Nightwing – Year One

What happens when the one thing you’ve been trained for all your life is suddenly taken away from you? What happens when you’ve banished from your home and have no idea what to do with your life? What if you face a decision you never saw coming? Do you pick the safe, simple life, or do you choose to continue your life’s calling on your own terms? That is the question Dick Grayson (the first Robin) faces in the Nightwing: Year One graphic novel. Even if the answer is something no one – least of all Grayson – predicted.

The tale begins with the inevitable. As Dick Grayson grew into additional obligations (college, social life, etc), the time Robin stands at Batman’s side became more and more remote. Sooner or later there would come a time when the Dark Knight needed his Boy Wonder, and Robin simply wouldn’t be there to have his back. So when Robin narrowly saves Batman from the villain Clayface, it’s the final straw. Batman fires Robin, citing the latter’s lack of commitment to the crusade against evil as proof. Just like that, Dick Grayson lost his partner, his home, and the only life he ever knew.

With the whole world in front of him, Grayson finds himself at the circus his family worked for (before the tragic death of his parents that sent him on the road of becoming the Dark Knight’s partner). He has a simple choice: live as an acrobat, or follow Batman’s crusade. Perhaps if Grayson hadn’t seen Gotham at its’ worst, the decision would be easy. But he has. He’s seen the supervillains, the corruption that infects Gotham. He can’t turn away from that. So he heads back to Gotham as Nightwing, ready to continue the crusade: but on his terms.

Everything goes fine: until he stumbles across Jason Todd, the second Robin. Shocked that he’s been replaced so quickly, Nightwing is eager for answers. Unfortunately, Batman’s little test for Todd takes an ugly turn when Alfred Pennyworth is kidnapped. With Batman indisposed, Nightwing and Robin must join forces to save their mutual friend and survive the fury of new villain Killer Croc. Batman may have had a test for Todd in mind, but instead the two Robins emerge victorious from another kind of exam: the test of partnership. They may butt heads, but that night proves the two of them could put their differences aside for the greater good. It’s important because Batman doesn’t just have allies. He has Family.

It’s inevitable. Sooner or later, Robin has to grow up. When Batman fires Grayson, he has a simple choice: to be normal or be extraordinary. The easy life is within his reach; all he has to do is take it. But the call of Gotham is too strong to ignore. The Nightwing: Year One graphic details Grayson’s answer to that call, showcasing the new phase of his crime-fighting career. He may not be Robin anymore, but Grayson’s still part of the Bat-Family. I guess Robins can’t change their feathers after all.