Nightwing Was a Better Batman Than Anyone, Even Bruce Wayne

The first Robin may now be known best as DC Comics’ Nightwing, but the original Boy Wonder, Dick Grayson, wore one other mantle better than anyone else when he took over as Batman for Bruce Wayne. Many heroes throughout the DC Comics Omniverse have taken over the mantle of the Bat over the course of its decades-long history. But few have ever come close to reaching the heights of the Batman identity’s originator, Bruce Wayne.

Fortunately for fans, if there’s one thing Dick Grayson knows, it is heights. And having donned his adoptive father’s cowl on more than one occasion, Nightwing has more than proven he has what it takes to be the ultimate Dark Knight, despite Bruce Wayne’s overwhelming legacy. But just because Grayson was the best at being Batman doesn’t mean that being Batman was the best for Nightwing.

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Despite establishing his own identity as his own hero, Nightwing has had to fill in as Batman on more than one occasion. Following the events of the iconic “Knightfall” storyline, he temporarily took over the role during the events of Batman: Prodigal by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Alan Grant, Graham Nolan, Lee Weeks, Phil Jimenez, Bret Blevins, Ron Wagner, and Mike Gustovich before Bruce Wayne returned to the role full-time. He wouldn’t fully adopt the Batman identity until years later after Bruce Wayne’s apparent demise at the hands of Darkseid in Final Crisis by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, and more. During this time, he trained Damian Wayne as the new Robin, formed a new version of the Justice League, and took on Gotham rogues like Two-Face and Professor Pyg. Even after Bruce’s return, Dick stayed on as the Batman of Gotham during Bruce’s formation of Batman, Incorporated. And though he later left the mantle voluntarily, he’s temporarily filled in for Bruce more than once in the years since.

Though Nightwing’s stints in the role didn’t last as long as those of fellow legacy heroes like Wally West, he still filled the role admirably. Many fans argue over whether Batman is the true mask or if Bruce Wayne is, but with Dick it was never in question. While Dick did feel like he had to live up to Bruce’s legacy, ultimately, he had nothing to prove as he’d long been an accomplished hero with skills that surpass even the original Batman.

Nightwing treated the role with the reverence it deserved, but he didn’t let it consume him the way it did with his mentor. Bruce has repeatedly said that Dick is a clearer version of what Batman is supposed to be, and his time behind the cowl proved this. Other Batmen like Jean-Paul Valley or even Commissioner Gordon himself ended their tenures recognizing they could never be the true Batman, but Dick voluntarily gave up the role to return to his true calling as Nightwing – despite Bruce’s insistence that they could share the mantle.

Grayson may be the ultimate Batman, but being the Dark Knight ultimately isn’t good for him. For the Dick’s entire history, he’s been inexorably linked to Batman, and both within continuity and in DC Comics’ publishing history, Nightwing has frequently fought to make his way out of Batman’s shadow as his own hero. While the Batman mantle uplifts Gotham’s citizens as a symbol of hope, it weighs Dick Grayson down as a symbol of everything he fought to escape.

Dick Grayson is a world class hero, and as Gotham’s Dark Knight, he wore the cape and cowl better than Bruce Wayne or any of his other successors. But just because the original Robin is DC Comics’ best man for the job doesn’t mean that it’s the best job for him. At the end of the day, Nightwing is his own man – one that just happens to be better than Batman.

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