Welcome to From the Batman News Desk, a new series of op-eds and articles covering various aspects of Batman history. Each week one of the Batman News writers will share their thoughts on Batman characters and concepts across comics, film, television, and more.
It’s almost been another decade. Bruce Wayne is “dead,” and after a tussle with his adopted brother, Dick Grayson has taken on the mantle of the Bat. The heroes of the DC Universe are reeling from the events of Blackest Night and Cry for Justice. Especially former member of the Titans Donna Troy, who faces the unfortunate circumstance of having to re-bury her deceased son and considers retiring from the superhero life altogether.
One hostage situation later, she realizes that she can’t turn away from those she’s sworn to protect. However, she doesn’t have to do it alone and works to re-vitalize the Justice League, which is in shambles at the moment, with Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi) as the only active member left. Thanks to Donna’s efforts, a new Justice League is formed — Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Black Canary, the Atom (Ray Palmer), Dr. Light, Mon-El, the Guardian, Starfire, Cyborg (yes, he was a member of the League before the New52), Donna herself, and of course, Batman, a.k.a, Dick Grayson.
This was an interesting era of the League and arguably one of the biggest casualties of the upcoming New52 reboot, with the Titans stepping up and becoming the League. Even Hal notes that it feels awkward for him to be there, as despite him liking Dick more than Bruce, it feels weird listening to an order from him… a sentiment shared by Dick as well. Of course, this may be writer James Robinson trying to justify what comes next…
Justice League was no longer as big a deal as it once was, and Robinson, like his predecessor Dwayne McDuffie, had to deal with losing access to a lot of characters he may have wanted to use. Within two issues, most of the new lineup left or were demoted to reserve status, and over the next arc, a new League would take shape. With the additions of Starman (Mikaal Tomas), Congorilla, Supergirl, Jesse Quick, and Jade, alongside Dick and Donna, Robinson formed a sort of legacy Big 7 version of the League, one that would last right until the New52 would wipe it all away…
But what about Dick? Well, as of me writing this article, his tenure on the League as Batman was his longest, lasting for about four arcs. Granted, in the first two, he’s mostly reduced to pointing at the problem and telling the appropriate hero to deal with it. He does make a few in-depth plans, for instance, utilizing Ms. Martian to telepathically link up with Starman as he spies on a Starheart-possessed Alan Scott…which unfortunately leads to Starman being captured and on the brink of death.
“Ok, now, Supergirl fly into a red sun to catch Alan off guard”However, Dick still has his people skills, like noticing that Supergirl is still struggling with the loss of New Krypton. And we see him being strategic during the time his League fights the Crime Syndicate and the Omega Man. Not only does he have to deal with a multiversal threat, but he does it with two members absent and one member apparently turning evil. P.S. I like this story for also giving a send-off to the minor hero Blue Jay (until he was brought back to die in Heroes in Crisis) and even giving a moment of redemption to the villain of Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor Jr. Long story, but Dick is the one who gets him to help and is the one who plots the defeat of the villain. Something similar happens in the final arc of the series, where Dick takes all the available information to help defeat Eclipso by taking out the reformed villain Shade, whom the fallen angel was using to control a bunch of heroes and villains.
And that brings us to the final issue of the series, #60, which is where the League disbands. James Robinson basically summarizes all the plots he would have done if the book was allowed to continue and says his goodbyes to a title he never had full autonomy over while maybe taking a few potshots on his way out. It’s not an unjustified rant, as most of the characters he was writing would end up not existing in the new continuity, with Supergirl and Dick being the only two sticking around (though Robinson does take the time to point out that he would become Nightwing again).
Subtle as a sledgehammerSo, in summation, DickBats’ time in the League was long and tumultuous and ended unceremoniously. Come back next time to find out if he returns to the League in the New52 and beyond!!!
Next week: the epic conclusion to “Little Bird, Big Leagues”!
English (US) · 