As the latest chapter of Nightwing’s history comes to a close, DC Comics has found a new place for the hero who helped give Dick Grayson his moniker. For the less-seasoned fans, Batman’s former sidekick actually wasn’t the first person to use the name in DC canon. The first was technically Superman, who temporarily used the identity while on an adventure in the bottle city of Kandor. But the first person to truly make the name their own was Superman’s cousin, Van-Zee. It was the legends of the Kryptonian hero that inspired Dick Grayson to later adopt the identity.
Now Van-Zee has been absent for quite some time, but DC Comics brought back the Kryptonian version of Nightwing back during the DC All In era, albeit with a twist. A boy named Bryce Morgan found himself altered by Fifth Dimensional magic and transformed into a Kryptonian adult inspired by the legends Dick Grayson recalled. Calling himself Nightwing-Prime, Bryce attempted to help the world while the terrifying extra-dimensional entity known as the Zanni launched a final attack on Blüdhaven. Thankfully, Nightwing-Prime is stopping the Zanni once and for all by making a sacrifice that only a true hero would make.
Nightwing-Prime is Now the Protector of Children’s Imagination
In Nightwing #135 by Dan Watters, Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, and Wes Abbott, all hell is breaking loose in Blüdhaven. The Zanni’s deadly game with Nightwing has resulted in major destruction throughout the city. Titans Tower is coming down hard, and inside, Nightwing-Prime is passed out and vulnerable. However, in the blink of an eye, Bryce wakes up and stops the tower from crushing Barbara Gordon. Nightwing-Prime deduces that the Zanni has kidnapped Blüdhaven’s children to lure Nightwing into a final battle. Bryce decides to head to the Zanni’s domain and help Grayson however he can.
Inside Zanni’s realm, the Cirque du Sin, Nightwing gathers the missing kids and looks for a way out. The strange realm operates on imagination instead of logic, so Dick dreams up a ladder to take the kids out of this twisted domain. But just as the group makes their way up the ladder, the Zanni arrives, ready to take them and bring them back to his circus. Fortunately, Nightwing-Prime has made it inside and occupies the Zanni. As soon as everyone makes it out, Nightwing-Prime destroys the ladder to keep the Zanni from getting out into the real world.
Sadly, Nightwing can’t find a way back into the Cirque du Sin, meaning that Bryce is stuck on the other side with no way to retrieve him. However, a few days after the incident, Nightwing hears that Nightwing-Prime is okay. Children have been having dreams about the Zanni, but whenever he shows up to intimidate a kid, Nightwing-Prime shows up and defeats him. With Nightwing-Prime around, the Zanni has no power over any children, and his mission to gain strength or add to his circus is effectively over. And Bryce is simply happy to be the hero for the job.
Nightwing-Prime Balances Out the Zanni
While Bryce might not be the ‘original’ original Nightwing, he effectively fills the void left behind by Van-Zee. I wasn’t sure where they were going with this story, but the final chapter really ties everything neatly together. Much of the last year of Nightwing has focused on the Zanni, a monster who embodies antiquated, limited forms of entertainment. Circuses, clowns. Things that, at one point, entertained children but have fallen out of favor in modern day. The Zanni is a kind of toxic nostalgia, an idea that refuses to go away. So how do you fight a negative idea?
With a positive one, of course! In the same way that the Zanni represents the birth of entertainment and imagination, Nightwing-Prime represents the evolution and change of entertainment. More than that, he’s someone who wholeheartedly embraces superheroes and the idea of being one. Nightwing-Prime knows that by staying behind, he’s losing out on his life. But at the same time, Bryce knows that heroism isn’t just about spectacle and dazzle. It’s about making the sacrifices that need to be made, like Nightwing-Prime using everything at his disposal to keep the Zanni from breaking out.
It would have been neat to have Nightwing-Prime continue as a featured character in this series, but this ending makes sense. Keeping him in the same realm as the Zanni balances everything that this story has focused on: nostalgia vs. evolution, circuses vs. superheroes. Without a balance to Zanni, he was able to grow too powerful. But now Nightwing-Prime can keep him in check, allowing Nightwing, the product of both circuses and superheroes, to live his life without Zanni dragging him down. It’s a shame Nightwing-Prime had to go, but his sacrifice won’t be forgotten.
What did you think of Nightwing-Prime’s fate? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!