#i keep getting more bugged by fandom AND canon-flashback trends in his characterization

[incomingalbatross]

Robin!Dick Grayson opinions that I hold very strongly and would like to see more of:

He was not particularly cute, or particularly small; in fact, I think he was probably pretty big for his age

He was a happy, upbeat kid, but fairly down-to-earth and unsentimental

(A basically-comprehensive list of things that could make the first Robin cry: 1) Batman being dead/hurt/lost, 2) Batman turning out to NOT be dead/hurt/lost, 3) any strong reminder of his parents' deaths, probably? Yeah. That's the list.)

Always, perpetually Ready To Fight. DELIGHTED to beat up bad guys at any time

He and Bruce interacted more as equals than anything else--sure, Batman had the authority when someone needed to be in charge, but having Dick's absolute trust did not mean having his respect, let alone deference. One both sides of the masks, they saw each other more as brothers and partners than as father and son.

(Is this entirely reasonable, seeing as Dick was in fact a child? No, but Bruce was a very young adult and still kind of stuck at eight years old in his own perception, and they were mostly figuring out How To Heal From Trauma AND How To Be Superheroes side-by-side. Bruce really wasn't that far ahead.)

He and Bruce had a ridiculously good relationship!! They trusted each other absolutely, were very comfortable communicating their feelings (yes, including the l-word), supported each other at all times, and...basically, never had a time they weren't on the same page until Dick reached his late teens and started getting Angsty and having College-Age Identity Crises. Even then, it wasn't as rocky as retcons/reboots make it out to have been.

(Part of the reason Bruce struggled with Jason, imo, is because everything with Dick had been such smooth sailing that he was not prepared for Jason's bundle of unfamiliar traumas. He doesn't know how to Parent because--at least from his perspective--Dick barely needed Parenting, everything just came naturally.)

...So basically Nightwing, just shorter, with fewer responsibilities, and with a completely unstrained relationship with Bruce.

Source for my opinions: however many Golden/Silver/Bronze Age Comics I've read. Which is certainly not, like, all of them, but is enough for me to have firmly established some Robin!Dick characterization hills to die on. Quietly. In the privacy of my own thoughts.

#i acknowledge that canon is a delusion and a snare #but SOMETIMES it matters #and if tim fans can have characterization opinions based on his robin era (which they can) #then i feel like i can have opinions founded in dick's forty years of actually being robin #i keep getting more bugged by fandom AND canon-flashback trends in his characterization #he's always a Troubled Angry Kid or a tiny adorable ray-of-sunshine sprite or a feral chaos gremlin #and i'm over here stewing on my internet porch like... those are all interesting characters but Kid Dick already HAS a character!! that's N #and yes Canon Kid Dick is maybe a little more boring because he's from the 40s-70s comics atmosphere #but i'd like to at least see him used as a /foundation/ more often #batfamily #dick grayson #robin #the dynamic duo #this has been your irregular and unscheduled rant for the night