As a kid, Batman was always someone I enjoyed more on his own. I never really got the appeal of a Robin. I didn’t like the New Adventures of Batman and Robin as much I did the original animated series. It never really clicked for me until Grant Morrison had Dick Grayson (the original Robin) become Batman in order to fill the shoes of a supposedly dead Bruce Wayne.
From there, I learned that I really liked Dick (going to be said at least once) because he was everything that Bruce wasn’t. He was a circus kid, one who grew up loving the danger and being able to laugh in its face. He wants to believe the best of people. The tragedy that created Dick wasn’t one that would haunt him like Bruce; he would use it to inspire hope not fear.
This sense of hope and fun amidst the Bat-books is part of the reason why Nightwing by Tim Seeley, Javier Fernández, and Chris Sotomayor is so great. Writer Tim Seeley understands the character and was half of the writing team on Dick’s previous book Grayson. While that book was more of the 60’s spy book, this one is firmly rooted in Dick cementing his role in the Bat-family. It’s an examination of everything that makes Dick Grayson so damn special.