Nightwing Officially Refutes Superman's Biggest Criticism of His Crime-Fighting Tactics

Summary Nightwing's friendly personality and past as a circus performer may lead to assumptions about him craving attention, but he's actually fine without the spotlight.

In Nightwing #113, he allows others to take the lead in thwarting criminals, showing his ability to avoid being the center of attention when needed.

Despite his outgoing nature and history as a superhero, Nightwing has shown multiple times that he can work undercover and avoid drawing attention to himself.

Warning! Contains spoilers For Nightwing #113!

Nightwing is friends with almost everyone in the DC Universe, which has naturally led people to assume he rather enjoys being the center of attention. Even Superman has said this about Dick Grayson in the past. But it turns out this couldn't be further from the truth, as Nightwing recently stated he's just fine without the spotlight.

In Nightwing #113 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, Nightwing refutes Superman's attention-seeking claims by openly stating that it's not "entirely" true that he loves the spotlight. And over the years, Nightwing has proven that he's perfectly capable of avoiding the spotlight when necessary.

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This claim is most easily proven when Nightwing allows both Tim and Damian to take care of the robbers on their current mission. He even lets Tim and Damian do "good Robin/bad Robin" on the thugs to interrogate them. But Nightwing's history of being totally fine without being the center of attention expands back quite a few years.

Related Nightwing Confirms His Biggest Difference to Batman, & Why They'll Never Be the Same Nightwing and Batman work together in Nightwing #112 and come to terms with the similarities and differences that define them as a father-son duo.

Superman Calls Out Nightwing's Need For Attention

While Nightwing certainly doesn't mind being the center of attention, it's not something he actively craves or needs either.

Dick Grayson grew up in a circus, where he was part of the star attraction. He also has an incredibly outgoing and friendly personality. This has led a lot of people to assume that he absolutely craves the spotlight and will often intentionally try to be the center of attention. While Nightwing certainly doesn't mind being the center of attention, it's not something he actively craves or needs either. Not only does Nightwing outright dismiss this assumption by saying it's not entirely true, but his past as a superhero also has several examples where he had to avoid drawing attention to himself for a long period.

Nightwing Has Easily Avoided The Spotlight In The Past

There have been several times that Nightwing has had to go undercover, like one particularly weird chapter in his life when Nightwing takes on the identity of Renegade and acts as a criminal. He even manages to work under Deathstroke while not drawing any attention from people at large. Another fantastic example of this is when Nightwing becomes an agent of Spyral, a secret organization that travels all over the world. During this time, Nightwing has to pretend Dick Grayson is dead and acts under a new moniker. Being an international spy is the biggest possible "avoiding the spotlight" a character could achieve.

It's easy to assume that with his childhood and his flamboyant costume as Robin, Dick Grayson simply craves attention and will always try to be the center of it. But this assumption about his character simply doesn't line up with his history, and Nightwing himself outright rejects it. While characters like Superman might think this is a character flaw of Dick, they couldn't be further from the truth, and Nightwing has no problem sharing the spotlight or even avoiding it entirely.

Nightwing #113 will be on sale April 16 from DC Comics!

Nightwing #113 (2024) Writer: Tom Taylor, Marv Wolfman, Michael Conrad

Artist: Howard Porter, Bruno Redondo, Daniele Di Nicuolo

Colorist: Hi-Fi, Adriano Lucas

Letterer: Wes Abbott

Cover Artist: Bruno Redondo