DICK GRAYSON : The Man Wonder

“Wonder rather than doubt is the root of knowledge” --Abraham Joshua Heschel
DICK GRAYSON has an impressive resume' of being ROBIN, NIGHTWING and BATMAN. Let us learn more about this colorful hero.

Who is DICK GRAYSON?
He was young circus acrobat whose family was murdered. He was taken in by the BATMAN and became the first ROBIN, the Boy Wonder. Became his own hero, away from the Bat's shadow, taking the name NIGHTWING. Now, wears a costume like his mentor's sharing equal footing with the BATMAN, as his own BATMAN.

Richard John "DICK" GRAYSON was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940.

What are his powers and abilities?
Note: Due to the nature of comicbooks being an on-going tale, the character's powers along with his appearance, is in a constant state of flux.

DICK GRAYSON doesn't have any superpowers, he has peak athletic strength and endurance of a man who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise.

Abilities
Master Detective: GRAYSON is a world class detective. He was rigorously trained by the Bruce Wayne in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines.

Master Acrobat: GRAYSON is a prodigious natural athlete, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the DC universe. He is the only non-powered person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault.

Intimidation: He has the ability to instill fear into others.

Master Martial Artist: He is a master of dozens of martial arts disciplines, with an emphasis on Aikido and Escrima. His preferred fighting style combines Escrima, Judo, Savate, Capoeira, Aikido, Boxing, Wing Chun, Jujutsu, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, and Bojutsu with his acrobatic abilities. Other styles he has knowledge of include Tai Chi, Kenpo, Muay Thai, Ninjutsu, Krav Maga, Kobudo, and many others. He is considered one of the finest human combatants in unarmed combat. He has fought, and held his own or defeated some of the best fighters in the world.

Weapons Master: Through his martial arts training with BATMAN, he has become an expert on almost all types of weaponry. He has mastered knife throwing, as well as melee weapons, having trained in and mastered Kobudo. Since his earliest days as ROBIN, he has been trained and become proficient with all firearms. He was soon taught and he learned expanded melee weapon techniques and he has learned expanded weapon/device sciences during his training. His most preferred weapon is a pair of Escrima sticks which he has mastered, in incorporated into his own unique style of fighting. He is a proficient swordsman.

Master of Stealth: His training has made him a master at stealth capable of easily breaching high security facilities without being detected.

Expert Marksman: As a result of his training in ninjutsu and with Bruce Wayne, he almost never misses his targets, 9/10 times he's successful. He has been practicing accuracy since the early days of his training as ROBIN.

Tracking: NIGHTWING has been trained and mastered hunting and tracking techniques.

Master of Disguise: He is proficient in the art of disguise.

Escapologist: he is a master escape artist, still part of his training with Bruce Wayne.

Peak Human Conditioning: DICK GRAYSON possesses the peak athletic strength and endurance of a man who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise. His physical attributes exceed that of any Olympic level athlete that has ever competed. His strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, agility and coordination are at peak human perfection.

Multi-lingual: Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, German, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, and is possibly fluent in other languages. He has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran.

Skilled Leader: He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills. DICK's efforts to remain in contact with other heroes makes him a master at rallying, unifying, and inspiring the superhero community, a skill in which he has surpassed his mentor.

Tactical Analysis: Like his mentor, GRAYSON is a brillant, albeit looser tactican who relies more on intuiton and timing, rather than meticulous preparation.

What are the changes he underwent?
1. ROBIN
Detective Comics Vol 1 #38 (April, 1940)
We were first introduce to DICK GRAYSON as ROBIN in Detective Comics #38 (1940), his presence was an effort to make BATMAN a lighter, more sympathetic character. The name "ROBIN were inspired by the legendary hero ROBIN Hood, as well as the red-breasted American ROBIN. He wears a colorful costume; A domino mask, a red shirt with green sleeves, green gloves, green pixie shoes and green "speedo". This costume was inspired by his time as an acrobat in the circus.

Early Detective Comics appearances:

When BATMAN got his own series in the 1940s, Robin was a part of it since day 1:

In Star Spangled comics we see ROBIN having his first solo adventures:

Worlds Finest comics had ROBIN running around with BATMAN and Superman.

2. Earth 2
(If you don't know what Earth 2 is, read my Zod article to give you a small idea). The first time we see an older DICK GRAYSON, he is still carrying his ROBIN nickname but his costume is a mishmash of his ROBIN costume and BATMAN's.

Earth 2 second costume. (Finally realizing why people around kept on pointing at him and laughing, he decided to change his costume =P). His new costume is an mature version of his younger ROBIN outfit.

That was tons better than that first one, but it doesn't matter, because this look will later on be dissolve because of the Infinite Crisis… (read my Zod article so that you'll have an idea what I'm taking about).

3. Teen Titan
Back in Earth 1, DICK GRAYSON is still a teenager, running around with tights along with Superman and BATMAN. He also now has other kids to play with, in his own supergroup the Teen Titans.

4. NIGHTWING
The young DICK GRAYSON begins to feel that he is older now to wear a whimsical ROBIN costume set out to find a new identity for himself. He met up with Superman who told him about this Kryptonian hero, DICK GRAYSON inspired by the tale took on the name of that hero, thus born DICK GRAYSON - NIGHTWING.

Pre-Crisis:

Post-Crisis:

A few years later he will improve on the design make it more sleeker, and stealthier.

5. Renegade
While trying to infiltrate a group of villains, DICK GRAYSON changed his code name and costume and briefly became "Renegade".

6. BATMAN
Nowadays, DICK GRAYSON is operating as the BATMAN of Gotham City while his mentor is busy globetrotting looking for other individuals to become part of his BATMAN Inc. DICK GRAYSON's costume is undistinguishable from his mentor's previous costume, only the batsymbol on his belt buckle indicates that its GRAYSON who is under the hood.

Who played DICK GRAYSON in Live Media?
In all of his live incarnation DICK GRAYSON is portrayed as ROBIN.

1. Douglas Croft
Douglas Croft was the first person to portray a live version of ROBIN, in the 1943 serial BATMAN, which dealt with BATMAN and ROBIN's struggle against Dr. Daka, a Japanese scientist who invented a device that turns people into pseudo-zombies.

2. Johnny Duncan
Johnny Duncan took over the role in the 1949 serial BATMAN and ROBIN. The plot dealt with the Dynamic Duo facing off against the Wizard, a mysterious hooded villain.

3. Burt Ward
Actor Burt Ward played DICK GRAYSON/ROBIN in the BATMAN television series that ran from 1966 through 1968. In the series, DICK was Bruce's ward and attended "Woodrow Roosevelt High School". Ward also reprised the role for the feature film produced in 1966 in conjunction with the show, as well as for the 1979 NBC television special, Legends of the Superheroes.

4. Chris O'Donnell
DICK GRAYSON/ROBIN was played Chris O'Donnell in 1995's BATMAN Forever. His costume in the film uses the familiar red and green coloring of the traditional ROBIN costume. He wore his circus costume first when he saved the BATMAN from a fire, later on when BATMAN agreed that GRAYSON can be his partner he gets a more armored suit but retains his colorful motiff.

Chris O'Donnell reprised his role as ROBIN in 1997's BATMAN and ROBIN. He wears a new costume, similar to that of NIGHTWING except that it is molded rubber, has a cape, a utility belt, and a mask; the emblazoned logo is a deep red instead of blue. Also, for the finale where he, BATMAN, and Batgirl unveil new costumes, the logo is changed to an ice-blue color.

sources : http://blog.newsarama.com/2010/12/04/agent-of-s-t-y-l-e-flying-high-with-robin/ : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Grayson : http://www.comicvine.com/dick-grayson/29-1691/ : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_Grayson_(New_Earth) :

Article requested by:

Hellsing
[I loved his kendo costume in the Father series and kinda wish they stuck with the secret wars costume too.] But great article how about one on Iron Fist or Dick Grayson the man wonder.
[@Hellsing - Here's Dick Grayson for the meantime I'll wait for an Iron Fist movie before I'll make an article on him]

thecomicdude23
Your a Filipino? I didn't know that, but I'm a Filipino too. And please feature more DC characters like Robin. Oh please do Robin

This is the 23rd article in my Know Your CBM Character series. Any requests and suggestions for an article for this series write it down in the comment section BELOW.

Message to the CBM community:To those who are making requests, check first [here] because I might have done an article on the character already. If I have not please be patient, I will get on it as soon as possible (but consider the fact that I spend hours writing one of these articles). Try to limit your request to characters that already have been adapted to live media, so that the feature will at least be relevant to the site – Comic Book Movie(though I include TV characters). Characters in Manga or Anime’, I am not particularly familiar of, I am not discounting these characters but it will probably take some time before I write a feature on them because I have to read up on these characters. Thank you for reading these articles! If there are errors on the feature article above, blame it on my age, humanity and ignorance. Just be sure to check the comment section for the corrections, any error I made will surely be pointed out and corrected by much bigger geeks (because there will always be a bigger geek out there). -This has been PollMaster inviting you to the geekside. MABUHAY CBM and Godspeed!

P0llMaster
5/6/2011
DCMU

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