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In recent issues of Nightwing and Task Force Z, Batman’s former partners are coming up with ways to help people that surpass their mentor.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from Nightwing #88 and Task Force Z #4, on sale now from DC Comics.
For decades, Batman has served Gotham City as its main protector. Additionally, he has trained an entire new generation of heroes to take up the good fight when and if he finally retires. Recent events in both Nightwing #88 (by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas, AndWorld Design) and Task Force Z #4 (by Matthew Rosenberg, Eddy Barrows, Kieran McKeown, Eber Ferreira, Dexter Vines, Adriano Lucas, Rob Leigh) suggest that the former students of the Dark Knight are beginning to branch out in their methods of helping people, opting to do more than simply beating up criminals in the streets. This hints that they are slowly becoming more efficient heroes than their mentor in their own right.
In his civilian identity of Dick Grayson, Nightwing has recently put the fortune he inherited from Alfred Pennyworth to good use by planning to build shelters for the homeless in Bludhaven and creating positive change within the community. His idea is to use the billions Alfred left him to create a purely philanthropic organization focused on eliminating homelessness in Bludhaven, which is arguably better than anything Bruce Wayne has ever done with his vast fortune.
The majority of Bruce Wayne’s resources most likely went into funding his fight against crime. He is not known for ever having created the kind of benevolent organization that Grayson has founded. Although it must be tempting for Grayson to use his fortune toward creating a crime-fighting organization similar to what Wayne has enjoyed for years, Nightwing has instead chosen to use the opportunity to do good through longstanding legal means.
It appears that even Jason Todd, aka the Red Hood, is beginning to question the effectiveness of Batman’s methods. While his evolution isn’t going in the same direction as Grayson’s, he is still trying to create a more lasting change in society. His time working alongside Task Force Z in service of the government has convinced Todd that there are better, less violent ways to help change the world than beating up on criminals, and he has elected to fight the root cause of the problems of society instead of the symptoms.
This is the first indication that Jason is taking an interest in not just fighting street level crime, but the higher levels of corruption that create these crimes in the first place. He now sees where the skills he learned from Batman can be put to better use, and realizes how much he can accomplish in the world if he really puts his mind to the task at hand.
All of this nicely sets the stage for the former Robins to begin expanding their personal wars on crime. As the oldest of Batman’s former partners, Nightwing and Red Hood are paving the way to show their successors that they can go beyond what the Dark Knight has taught them and help the world in new and even more effective ways.
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