Article by Eric Lee
Popular Batman writer Scott Snyder has hinted at the possibility of a Nightwing comic book run.
On a Hero Initiative online Q & A session, Snyder revealed that he has plans for the character. Snyder talked about how he’s currently pitching his take on Nightwing to DC Comics.
According to Snyder, Nightwing differs from Batman in a number of ways. Dick Grayson is more emotionally available, more empathetic and reads people better than anybody else in the Bat-Family.
[Nightwing’s] the character that more than anyone else in the Bat-Family wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s not the best detective from an empirical standpoint, but he’s the best emotional detective out of all the former Robins, in my opinion. He’s someone who understands human psychology; he understands empathy. There are mysteries Bruce wouldn’t do as well on as Dick and he [Dick] sometimes gets shortchanged in terms of people thinking of him as Batman-light.
Batman-Light?
The term “Batman-light” is used derisively. Some fans believe that Nightwing does not offer anything better or different that Batman cannot already do himself. However, that isn’t how Snyder sees it.
I don’t think of him that way. I think of him more as someone with a very different skill set as a detective, and Gotham would look very different under his mantle.
Potential Ideas for a ‘Nightwing’ Run
Scott Snyder continued throwing around potential concepts for a Nightwing run, revealing that he loves seeing Dick Grayson at the different stages in his career. He started out as Robin, then Nightwing, then Batman, and then back to Nightwing.
Snyder expressed interest in doing a Year One-style arc of Dick Grayson at each of those transition points. The writer then went on to state how much he loves Robin: Year One and Grant Morrison’s run with Dick as Batman.
Of course, Snyder has a personal resonance with Dick as Batman, as his first Batman story arc was in Detective Comics, featuring Dick as the Dark Knight. Snyder eventually graduated to the main Batman title, where he wrote Bruce as Batman.
If Snyder ever decides to return to the character, count us in!
