To the left is an image taken from Batman #28, which will be available in comic shops tomorrow. As you can see, Batman is joined by who is assumedly Harper Row as the new Nightwing.
For those unfamiliar, Scott Snyder announced in December via his Twitter account that Batman would take a one month break from the Zero Year arc to give us a glimpse of the new status quo that will be seen in the upcoming weekly series Batman: Eternal. Artist Dustin Nguyen also revealed conceptual art of what everyone assumed to be a new female Nightwing, most likely Harper Row. Harper has been featured in various Batman titles off and on since her introduction in 2012. It’s been obvious that DC has been grooming her for something big and this is probably what that is.
Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that Dick Grayson, the current Nightwing, will die next month in Forever Evil #6. Granted his own title is getting cancelled with issue #30 this April, but I find it much more likely that he will assume a new identity. I firmly believe that DC will launch a new Nightwing monthly with Harper as the title character sometime this year. It could be as soon as May, but I believe they will first give her time to develop in Batman: Eternal.
Below is the updated solicit and final retail cover for Batman #28.
This special “flash-forward” issue of BATMAN offers a glimpse into the future of Gotham City and gives readers a taste of what to expect when BATMAN ETERNAL launches later this year!
UPDATE: In today’s episode of DC All Access, Scott Snyder confirmed that the character pictured is indeed Harper Row. Whether or not she will be called “Nightwing” remains to be seen. You can check out the video below.
