman R.I.P." storyline and Batman's apparent death, as Nightwing feels his attention is better aimed at protecting Gotham City. Before leaving, Starfire asked Dick if he still has any feelings for her. Starfire reveals Dick's answer to Donna Troy that he has moved on.[5]

As a precursor to "Batman R.I.P.", at the New York Comic Con 2008, DC Comics gave away pins featuring Nightwing, Jason Todd, and Hush with the words "I Am Batman" beneath them.

During the story-line, Nightwing is ambushed by the International Club of Villains. He is later seen in Arkham Asylum, frothing at the mouth and presumably drugged, believed by the staff to be Pierrot Lunaire, a member of the Club. Scheduled for an experimental lobotomy by Arkham himself, he is spared by the Club of Villains taking hold of the asylum, wanting to use him and Jezebel Jet, Bruce's fiancé at the time, as bait.

As Jezebel's capture is revealed to be a red herring, due to her being a part of the Black Glove, Nightwing's lobotomy is still pending, but he manages to escape by besting Le Bossu, and joining the fray between the Batman Family, the International Club of Heroes and the Black Glove itself. While he is forced to witness Batman's dragging down Simon Hurt's helicopter and seemingly die in a fiery explosion with his foe, he is shown holding Batman's cowl and cape, discarded during the fight.

Following the events of Batman's apparent death during Final Crisis, Nightwing has closed down shop in New York so as to return to Gotham, having inherited Wayne Manor and Wayne Enterprises per Bruce's will, much to Damian Wayne's dismay. He has opted to give up on having a normal job, and instead intends to put all his effort into protecting the city. After his returns he confronts Two-Face and Ra's al Ghul, proving to two of his mentor's greatest enemies that he is an equal to Batman after he defeated them. Dick then finds himself in charge of having to raise Damian Wayne, but at the time the two do not bond well.

In the following weeks Dick becomes far less emotional, unapproachable and uncontrollable. He lashes out at Tim, Damian and even Alfred at times and is mostly seen in his spare time mourning the loss of Bruce. Despite Alfred trying to explain to Dick that he is Bruce's prodigal son, Dick refuses to take up the mantle. After Jason Todd takes up the mantle himself, it is revealed that Bruce told Dick not to become Batman as he believed that Dick could carry the torch as Nightwing.[6] After a long fought battle with Jason, Dick decides that enough is enough and with Damian Wayne as Robin, Dick becomes Batman.[7]

Dick Grayson as Batman. Promotional art for Batman and Robin #1 (June 2009), art by Frank Quitely

Initially, many but Alfred were distrusting of Dick as Batman, even Superman. However, Superman grows to appreciate Dick taking over his "father's" cowl. Damian, though being the new Robin, is distrusting as well and decides to take the cowl of Robin in his own direction to make the character more independent from Batman. Despite his best efforts, Damian still falls short of Dick's skill when he fails to stop Doctor Phosphorus in Project Cadmus only to be saved by Dick. Dick then apprehends the Scarecrow, who nevertheless manages to escape the GCPD due to the help of the Black Mask.

Three weeks from when Dick donned the cowl, Two-Face figures out that there is a new man as Batman and hires a teleporter to attack Dick at the Batcave. With the help of Alfred, Dick manages convince Two-Face that he is the original Batman. Thus Two-Face flees from the Batcave, but Dick uncovers a jump-drive containing a case file of his parents.[8][9] However, this discovery is never resolved.

Dick and Damian later apprehend a new villain known as Mr. Toad. Following, they take down Professor Pyg and his Dollotron army, however, one is taken in, secretly, by Jason Todd. Dick then battles the Firefly, who has broken free of the control of the Black Mask. Black Mask is saved by Zsasz who is in turn rewarded money to be able to make people kill themselves. Taking advantage of the havoc caused by the Firefly, Hush manages to escape the confines of Wayne Manor and poses as Bruce Wayne, this causes Dick to have the Outsiders put tabs on him. Dick then investigates more into the Black Mask case and discovers a plot involving an invisible man, Man-Bat and the Huntress, which he manages to thwart at the last minute.

Dick's actions as the new Batman garner the attention of many and he is officially "crowned" the new Batman. He is then further offered a spot on the new Justice League of America. He readily accepts the proposition. However, due to his responsibilities in Gotham he acts as a part-time member of the new JLA.[10] In Gotham, Dick diverts his attention from the gangsters and begins to investigate a murder involving the new Azrael. He teams up with Azrael to stop the murderer, Amon, and stops the latter from killing Robin.[11]

When Mario Falcone returns to Gotham, the mob begins to make a comeback, Dick returns to focusing on the Black Mask problem, discovering the National Guard to have pushed him into Devil's Square. Manhunter apprehends Two-Face and is about to kill him before Dick and Damian manage to stop her, but Two-Face's trial goes awry, and the latter is pushed out of Gotham by Black Mask. As the mob attacks Black Mask, Dick is attacked by Hugo Strange, Dr. Death and the Reaper all attacking the National Guard and the mob, having had incorporated Penguin's gang into his, Dick has a tougher time. He manages to, however, stop the Black Mask, discovering it to be Jeremiah Arkham, and pay more attention to Victor Zsasz's criminal activities.

Jason Todd and his Dollotron, dubbed Scarlet, then attack Dick and Damian, but the four are in turn attacked by the Flamingo whom they manage to defeat, but results in Damian being temporarily paralyzed. Dick then once again proves himself to be Jason's superior and apprehends the former Robin and imprisons him in Arkham and frees Scarlet of her Dollotron mask. Before Jason goes to jail, he suggests Dick revive Bruce via the Lazarus Pit, which Dick heads off to do, but finds Bruce's corpse missing. Blackest Night occurs and Dick forces himself to team up with Deadman to save Gotham from the zombie threat, they do so by freezing Gotham with Mr. Freeze's ice gun, which causes the zombies to relocate.

While many of the super-heroes realize that the corpse found is not Bruce's, Dick being unsure decides to carry out Jason's suggestion and revive Bruce's corpse. However, the creature that emerges is murderous and unintelligible, Darkseid's perfect clone of Batman, Dick fights the corpse but is severely overcome. Eventually, the corpse makes its way back to Gotham where it finds Damian, but before it can kill its "sons", it collapses and dies.[12]

Dick's relationship with Damian then grows to a brotherly bond as Damian now accepts Dick as a son of Wayne, but is strained after Damian attacks Dick, later revealed to be controlled by Deathstroke in an attempt to sway Damian back to Talia al Ghul. Working together, Dick and Damian manage to defeat Deathstroke and Damian, shocked by his mother's methods, refuses to go with her and stays with Dick. The two then finish working on Victor Zsasz's criminal activities, which Damian manages to put a stop to.

Tim Drake then returns to Gotham City with the new JLA, giving Dick proof that Bruce Wayne is alive and well, but trapped inside the past. Out of rage, Dick would abandon the Justice League citing them to not get involved in his personal life after spending so much time working on their own lives. Dick then apprehends Oberon Sexton, whom he reveals to be the Joker, assassinating members of the Black Glove and finds out that Professor Pyg's virus is being carried as a Trojan Virus.

Dick and Damian then begin a final assault against the Black Glove and find a cure for Pyg's virus, which they transmit, but are attacked by the Black Glove at the Batcave. Hurt shoots Dick in the head, and attempts to sway Damian to his side, but the two reveal themselves to have been stalling and take down Hurt, who is then killed by the Joker. Bruce Wayne then returns to the past and helps the new Dynamic Duo take down the Joker, whom they send to Arkham, though the latter manages to escape.

Bruce's return prompts Batman Incorporated, leaving Dick as the Batman of Gotham City as Bruce heads out internationally to create other Batmen for cities globally. Dick and Damian continue to investigate cases in Gotham, such as one against Absence, a criminal who attacks Bruce Wayne's former girlfriends. They manage to defeat Absence, but are unable to capture him. They then assist in the transfer of Jason Todd from Arkham Asylum, but the transfer goes awry when Todd is attacked by mercenaries, once again they fail to capture Todd after they defeat the mercenaries.

Following this, Dick temporarily moves to Paris to train the French-Algerian Batman of Paris, Nightrunner. Dick then assists Bruce to solve the case to find out who the Leviathan is and why they are attacking Batman Incorporated, until it was revealed to be Damian's mother, Talia al Ghul all along, and his final case as Batman is finding out the murders of James Gordon Jr., the commissioner's son. Following all this, Bruce returns to Gotham and Dick resumes his tenure as Nightwing.

In the "Agent of Spyral" storyline, Dick (known as Agent 37) is enlisted by Mister Minos, the director of Spyral, after having been chosen by Helena Bertinelli to serve as a new candidate. However, Dick serves as a mole under Batman due to their agenda of unmasking heroes by collecting the Paragon organs, organs which contain the DNA of the Justice League and bestows on meta-bioweapons the ability to use their powers. He assists Spyral's agenda to know more about Minos and his endgame, resulting in Spyral attaining most of the scattered organs. In a later story arc, Minos betrays Spyral and attempts to leak its secrets. To his surprise, he finds the new Agent Zero, who reveals that she, along with the upper echelon of Spyral, had used Minos to attract Dick into Spyral and kills Minos, as he has outlived his usefulness.[18][19]

During Batman and Robin Eternal, Grayson finds himself working with various other members of the Bat-Family - during the time when Bruce Wayne is amnesic after his resurrection - against the ruthless villain known only as 'Mother', who it is revealed briefly brainwashed Batman himself early in Grayson's career as Robin. Mother intends to trigger a global collapse with the reasoning that the survivors will rebuild a stronger world after being broken by tragedy and without the hindrance of parents to force their ideals on them, but Grayson and the rest of the Family are able to defeat her. At the conclusion of the story-line, Dick meets with the restored Batman, assuring Bruce that, unlike Mother, he never forced his ideals on them, but simply gave them all an example that they chose to emulate, while avoiding following it so exactly that they became like him.

In the Robin War crossover, when the Court of Owls plant a bomb in Damian Wayne (who comes back from the dead), they are able to blackmail Dick into officially joining their organization, although all sides are aware that Grayson intends to try and use his new position against them.[20] Dick's tenure as an agent of Spyral ends, when it was revealed that all knowledge of his identity was erased from most of the world with one of Spyral's satellites, thus allowing Dick to resume his superhero activities as Nightwing once again.[21]