This article is about the publication history of the DC Comics fictional character Dick Grayson, who has been portrayed in comic books alternatively as Robin, Nightwing, and Batman.
Robin the Boy Wonder Robin was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 (1940) by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson. Robin's debut was an effort to make Batman a lighter, more sympathetic character. DC Comics also thought a teenage superhero would appeal to young readers, acting as an audience surrogate. The name "Robin" and the medieval-inspired look of the original costume are inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood, as well as the American robin, which parallels the "winged" motif of Batman.
Dick Grayson is the son of John and Mary Grayson, a young couple who work as circus performers. In his first appearance, Dick is an 8-year-old circus acrobat, and performs with his parents as the Flying Graysons. While preparing for a performance, Dick overhears two gangsters attempting to extort protection money from the circus owner. The owner refuses, so the gangsters sabotage the trapeze wires with acid. During the next performance, the trapeze snaps, causing John and Mary to fall to their deaths. Before Dick can go to the police, Batman appears and warns him that the two gangsters work for Tony Zucco, a powerful crime boss, and that revealing his knowledge could lead to his death. When Batman recounts the murder of his parents, Dick asks to become his aide. After extensive training, Dick becomes Robin and helps Batman capture Zucco.
Teen Titans The 1964 comic The Brave and the Bold #54 introduces a junior version of the Justice League of America (an all-star superhero team of which Batman was a part). This team is led by the modern-day Robin, residing on Earth-One, who was joined by two other teenage sidekicks: Aqualad (the sidekick of Aquaman) and Kid Flash (the sidekick of the Flash), to stop Mister Twister. Later, the three sidekicks join forces with Speedy and Wonder Girl to form the Teen Titans, with Robin becoming the team's leader.
In 1969, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams return Batman to his darker roots. One part of this effort is writing Robin out of the series by sending Dick Grayson to Hudson University and into a separate strip in the back of Detective Comics. As a result, he appears only sporadically in Batman stories of the 1970s.
In 1980, Grayson once again takes up the role of leader of the Teen Titans, now featured in the monthly series The New Teen Titans.
Emancipation 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, 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, an 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. Nightwing In 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 show 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.
Post-Crisis Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dick's origins and history remained relatively unchanged, though few minor changes had been added.
Dick was a 12-year-old acrobat who would perform amongst many, including a 6-year-old Tim Drake. Following the murder of his parents, Dick would confront Zucco only to be saved by Batman. Bruce Wayne adopts Dick as his ward, though due to Bruce's image in the public, Dick believes it is simply for a positive public image. Due to Bruce's actions as Batman, Alfred became Dick's only confidant. Eventually, Dick would run off and attempt to avenge his parents himself, once again saved by Batman who later reveals himself to be Wayne. Bruce decides to train Grayson himself, who eventually becomes Robin, the boy wonder. During Dick's training, the two develop a father-son bond and eventually stop Two-Face, Hangman, and Tony Zucco, their collaborator.
Dick enjoys his first year as Robin, regarding the job as an adventure until a confrontation with Two-Face serves as a rude awakening for the young hero. The villain captures Judge Lawrence Watkins and Batman, and has each suspended from a hangman's noose in a "double gallows death-trap". Robin, trying to save the judge, convinces Two-Face to flip his trademark coin on whether or not Watkins would hang. Robin wins the flip, but Two-Face "honors" the deal by drowning the judge instead. Robin is unable to prevent Watkins' death and receives a beating at the hands of Two-Face, a beating that Batman witnesses, still tied up on the platform. Eventually, Batman frees himself and apprehends the villain. This event, however, emotionally scars the young crime-fighter. Rather than see Dick be further endangered, Batman "fires" his partner, sidelining him for a while, only to bring him back shortly afterwards. Four years later, when Dick is 17, he is shot in the shoulder by the Joker, which scares Batman into finally ending Robin's career as his partner. Seeking emancipation, Dick moves out of the mansion and joins the Teen Titans.
Jason Todd, who has become the new Robin, goes out alone one night to take down some drug dealers who are operating out of a warehouse. He is discovered on the roof and knocked through the skylight. As the criminals are closing in on Jason Todd, the thug who knocked him through the skylight is thrown through it as well. The drug dealers at first think it must be Batman, but it is Nightwing, who had been keeping an eye on the new Robin. After helping Robin defeat the crooks, Nightwing tells Robin to tell Bruce they need to talk. The next morning, Bruce tells Jason that Nightwing was the original Robin, but he had kept his true identity a secret from Jason because he felt it was not his place to reveal Nightwing's true identity. After Jason leaves for school, Nightwing shows up to talk to Bruce and finds out why he had been replaced. After several cover stories about how Jason had nowhere else to turn, and that Gotham had become too dangerous for him to continue fighting crime alone, Bruce finally tells Dick that it was because he missed him.
Later that night, Robin finds the same group of drug dealers where they have set up a shop in a new location, and to his surprise, Nightwing is there waiting for him. Nightwing gives Jason his old Robin costume and tells him he will grow into it eventually. They then agree to bust the criminals together, side-by-side.
New Titans 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.
The Prodigal Son
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 Jean-Paul Valley. 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.
Nightwing series
Based on Nightwing's increasing popularity, DC Comics decided to test the character's possibilities with a one-shot book and then a miniseries.
First, in Nightwing: Alfred's Return #1 (1995), Grayson travels to England to find Alfred, who resigns from Bruce Wayne's service following the events of Knightfall. Before returning to Gotham City together, they prevent a plot by British terrorists to destroy the Channel Tunnel.
Later on, with the Nightwing miniseries (September 1995 to December 1995, written by Dennis O'Neil with Greg Land as artist), Dick briefly considers retiring from being Nightwing forever before family papers uncovered by Alfred reveal a possible link between the murder of the Flying Graysons and the Crown Prince of Kravia. Journeying to Kravia, Nightwing (in his third costume) helps to topple the murderous Kravian leader and prevent an ethnic cleansing, while learning his parents' true connection to the Prince.
"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.