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Nightwing is one of the comic characters that I think actually works better with continuity because, of course, the character's hook is that he is Adult Robin, with everything that comes with the title. So this is how to fix Nightwing in a non-All-Star capacity.
Cassandra commented that Robin was reared by Batman and inspired by Superman, and here is the root of the problem. Nightwing may be the "son" of Batman and Superman, but Bruce has been pulling single-parent duty when Dick's had two potentially loving parents all along, each with very different worldviews. There's the tendency to make him dark because his ties to Batman are so strong, and his ties to Superman are weaker or at least less obvious.
So, to fix. Nightwing spends 12 issues in Metropolis. A Big Plot is going down in Suicide Slum, and Superman needs a temporary full-time partner who's used to working street-level to help stop it. Along the way, Superman gets to mentor Nightwing, emphasizing helping people, whereas Batman tends to focus on fighting crime. Plus, Jimmy Olsen becomes a supporting character, maybe just a touch jealous that Jimmy is only Superman's Pal, but Nightwing is Superman's Partner (can the return of Elastic Lad be far behind? Does he even exist Post-Crisis?). Anyway, at the end of the story, Superman's (and Metropolis') influence has taken hold of him, and he emerges from the experience as the charismatic daredevil swashbuckler George Perez wants him to be. He's not quite equal parts Superman and Batman, but he's in a healthier, less mopey place than he was before.
So what's next for Nightwing? After stopping in Keystone City on his way out west (to see his bestest buddy Wally), he heads for a city that needs a protector: Vanity. Dick sets to work cleaning up a city that's supposed to be worse than Gotham, and he does it all with joie de vivre and a smile on his face. |
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