Spanning 80 years of comic book history, Dick Grayson is a fixture of the DC Universe. He made his debut in April 1940 in Detective Comics #38. Over the years we have seen him grow from a sidekick to being a hero in his own right, out from the shadow of the Bat. Of all the allies of Batman, Dick Grayson seems to be the one constantly shifting. He has held many titles over the years to the delight and in some cases, displeasure of the fans.
Main Continuity
Robin, the Boy Wonder
Dick Grayson’s very first superhero identity. He is the first sidekick to Batman and paved a legacy for generations to come.
There is too much to condense into a short blurb on his time as Robin. In real world time, not comic time, he was Robin for 44 years! In media outside of comics, he is still Robin. Any new show that DC Comics comes out with the Robin will be Dick Grayson.
Further reading:
- Batgirl/Robin Year One written by Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon
Image credit: Cover art by Jim Lee
Nightwing
Introduced in 1984, Dick Grayson shed the pixie boots to become Nightwing. The name comes from the Kryptonian (or Kandorian) story of Nightwing and Flamebird that Clark regales Dick with.
This is his most well known identity apart from Robin. His first solo series started in October 1996. Running for 153 issues, with additional one offs and annuals, the series ended in April 2009. Following the end of this series he adopts a new identity but more on that later. A new Nightwing series started again with the launch of the New 52 in 2012.
First appearance of Nightwing can be found in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 during “The Judas Contract” storyline. Credited with the creation of the Nightwing persona are Marv Wolfman and George Perez, who were the writers on Tales of the Teen Titans.
Further reading:
- Nightwing: Bludhaven written by Chuck Dixon (collects Nightwing Vol. 1 #1 – #4, Nightwing Vol. 2 #1-8
- Nightwing: Year One written by Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon (collects Nightwing #101 – #106)
Image credit: Cover art by Scott McDaniel and Scott Hanna
The Target
Framed! In a one-shot issue in 2001, Dick adopts the identity of “The Target” to clear his name.
In a classic case of wrong place, wrong time, Officer Grayson witnesses a group of cops using aggressive force on several suspects. When he steps in to stop them he’s knocked out. Waking up in the hospital, chained to the bed, he finds out one of the victims is dead and his fellow cops pinned it on him.
To distance Dick Grayson and Nightwing from the investigation he is force to cobble together a new identify. With the help of Amy Rohrbach, the Target is able to clear Dick Grayson of all charges.
Further reading:
- Nightwing The Target is written by Chuck Dixon with art by Scott McDaniel
Image credit: Cover art by Scott McDaniel
Dick “Crutches” Grayson
I know what you’re thinking, how can Dick Grayson be an alias for Dick Grayson? During the “Mobbed Up” arc he works as an enforcer. Yes he actually worked for the mob!
It is important to note this time of his history because it is known that he is Dick Grayson, ward of Bruce Wayne, to the mafia that he works for. While yes they’ve had a falling out, it’s not like he’s pretending to be someone else. He essentially went undercover as himself.
The reason for this is to find Rand Westbrook, lawyer to Blockbuster, who he thinks struck a deal with the mob to expand Blockbuster’s holdings after his death. Instead his investigation leads him to Deathstroke.
Further reading:
- Nightwing: Mobbed Up, written by Devin Grayson, collects Nightwing (1996-2009) #107 – #111
Image credit: Cover art by Phil Hester and Andre Parks
Renegade
Directly following the events of Nightwing: Mobbed Up, Dick Grayson takes on the mantle of Renegade. Clad in red and black with a cowl reminsent of the Flash, this may have been inspiration for the New 52 costume. At least color wise.
In order to get the answers he seeks, Dick agrees to train Deathstroke’s daughter, Rose Wilson. He goes so deep undercover his friends can’t even tell if he’s faking or not. While he puts on a good act, every performance must come to an end. The Renegade arc takes us to just before the One Year Later event.
Further reading:
- Nightwing: Renegade, written by Devin Grayson, collects Nightwing (1996) #112 – #117
Image credit: Cover art by Phil Hester, Andre Parks and Guy Major
Batman
Final Crisis leaves us in a world without Batman. He is presumed dead. The resulting chaos of an absent Batman forces Dick to take up the mantle.
He officially becomes Batman in August 2009 in Batman #687. Though this is not the first time he’s donned the suit. During the 1994 story, Batman: Prodigal, he wears the suit while Bruce Wayne recovers from the events of Batman: Knightfall.
This second time around as Batman he is joined by his own Robin, Damian Wayne. The two become the new Dynamic Duo. To make the Batman identity his own, Dick makes some changes. He moves operations out of the Batcave and into the Bat-Bunker underneath Wayne Towers. He also adopts a lighter suit to fit his fighting style.
Further reading:
- Batman: Long Shadows (collecting Batman #687 – #691)
- Batman and Robin Deluxe Edition Vol. 1: Batman Reborn
- Batman and Robin Deluxe Edition Vol. 2: Batman vs. Robin
- Batman and Robin Deluxe Edition Vol. 3: Batman Must Die
- Batman issues #687 – #700, #703 – #713 (#701 & #702 are missing chapters from Batman: R.I.P.)
Image credit: Cover art by Tony S. Daniel and Sandu Florea, and Ian Hannin
Agent 37
In 2014, following the events of Forever Evil, he goes undercover yet again. To the world, Dick Grayson is dead. To Spyral, he is Agent 37. For 24 issues (20 regular, 3 annuals and Grayson: Futures End #1) we follow Dick Grayson through his infiltration of the spy network Spyral.
Based on how many covert missions he has under his belt, it’s no wonder he became an actual spy.
Further reading:
- The complete series is collected in Grayson: The Superspy Omnibus.
Image credit: Cover art by Mikel Janin
Ric Grayson
In 2018, Batman #55 shocked and devastated Nightwing fans. Suffering a near fatal wound, Dick Grayson develops amnesia. With a new identity of Ric Grayson, and a new attitude, he hangs up the suit and becomes a taxi driver.
During this time he has little to do with the Bat family. We see the Nightwing persona taken on by a quartet mixture of police and a fire fighter. It’s a nice little nod to his former daytime job with some throwback costume choices.
Further reading:
- His time as “Ric” is collected in Nightwing (2016 – ) #50 – #74
Image credit: Cover art by Chris Mooneyham
Talon
The Court of Owls was introduced in 2011. Scott Synder created a fascinating new villain woven into the very history of Gotham. Not just another new entry into Batman’s Rogue Gallery, this secret society also darkened Dick Grayson’s history.
According to this new piece of the past, Dick’s roots began in Gotham with his great grandfather, William Cobb. Cobb joined Haly’s Circus as a knife juggler. The plot thickens as Haly’s Circus is really a recruitment front of promising young performers to become Talons for the Court.
On the night of the tragedy that befell the Flying Graysons, Bruce Wayne saved Dick from being sent to the Court of Owls. It’s not until Nightwing #66 that Cobb has minor success in turning his legacy into a Talon, albeit temporarily.
For more information on the Court of Owls check out:
- Batman: Court of Owls
- Batman: Night of Owls
- Nightwing #64 – #69
Image credit: Cover art by Jonboy Meyers
Other Media and Outside Main Continuity
Red Robin
On another Earth (Earth-22), Dick Grayson becomes Red Robin. Set during Kingdom Come by Alex Ross he joins Superman’s Justice League to take down the Americommando.
This version of Dick Grayson was married to Starfire. Together they had a daughter named Mar’i.
Further reading:
- Kingdom Come written by Mark Waid with art by Alex Ross
Image credit: Art by Alex Ross
Red X
Starting in 2003, the popular show on Cartoon Network, Teen Titans gave a new generation a passion superheroes.
The show featured Dick Grayson as Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, being teens, eating pizza and fighting bad guys.
In the episode “Masks, Robin went undercover as Red X to try to get closer to Slade. He went so far as to hide the truth about this identify from his friends so that they wouldn’t blow his cover.
Sound familiar? Strangely enough this story actually aired before his under cover missions during the Nightwing comic.
Image credit: Cartoon Network
Coming from a performing background it is no surprise that Dick Grayson has been able to take on a multitude of roles. With so many aliases it seems likely we will see him adopt a new identity somewhere down the road. The question is, who will he be next?
This is very interesting! Which is your favorite character, and costume?
My favorite identify will always be Nightwing because he made it his own. Costume for sure the black and blue with the finger stripes. For fun I recommend checking out the original Nightwing costume! Just type in “Discowing” and it will be the first hit.