By Roman Chavez with The Question

March 23, 2009

With the recent events of DC Comics Final Crisis and Batman R.I.P the house hold name of Batman is taking a new direction. In the fall out of these series our caped crusader has seemingly met his end. In March we will have seen the first issue of Battle for the Cowl. This series tackles the question who shall become the new Batman?

The candidate list is some what long. For those of you that do not know there is a group affectionately referred to as the “Bat-Family”. And in this family lies the list of possible replacements for Batman. There are many, like myself, who feel that Batman can not be replaced, but here we will break down who can possibly handle the task. Over the next few days our comic writer’s team will be posting bios on who might have what it takes to be the Dark Knight.

Dick Grayson – Alias: Nightwing.

Origin:

-Dick was a young acrobat in a circus family known as the Flying Graysons. While in Gotham during a performance Dick’s mother and father were doing a routine when there cable snapped killing them. This turned out to be sabotage by a local crime boss who was trying to extort money from the circus. Bruce Wayne (Batman) would later take in Dick as his ward. Seeing a lot of himself in young Grayson Batman would make him his partner, Robin.  After years of living in Batman’s shadow Robin would later leave Batman to find an identity of his own as Nightwing.

Abilities:

-Dick is a master of a half dozen martial arts disciplines and was rigorously trained by the Dark Knight in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines. He was also trained in the use of a number of weapons but prefers to use Escrima sticks which he has adapted into his unique fighting style.

- Nightwing is generally regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the DC universe. He is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault (formerly one of three, the other two being his parents). Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne’s ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese (though he appears not to know how to read the last three), and has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran. He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills, having served as leader to the Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League.  Additionally, Dick’s interpersonal skills and 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.

Why he could be Batman:

-Nightwing has the most experience of any of the other candidates.

-He already was Batman for a brief time after Bruce Wayne reclaimed the cowl from the former Azrael.

-He has Bruce’s ultimate trust he was chosen by Bruce to lead a replacement Justice League when the real one went missing during the Obsidian Age story arc.

This is just one of many possible people who may replace the caped crusader. Check back with us everyday this week to see more character profiles on the Bat-Family.

Who do you think should be Batman?

Editors note: The Question is the pen name of a free lance comic book expert that will be a contributing writer for Fanboyz.net. The name also refers to a masked vigilante in DC Comics… They are not the same man.