Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Does being associated with Batman limit story potential?

During Teen Titans there was some talk of Dick Grayson never being able to stand on his own if he remained Robin. He'd always be in the shadow of Batman. By becoming Nightwing Dick was able to mature and gain a bigger role in DCU. At one point he almost married Starfire and if he did a Nightwing series was going to launch from it. But the marriage plans fell through and editors wanted the character back in the bat books. For awhile his TT connections were downplayed much like his romance to Starfire in favor of bringing him back into the fold. Dick was noticbly the only original Titan than never settled down or had kids. In the present no one is allowed to even get married.

The relaunch has aged Dick down and while he isn't in the bat titles at the moment his past still plays a big role in his future. How this will be balanced once Titans Hunt is released should be interesting. Now let's assume that in a few years DC will allow marriage and kids to return...does anyone think any of Bruces' kids would be able to settle down? I don't. DC can be particular about their Batman brand and how the characters relate to him. They freaked out over how much Dick aged him and having one of his sons get married would unfortunately have the same results. 

Whether or not the characters can grow on their own outside Batmans' influence depends greatly on editors allowing change to happen.

2 comments:

  1. Undoubtly, wheher is the writers' intention or not, Batman's presence will always overshadow anything that the characters could do.

    I find curious how so many people only has praise for Agent 37 when it represent a regresion for Dick as character. Nightwing was all about making him hiw own man away of Batman's shadow while sofar there haven't been a single issue on Grayson where his time as Robin or his connection with Bruce haven't been a plot point. dick is defined now by his relation with Bruce instead of being defined by his own actions.

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  2. Yeah I never got the hype either. Sure it's a change for Dick but he's not the center of the superhero community anymore. He has to do things hush-hush. That's not really a good fit for the character. Exactly, even the other Robin can escape that in the own titles.

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