Nightwing
- For the British band, see Nightwing (band). For the Marduk album, see Nightwing (album). For the most prominent holder of the Nightwing title, see Dick Grayson
| Nightwing | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Superman as Nightwing: Superman #158 (January 1963) (January 1963) |
| Created by | Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan |
| Characters | Kal-El/Clark Kent Van-Zee Dick Grayson Tad Ryerstad Jason Todd Power Girl Cheyenne Freemont Lor-Zod/Chris Kent |
| Nightwing | |
 | Nightwing vol. 1, #1 (Sept, 1995). Featuring the Dick Grayson version of the character. Art by Brian Stelfreeze. |
| Series publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | (vol 1) Monthly (vol 2) Monthly (1-100, 107-153) Bi-weekly (101-106) |
| Format | (vol 1) Limited Series (vol 2) Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | (vol 1) September – December 1995 (vol 2) October 1996 – February 2009 |
| Number of issues | (vol 1) 4 (vol 2) 154 (includes an issue numbered 1000000) |
| Main character(s) | Dick Grayson |
Nightwing is a name used by several fictional characters in the DC Comics Universe. The alias is also frequently paired with "Flamebird," another title taken by several DC Comics characters. The name is originally used by the pre-Crisis Superman, when he and Jimmy Olsen act as vigilantes during trips to the bottle city of Kandor. Although the moniker originated with the Superman mythos, Dick Grayson (the first Robin) is the character most associated with the name "Nightwing." He sheds his Robin identity and assumes the name and a new costume in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (1984).
Character history
Pre-Crisis
Superman
As first depicted in the story "Superman in Kandor" in Superman (Vol. 1) #158 (January 1963), Nightwing is an alias used by Superman in Edmond Hamilton-penned pre-Crisis adventures in the city of Kandor, a Kryptonian city that was shrunken and preserved in a bottle. In Kandor, Superman has no superpowers and, in the story, is branded an outlaw there due to a misunderstanding. To disguise themselves, Superman and Jimmy Olsen create vigilante identities inspired by Batman and Robin. Because neither bats nor robins lived on Krypton, Superman chooses the names of two birds owned by Superman's Kandorian friend Nor-Kan: "Nightwing" for himself and "Flamebird" for Olsen. The Dynamic Duo of Kandor create costumes evocative of the birds' plumage. Nightwing and Flamebird rename Nor-Kan's underground laboratory as the "Nightcave", and use it as their secret headquarters. They also convert Nor-Kan's automobile into their "Nightmobile", and use "jet-belts" to fly into battle.
In Jimmy Olsen #69 (June 1963), "The Dynamic Duo of Kandor" introduces Nightwing's dog Nighthound. In "The Feud Between Batman and Superman" in World's Finest #143 (August 1964), Batman and Robin themselves visit Kandor with Superman and Olsen and the two Dynamic Duos team up.
Van-Zee
In Superman Family #183 (May-June 1977), Superman's look-alike second cousin Van-Zee and his niece's husband Ak-Var take up the Nightwing and Flamebird identities. The vigilantes take on crime in their city as had Superman and Olsen before them.
Dick Grayson
The teamup between both Nightwing and Flamebird teams along with their inspirations, Batman and Robin, for an adventure in Kandor proves important to the young Dick Grayson. When Dick later gives up his role as Robin in 1984, he recalls the Kandorian adventure and renames himself Nightwing, in homage to both Batman and Superman.[volume & issue needed] After the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths re-boot the DC continuity, Superman no longer has knowledge of Kandor; instead, he remembers Nightwing as an urban legend of Krypton, which he shares with a young Dick Grayson. Grayson, who considers Superman his favorite superhero, takes the identity in his honor.[volume & issue needed]
Post-Crisis
Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman attributes the name to a historic Kryptonian crimefighter who named himself after the "nightwing", a bird native to Krypton. This hero serves as an inspiration for Dick Grayson when he sheds his Robin identity and assumes the name and a new costume in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (1984).
Dick Grayson
Nightwing (like his mentor Batman) has many different gadgets that he uses to defeat his enemies. Most of the gadgets are in the form of small boomerangs; some of them explode, some spread liquid nitrogen to freeze objects, and some are just sharp, which he uses to disarm but not kill. Along with his boomerangs he has a grappling gun, a taser and a retractable quarter staff which measures at six feet long at maximum length and one foot long at minimum length although his preferred weapon(s) of choice are Escrima truncheons which are placed in sheathes on his back. Nightwing has also trained in various forms of martial arts including Escrima, Kali, multiple styles of Karate, multiple styles of Kung Fu, Japanese Jujitsu, Judo, Boxing, and Muay Thai. Nightwing is also an experienced gymnast and spent several years of his youth in the circus. He is considered to be the greatest acrobat in the DC universe. Along with skills with gadgetry and martial arts, Nightwing is exceedingly intelligent. He uses his detective skills and tactics to out think physically superior opponents. In recent years the main Nightwing comic has sold poorly. During DC's Infinite Crisis, DC considered killing Dick Grayson but at the last minute reconsidered this decision. [citation needed] An attempt to revitalize the character by bringing back the writer who wrote the original Robin-to-Nightwing story, Marv Wolfman, had mixed response.[volume & issue needed] The most recent change to writer Peter Tomasi and artist Rags Morales has done much to reassert the character, with him operating in New York as a respected solo hero, and taking full advantage of the fact that his early start makes him one of the most experienced superheroes, and one of the best connected thanks to his many former teammates and the friends he has established in his career. Nightwing has now been cancelled, with Dick Grayson having become the new Batman.
Superman
In 2001's Superman: The Man of Steel #111, Superman and Lois Lane travel to Krypton. Labeled as criminals, Superman and Lois become fugitives, adopting the Nightwing and Flamebird identities to survive, just as had Superman and Olsen in Superman #158.
Tad Ryerstad
In Blüdhaven, a sociopath named Tad Ryerstad becomes a superhero, inspired by the retired hero Tarantula. He takes his name, "Nite-Wing", from an all-night deli specializing in chicken wings. Unstable, Nite-Wing beats people for minor offenses. Nite-Wing is shot on his first night out and Dick Grayson, as Blüdhaven's protector Nightwing, defends him from Blockbuster's gang, who think it is Nightwing who has been injured. After Nite-Wing is released from the hospital, he kills the gang who put him there. Not realizing how violent Ryerstad is, Grayson agrees to train him. The two attack Blockbuster's organization but are captured and separated. After an undercover FBI agent frees Nite-Wing, Ryerstad beats him to death, and when he realizes what he has done, Ryerstad flees. Nightwing tracks him down and incarcerates Nite-Wing.[volume & issue needed]
Jason Todd
Bruce Jones' Nightwing[volume & issue needed] run features Jason Todd prowling the streets of New York City under the guise of Nightwing, copying Grayson's costume.
Cheyenne Freemont
The "One Year Later" storyline features a metahuman fashion designer named Cheyenne Freemont donning a modified Nightwing costume to help Grayson.
Power Girl
In Greg Rucka's Supergirl (Vol. 3) #6, Power Girl and Supergirl assume the identities of Nightwing and Flamebird in a story set in Kandor, just as in the original pre-Crisis stories featuring Superman.
Chris Kent
As of 2008, the Kryptonian originator of the Nightwing name appears. Superman: New Krypton had Superman coming to terms with the death of his adoptive father while also dealing with 100,000 Kryptonians now living on Earth as a result of the shrunken cities that he recently recovered from Brainiac's ship which contained the lost Kryptonian city of Kandor. At the end of the fourth issue of the arc, a new Nightwing and Flamebird appear in Superman's Fortress of Solitude to stop two of Zod's followers (who were living on Kandor) from releasing the Kryptonian General from his Phantom Zone imprisonment. While guarding the projector in order to prevent any Zod loyalists from freeing him from the Phantom Zone, both Flamebird and Nightwing exhibit powers that are not inherent to normal Kryptonians. Flamebird exhibits flames that project from her hands, while Nightwing uses "natural tactile telekinesis". The pair seem to be stronger than normal Kryptonians as they knock out the two Zod loyalists with one blow a piece. In a later appearance, the duo is seen in Gotham City. Nightwing casually hovers in the sky as Flamebird instructs him to stop flying and states that he isn't "the only one with a secret to keep." Furthermore, unlike previous portrayals, it seems Flamebird believes herself to be the dominant partner. Furthermore, when the Kryptonians, on Zod and Alura's command, flee on a rebuilt Kypton circling the Sun, Nightwing and Firebird stay in Gotham. The arc is ongoing. It is revealed in Action Comics #875, that Nightwing is none other than the son of Zod and Ursa, Chris Kent
Other uses in comic books
- In the DC Comic "Tangent Comics" fifth-week event, "Nightwing" is a mystical society.
- In the Elseworlds series "Superman & Batman: Generations", "Knightwing" is the identity adopted by Clark Wayne (Superman's biological grandson, adopted by Bruce Wayne, Jr.) after he grows out of the Robin identity. Bruce had wanted Clark to take on the Batman identity, but Clark declines, saying that only true members of the Wayne family should be Batman, revealing that he knew he was adopted. When Superman is brought back from the Phantom Zone and discovers the Ultra-Humanite's cure for Gold Kryptonite, he gives some to Knightwing, which gives him powers comparable to his grandfather, but weaker as he is only a quarter-Kryptonian.
In other media
Dick Grayson is the only character to use the codename of "Nightwing" in media other than comic books.
Dick Grayson appears as Nightwing in The New Batman Adventures, voiced by actor Loren Lester, the actor who had voiced Grayson as Robin in Batman: The Animated Series. Dick Grayson first appears in the end of the episode "Sins of the Father." Bruce, Barbara and Alfred react to the grown up crime fighter as Dick remarks "Hey, no one can be a boy wonder forever." In "You Scratch My Back," Nightwing makes his full episode debut, and finds an unlikely ally in Catwoman in trying to expose a South American gun smuggling operation into Gotham City. This episode highlights Nightwing, hints at his relationship with Barbara and illustrates his tense relationship with Batman. The episode also contains a sequence - showing Nightwing in his loft headquarters and charging into the night on his motorcycle as his theme music plays... culminating in a shot where he stands silhouetted against the moon. The episode "Old Wounds" explains that Grayson, as Robin, fought with Batman over the latter's controlling nature and what the former saw as an unnecessarily harsh approach, causing Grayson to leave Gotham as a result. However, he returns years later as Nightwing. Although he works with Batman several times during the course of the series, he never fully reconciles with his former mentor. Nightwing also appears in series episodes Joker's Millions, Over The Edge, Animal Act, and Chemistry.
In the television series Batman Beyond, which is set many years in the future, the Nightwing uniform (or at least one copy of it) still hangs in the Batcave. Terry McGinnis (the new Batman) borrows the mask from that costume in the episode "Lost Soul," when the Batsuit is reprogrammed with the personality of a dead businessman. In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, McGinnis asks Commissioner Barbara Gordon (the former Batgirl) if all of the original Batman's associates were bitter when they left. She replies "...look up Nightwing someday. Has he got stories," implying that he is still alive and using the identity in the timeframe of the series.
In the film Batman Forever Dick Grayson (Chris O'Donnell) suggests "Batboy, Nightwing..." as a name for himself. In the next film Batman & Robin, the costume Robin wears closely resembles the costume in the Nightwing comic books, except the main symbol across his chest and arms is red instead of blue, the movie costume also includes a small cape.
Nightwing also has a cameo as a silhouette in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Grudge Match". As Black Canary enters Blüdhaven, Nightwing can be seen on a rooftop next to two gargoyles.
In the Teen Titans animated series episode "How Long is Forever?", Nightwing appears as the future identity of Robin. He also appears in the Teen Titans Go! comic series based on the series.[1]
The Batman animated series episode "Artifacts", set in the year 3027 with flashbacks to the year 2027. The flashback sequences feature Nightwing, voiced by Jerry O'Connell. Although Dick has been active for ten years as Nightwing, Batman and Oracle persist in calling him "Robin." Nightwing later appears in season 5 in the episode "The Metal Face of Comedy" in his original Nightwing costume. In this episode, he is Dick Grayson's video game character in an online role playing game.
The Teen Titans story arc The Judas Contract in which Robin becomes Nightwing, is currently being adapted as a direct-to-video movie. A planned 2008 release date has been delayed.
In several Six Flags amusement parks, a ride called Nightwing is located in the DC Superheroes area.
Nightwing appears in LEGO Batman: The Video Game.[2]
Nightwing is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.
References
- ^ Teen Titans guide
- ^ Game Informer features a two-page gallery of the many heroes and villains who appear in the game with a picture for each character and a descriptive paragraph. See "LEGO Batman: Character Gallery," Game Informer 186 (October 2008): 92.
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