Spoilers ahead for Nightwing 2021 Annual #1
Heroes like Nightwing may have to get rough with bad guys, but does his brother-in-arms Red Hood have a point that Dick’s weapons of choice are a bit too much? Compared to some of the other members of the Bat-Family, Nightwing is often seen as the “nice guy” of the Gotham crew. So how exactly does that work when he’s pulverizing villains with electrified metal batons?
Weapons are an absolute necessity for the Bat-Family, who fight powerful villains like Killer Croc and Bane almost nightly. From grappling guns to smoke bombs, Batman and his sidekicks have an arsenal to turn the tide of any fight. Some even have trademark equipment, such as Batman's Batarangs or Robin’s Bō staff. Nightwing’s escrima sticks have been his trusty fighting tools for years, but has the time come for Dick to find a new weapon more suitable for his current mission?
In Nightwing 2021 Annual #1 by Tom Taylor, Cian Tormey, and Daniel HDR, Red Hood has been caught on camera murdering an FBI informant and three federal agents in cold blood and is nowhere to be found. Dick journeys to find Jason and get some answers, all the while looking back on the first heart-to-heart he ever had with his adopted brother after Dick's dismissal as Robin. The two meet, and after a little detective work, discover the true culprit behind the deaths; drug kingpin Wolfgang Bylsma, a dealer Jason is far too familiar with. Unfortunately for Bylsma, Jason remembers his mother purchasing the dealer's drugs, putting her on a lonely, painful road to addiction. A furious Red Hood uses his new trademark crowbar to exact a more painful form of retribution before being stopped by Dick.
The two have one final conversation where Red Hood agrees with Nightwing that justice doesn't have to be violent, until Dick points out Jason's current use of a crowbar. Jason smugly retorts that Dick's batons aren't exactly the softest weapons around, and he may have a point. The story has Dick looking back on Jason's violent tendencies and convincing him that it's not the way the Bat-Family does things. However, as Nightwing, he often relies on electrified escrima sticks to take down any sort of villain, superpowered or not. But for someone who's arguably a better fighter than Batman, does he need them? Should Dick commit to becoming more of a guardian figure and ditch the weaponry, opting for more defensive equipment? Perhaps it's time for a Nightwing to be the first Bat-Family member with a shield.
The toys are arguably one of the best parts about being in Bruce Wayne's orbit. But the fighting skills of Batman and his followers are some of the best in the world, and most Gotham villains can be handled with a well-delivered punch. At the very least, it probably wouldn't hurt Nightwing to consider Red Hood's advice and leave the sticks behind.