Summary
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Titans #11!A new revelation inNightwing’slife proves once again that he’s following inSuperman’ssteps rather thanBatman’s. There’s a traitor among the Titans and Dick Grayson must look inward to figure out what’s going on.As Nightwing searches forthe truth, he revives an unexpected part of Superman’s history.
InTitans #11by Tom Taylor and Lucas Meyer, it’s evening at Titans Tower and Nightwing is woken up by an alarm and finds a message imploring him to get to the safe room. Upon arriving, Dick finds a message telling him to speak the words ‘Circ-En-Arrh’. Nightwing does and finds himself inside his own mind.
Nightwing has dual personas, one dressed in a costume with red highlightsand another with blue. Nightwing Blue helps Nightwing Red work through his suspicions and helps him come to the conclusion that the person he thoughtwas Raven is actually an impostor.
Nightwing Has Internal Red and Blue Personas
Nightwing fans know that Dick was trained by Batman and served as his partner for years as Robin. However, Dick was eventually fired from the Robin role after Batman felt that his partner wasn’t taking crime-fighting seriously enough. But that wasn’t enough to make Dick quit the hero life for good. He decided to take on a new identity and picked a name inspired by one of his greatest heroes. Superman, a figure Dick had always admired,once told Dick the story of a Kryptonian hero Nightwing, and Grayson chose it as he began a new chapter in his life.
What’s curious about this scene is how Nightwing’s internal dialogue takes shape. By saying ‘Circ-En-Arrh’, Nightwing holds a dialogue with himself, one red and one blue. Not only are these two actual colors he’s worn in the past, but they’re reminiscent of Superman during his ‘Electric’ phase. Given how off the rails Zur-En-Arrh worked out for Bruce, it’s understandable Nightwing wouldn’t want to do the exact same thing as his old mentor. But by modeling his internal personas after Superman,Nightwing is revealing how much more he looks up to the Man of Steelinstead of the Dark Knight.
Superman Inspires Nightwing Better Than Batman
While it’s not outright said Dick modeled his internal selves after Superman Blue/Red, it’s clear Nightwing wanted to avoid partitioning his mind the same way Batman did with Zur-En-Arrh. While Dick is undoubtedly grateful to Bruce for everything he’s done, Dick, whether consciously or subconsciously, wants to be more like Clark. While this insight into Dick’s mind could just be seen as a cool tribute to one of Clark’s more curious eras, it could be seen as Grayson trying to have a healthier dynamic inspired by his favorite hero.Batmanmight have trainedNightwing, but he’s definitelySuperman’slegacy.
Nightwing
Nightwing is the superhero moniker taken up by Dick Grayson, upon his aging out of the Robin role and becoming a superhero of his own. Inspired by the original Kryptonian hero of the same name, Grayson has risen to comic book immortality with the identity, earning respect as one of the greatest leaders in the DC Universe.
