Warning! Spoilers ahead for Nightwing #81
In the latest issue of DC Comics' Nightwing, Dick Grayson proves that he's a better hero than Batman in the best way. While Nightwing is determined to use his new funds and resources to help the city of Blüdhaven on a grander and more meaningful scale than ever before, he's also running into all kinds of new threats and challenges to his mission. Not only are the city officials corrupt at every level and working with the mob but the new villain Heartless has made his presence known as well, seeking to terrorize the city and Dick right along with it. However, Nightwing refuses to give up, coming up with a solution to save the day that Batman would have most definitely struggled with.
In prior issues of Nightwing, Dick Grayson has taken a focused look at the plights of the average citizen in his city, bearing witness to the high levels of homelessness. There's even an entire tent city that's populated by teenagers. However, it looks as though Nightwing has big plans to change that, using his newly inherited billions from the late Alfred Pennyworth to act as a safety net for those in Blüdhaven who are the most in need. However, the corruption of the city's leadership is potentially going to make those goals that much harder to succeed. Additionally, the new Nightwing #81 from Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo sees Heartless terrorizing the tent city by setting it ablaze.
While one of Dick Grayson's greatest strengths is his capacity to care about others, Heartless sees it as a weakness to be exploited. As a dark example, he triggers an explosion on the pier where Tim Drake's Robin was trying to evacuate the kids from the burning tents. With the teens trapped with nowhere to go, Dick Grayson wastes no time doing something incredibly different than Batman: he asks for help, requesting any and all nearby boats to come and provide a means of rescue for the kids.
While Robin expressed doubt, Nightwing countered that the people of his city have never been the problem. The core issue has always been its criminals and those put in charge as leaders. Sure enough, Nightwing's call for aid works as civilian boats soon arrived to ferry the kids to safety. While it's a fairly impressive moment, it truly is a solution that Batman's stubbornness would clash with. While the Dark Knight has been on teams of heroes and arguably has one of the biggest families of vigilantes and heroes in the DC Universe, it's still rare for him to openly ask for help even in the direst of circumstances. Things have to be really bad and even then, Batman might still try to come up with a solution on his own. In contrast, Nightwing sees needs and quickly realizes that he's going to have to ask for help, and his gambit absolutely paid off in this issue.
Even Robin and Batgirl acknowledge that Nightwing is typically more sensible and less stubborn than Batman, and that leads to him having greater flexibility as a team player, allowing him to have the confidence to unreservedly ask for help when needed. He knows the truth that he can't do it all on his own, which is something Batman struggles with despite the ironic size of his Bat-Family. In any case, it's going to be really interesting to see where Nightwing goes next in his plans to save Blüdhaven like he never has before.