Nightwing is an American comic book featuring the character Nightwing and published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 in 1984, but he received his own ongoing series, which debuted in July 1996.
Publication history
The series was launched in response to the character's growing popularity, beginning with Nightwing: Alfred's Return #1 (1995). A one-shot comic book where Dick Grayson travels to England to find Alfred Pennyworth, who has resigned from Bruce Wayne's service after the events of Knightfall. After he found Alfred, they thwart a plot by terrorists aiming to destroy the Channel Tunnel before returning to Gotham City. This was followed by a miniseries from September to December 1995, written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Greg Land, where Dick contemplates retiring as Nightwing. However, a family document reveals a connection between his parents' murder and the Crown Prince of Kravia, prompting him to travel there. Dick ultimately helps to overthrow the corrupt ruler while uncovering more about his family's past.
"Titans Reunited" 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 villain 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.
Following the deaths of Lilith Clay and Troia, Dick officially disbands the Teen Titans. 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 Tarantula then kills the Blockbuster, who Dick fails to save. Blockbuster's death haunts him to the point of temporarily retiring from crime-fighting. At length, Nightwing shakes himself from his depression and takes responsibility for his inaction.
Infinite Crisis and The New 52
Due to a crisis of conscience, Dick adopts the new villainous persona of Renegade to infiltrate Lex Luthor's 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 Rose Wilson.
Deathstroke takes revenge on Nightwing after Blüdhaven's destruction. The Society drops the supervillain Chemo onto the city, killing 100,000 people. Dick tries to rescue survivors, but faced with radiation poisoning. He is then rescued by Batman, when Nightwing asks forgiveness from Batman about Blockbuster's death, Batman persuades Dick to finally move beyond. Inspired by his mentor, he then proposes to Barbara Gordon, who tearfully accepts.
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 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, stopping 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 Philadelphia:
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, Barbara becomes the major reason on Nightwing's decision to rejoin. 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.Nightwing Annual #2
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.
"One Year Later"
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, 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. After a heated altercation, Boomerang quits the team. Nightwing then again furiously confronts Batman. This time, Nightwing resigns completely from the Outsiders. He goes back to New York and later finds himself confronted with one of his greatest enemy.
"Titans Return" 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, Conner Kent'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. Nightwing thus moves on from relationship and keen on fighting crime.Titans #11 (2009)
Supporting characters Enemies Like Batman, Nightwing has faced various villains ranging from common criminals to outlandish supervillains. While the character has primarily fought other Batman villains, he also has established villains that primarily oppose him. In addition, certain Batman villains have specific enmity with Dick Grayson.
Dixon rogues Villain Creator(s) First appearance Fictional biography Blockbuster Roger SternTom Lyle Starman #9(April 1989) Roland Desmond became the second Blockbuster after a severe illness forced him to be treated with experimental steroids. Like his brother Mark, Roland became a child-minded super-strong monster. Brutale Chuck DixonScott McDaniel Nightwing (vol. 2) #22(July 1998) Guillermo Barrera was a top-level interrogator/torturer for the secret police in Hasaragua until a revolution forced him to flee. He began a new career as a mercenary/assassin and eventually began working for Blockbuster. Barrera is an expert with all forms of knives and blades. Double Dare Chuck DixonScott McDaniel Nightwing (vol. 2) #32(June 1999) Margot and Aliki Marceau are sisters who were circus performers in Cirque Sensationnel. While skilled aerialists and having achieved great fame, they were less well-known than the Flying Graysons and Boston Brand. The Marceau sisters eventually chose a double-life of crime as thieves, using their talents in service to Blockbuster, and became at odds with Nightwing, both of whom the sisters are infatuated with. Giz Chuck DixonJim Balent Catwoman (vol. 2) #28 Giz is an expert computer hacker who once worked alongside fellow thieves Sly Flox, Catwoman and Mouse (his girlfriend), forming a team. Eventually, Mouse and Giz split from the team, but remained together.