Okay, I’ll Bite, Who The Hell Is Neal Caffrey And Why Is He Dick Grayson?

“I hate writing”

- I an aspiring playwright says, staring at the blinking cursor on a blank screen.

(Someone put me down before I crash out)

I hate the “happy Robin” “angry Robin” thing because no Jason was not the happy Robin. Let’s set aside the fact that you can’t really reduce these characters to a singular emotion. Jason Todd was angry as Robin (please note this does not make him the angry Robin, because there is no angry Robin, bc let’s be so fr, they all had angry moments. ) Which makes sense because he was a kid who had to deal with way too much shit. Bruce took him in to help him grow and teach him but his life was tragically cut short.

People associate anger as bad but Jason wasn’t bad, he was a good kid who got dealt a bad hand. As if being 15 wasn’t hard enough he was out there every night facing such awful people, of course he lost his cool every now and then! Yes he believed Robin gave him magic, that doesn’t mean he can’t be angry???? Like these two things can exist at once. I feel like once you acknowledge that Jason wasn’t always cheerful and happy as Robin (and the opposite is true too, he wasn’t always angry and vengeful as Robin) that’s when you truly can appreciate his character. The fandom always either classifies him as the happy Robin or the angry Robin but like why can’t he be both? Why can’t he be happy AND angry? Can one only feel a singular emotion

i loveee watching my friends go through different interests and gain new favorite characters... like yes girl when can i meet your 17th wife whens the wedding and am i invited

Everytime I see Jason call Tim replacement in fanfic (I will forever deny that he said it canon, nope did NOT happen) I have to laugh because who do you think was the replacement first?

Was Dick ever mean to Jason when they first met? Because I’ve seen a lot of fanon where it’s implied/shown that he was, but I haven’t seen anything to prove that it’s canon (and I’m happy you’re back even though you weren’t gone long I love your blog)

Aww thank you!!

Ugh I don't know where fanon keeps getting the idea but Dick was never mean to Jason as Robin.

Let's start with the erased version, otherwise known as pre-crisis.

Jason Todd was born to acrobatic parents and also performed in the circus. Here's the interesting bit: it wasn't Bruce who found out about them, it was Dick who was at the circus and cheered them.

Batman (1940) Issue #357

Where was Bruce? He was busy becoming squid food in Gotham.

Anyway Bruce escapes and meets up with Dick who is still Robin and helps him solve part of the crime. As he's discussing the case with Dick, Dick mentions that there may be a connection to Bruce's case and something Trina Todd said.

Yup! Dick becomes friends with Jason's mom <3

Batman (1940) Issue #358

Bruce doesn't trust her but Dick does and Bruce trusts Dick so he accepts.

So Dick goes to meet Trina and her husband but they've already left to sneak into the villain's lair and get caught by Killer Croc. So he chases after them. Barbara joins in as Batgirl but Batgirl and Robin are too late because Killer Croc has already fed Joe and Trina to crocodiles.

Batman's still fighting his own case while all this is happening.

Waldo the Clown takes Jason to the manor and while Jason's in the kitchen looking for food, he finds the door behind the grandfather clock open, goes inside, and finds the batcave.

He finds a trunk of Dick's old suits as Robin and that's where the iconic pre-crisis Jason Robin scene comes -

Detective Comics (1937) Issue #526

Which first of all Jason why are you wearing other people's clothes without their permission? But anyway Jason hears people coming and finds Batman's busy grabbing information with Selina and so he hides in the trunk of the Batmobile. Robin Dick and Batgirl solve the case on their end and find out there's a trap for Batman so they come in and save Batman and his allies. Jason sneaks out of the car and finds his parents are dead so he tries to kill Killer Croc but Dick and Barbara stop him.

Detective Comics (1937) Issue #526

Dick's just like "oh, you sweetheart."

Dick wants to adopt him but Bruce is like mine because they're both like "It's my fault his parents died, I should take responsibility."

Detective Comics (1937) Issue #526

Dick was really nice to Jason.

Batman (1940) Issue #529

Dick is Jason's idol. He and Dick have a great relationship, so much so that Dick actually passes on the Robin name and suit to Jason.

Batman (1940) Issue #529

I could make a meme out of the handshake scene with Bruce being one hand and Jason being the other and in the middle the hands meet is "idolizing Dick Grayson".

So Dick and Jason had a fantastic relationship.

And then some things happen where this Jason wasn't well-recieved by the audience because of the way writers handled the transition from Dick's robin to Jason's so DC realized that they need to make Jason into his own person with his own personality, looks, and story.

So they magic marker erased the previous timeline and now we have the actual Jason Todd that's actually relevant to every comic that comes after.

Yet in this current timeline too, Dick treated Jason sweetly.

Here Dick's first meeting with Jason, he actually saves Jason from the hands of drug dealers.

Batman (1940) Issue #416

He let go of his hiding spot to get the new Robin out of trouble.

Jason is not at all happy about this.

Batman (1940) Issue #416

And Dick's pissed off because he found out there's a new Robin through a newspaper and he just lost a drug deal he's been waiting on to bailout the new Robin.

So Dick storms off and Jason asks Bruce about Nightwing

Batman (1940) Issue #416

And I'm going to reiterate parts of this post for this part (people please please read this post because tumblr has an image limit and I've explained it in detail there but I can't here)

Dick had no idea Bruce passed on the Robin costume. He finds out through the newspaper because Bruce is pissed at Dick. Like he's so mad that when he told Dick to leave, Dick actually left.

You know how there's a saying about not being able to take back words of anger? Bruce is feeling that heavily. He already had suspicions that Dick wanted to leave but before Dick could tell him, he fired him so he wouldn't have to hear those words. But Bruce is super mad that Dick left anyway. So what does he do? He makes the first boy he sees Robin.

And Jason finds out Dick was Robin when he confronts Bruce why Nightwing knows Bruce's identity. And that gets Bruce more mad because he's now feeling guilty which is when Dick comes to confront Bruce.

After meeting Bruce, Dick talks about what he's been up to since he left and put Bruce in a good mood before he starts tearing into him.

Batman (1940) Issue #416

Bruce looks so wrecked. The guilt and sorrow is tantamount to his pain.

Then Dick asks Bruce why he choose someone new.

Batman (1940) Issue #416

So Bruce tells him. But Dick and Bruce's relationship go way deeper than just friends or family. They know each other. They revolve around each other so Dick calls him out, and out comes the truth

Batman (1940) Issue #416

But here's what it means in terms of Dick and Jason's relationship:

Instead of letting Jason become some sort of spite move, Dick becomes the bigger man and decides to turn Robin into a legacy.

Batman (1940) Issue #416

He passes it down like it was meant to be passed down. Because let's be honest here. The Robin name and costume is Dick's. If he wanted to, he could've taken it back, Bruce be damned. And that was one of Jason's fears.

It's Dick's approval of Jason and them catching the drug dealers together at the end that cements Jason as Robin. It's his acceptance and good will toward Jason that Bruce is grateful for.

Batman (1940) Issue #416

Dick also validates and praises Jason in the comics whenever they meet.

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #31

He's basically, "Don't worry about Bruce, if you get in trouble, I'll take care of it."

The only problem is they didn't meet a lot but when they did it was good times all around.

The third version of Dick and Jason's meeting.

In this version holy honking heck. First of all it's a flashback when Bruce fires Dick because he feels like he's too busy with other duties to be with Batman and then after a series of events in present time, it shows that Bruce literally kidnapped Jason and gagged and tied him to a chair. And Alfred's like WTH BRUCE?!

Even more things happen on both sides (curse you 30-image per post tumblr limit) and Bruce essentially makes Jason watch all the videos of Dick and sets Jason's gauntlet test to be a game of tag with Dick.

Dick is completely unaware of all this happening because he's just having fun busting up thugs and playing with Barbara, having no clue that Bruce and Jason are literally watching him livestream through his bike dash cam.

Nightwing (1996) Issue #105

Jason literally shows up while Dick's pondering on a rooftop and is like who're you? Oh wait you're him lol. Move over there's a new robin in town! And Dick's just like WHAT?! He such a little shit about it.

Dick's immediately like okay I'm upset at Bruce but I have to help this new kid out. There's no hesitation, no regret, no anger towards Jason at all. Just pure desire to see him succeed.

Not gonna lie, Jason's just awful towards Dick because he thinks that Dick is his test or something Dick's just like, "can you cool it for a sec?" They soon find out about a huge crime drug activity going on and Dick sorta mentors Jason through it while on the case. I'm not gonna include the panels but it's just Dick and Jason working together. It's fun to read and cute because Dick's protective of him and Jason's like a little bird following a bigger scarier one.

At the end the crime is solved, Jason and Alfred go home, and Dick calls Bruce to tell him this -

Nightwing (1996) Issue #106

Nightwing (1996) Issue #106

He was so, so nice to Jason. Actually it's impossible for anyone to treat Jason better than Dick treated him, not even Bruce was this nice to Jason.

In Nightwing (2016) Annual, there's another story of Dick and Jason's meeting. In this case Dick comes over after Alfred calls him and Jason's sulking in his room because Bruce grounded him. He pulls Jason away and they go on a Nightwing and Robin adventure where Dick talks to him, teaches him, and lifts his spirits.

Nightwing (2016) 2021 Annual

Dick being mean to Jason is pure fanon, it's so fanon that there isn't even a single comic panel that can be used in support of that horrible idea. He never ignored Jason. Dick makes it very, very clear that his problems are with Bruce won't interfere with his relationship with Jason. He treats Jason as an independent person with his own personality and genuinely looks after and cares for him in every retelling. The only thing is they didn't meet very often but when they did, Dick was such a good brother.

Headcanon that one time Dick got so pissed off at Bruce that he anonymously told a reporter that Bruce Wayne had a crush on Batman but Batman rejected him.

What I mean when I do not control the hyperfixation.

Woah, there’s no reason to get so heated. I never said he’s perfect, he does some bad things but terrible is a stretch. Like yeah, taking Robin away from Tim? He went about that completely wrong, even if he had his reasons. I will say that making mistakes doesn’t mean he’s a terrible sibling. And because I love exploring the dynamics between the Bat Family, I’m going to go through some moments where Dick was a good sibling to each of them, or at least some cute moments between them!

Tim

This is probably my favorite Batfam dynamic (with Steph and Damian being a close second) In many ways Tim helped Dick become a big brother. He felt like he failed Jason by not being there and made an effort to be more available to Tim!

Here’s some moments between the two!

When Dick trusted Tim not to use the Lazarus pit?

Or when he and Babs threw Tim a surprise Christmas party so he wouldn’t be alone on Christmas

After Tim quits being Robin, he’s nervous that Dick and Bruce won’t talk to him again. Tim’s school gets shot up and Bruce is adamant that he’s okay but Dick goes to check up on him.

Even when they’re fighting, they’re there for each other! This takes place after Dick gives Robin to Damian!

Also! I want to add that in Bruce Wayne murderer, Dick and Tim do argue because Dick is angry that Tim is doubting Bruce’s innocence, it’s a very emotional time for the two and siblings fight all the time. Hell my sister has snapped at me tons of times and I’ve snapped at her.

Jason

The biggest thing with Dick and Jason, is Dick wasn’t there a lot when Jason was Robin, because he was mostly with the Titans at the time, but when he was there, he did his best. Here’s some moments of Dick being a good brother to Jason!

Dick gives Jason his number as well as his Robin suit (this panel is quite old but DC continuity is really confusing)

Or when Jason is grounded and Dick takes him out on an adventure to help him out

And he even apologizes to Jason because Bruce compared the two

And when Jason is accused of murder, Dick trusts him when he says he didn’t do it

I will say that out of all of Dick’s siblings, he probably made the most mistakes with Jason, which kinda makes sense because that was his first time being a big brother figure. But even then, you have this little moment:

Damian

This is a major one! Dick and Damian are probably the sibling relationship that gets the most focus in current comic (which I have my own opinions on, because I hate that they put his relationship with the others on the back burner) But Dick is very essential to Damian’s character growth. And yeah they get off to a rocky start, Dick was grieving Bruce’s death and all of the sudden he’s in charge of a murderous 2nd grader. He wasn’t the most emotionally available, I’d honestly say their relationship is in the middle of parent/child and siblings. I’ve maxed out the amount of photos I can use in a post so I’ll leave you with this!

God I love them so much.

Cass

Don’t worry! I didn’t forget Cass! But they don’t have as many moments compared to the others! Like I said, I ran out of photos, but I can list some!

- If I recall correctly, Dick wasn’t the most welcoming to Cass because! He’s NOT perfect! He makes mistakes and he can be a real Dick (pun intended) but a huge thing is, he acknowledges this, apologizes to her and they agree to put it behind them! This happens in Batman and the outsiders (2007) #14

- This is more a moment of her helping him out, but in Nightwing (1996) #81, Dick gets shot, Cass visits him in the hospital and he enlists her help in defeating Deathstroke. This is an important moment because a big theme in Nightwing 1996 was Dick stretching himself thin and trying to do everything on his own, which caused him to start getting sloppy.

- In Nightwing #106 Dick teaches Cass how to make his world famous pancakes, which is adorable!

(but I mean so does almost every member of the batfamily)

And as for Duke, I’m not sure if they have any moments together?

And I can totally get your frustration that people act like he’s perfect and honestly that’s probably why I’m not the biggest fan of Tom Taylor’s Nightwing run because he made him almost into a Mary-Sue and I think a flawed Nightwing is the best Nightwing, like I mentioned how in Nightwing 1996, he insists on doing everything alone, which leads to him getting overworked, which leads to him getting shot on duty, which leads to Blockbuster realizing that Nightwing is Dick Grayson which leads to basically his whole life falling apart.

I hate the “bad sibling Dick Grayson” tag, like Dick Grayson would never. Especially in Tim centric fics. They have such a close bond in canon, Tim Drake is Dick Grayson’s #1 fan and Dick raves about Tim like every other issue in Nightwing (1996)