Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 Years of Robin, Nightwing and Batman

by Kristen L. Geaman (editor)

Dick Grayson--alter-ego of the original Robin of Batman comics--has gone through various changes in his 75 years as a superhero but has remained the optimistic, humorous character readers first embraced in 1940. Predating Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, he is one of DC Comics' oldest heroes and retains a large and loyal fanbase.

The first scholarly work to focus exclusively on the Boy Wonder, this collection of new essays features critical analysis, as well as interviews with some of the biggest names to study Dick Grayson, including Chuck Dixon, Devin Grayson and Marv Wolfman. The contributors discuss his vital place in the Batman saga, his growth and development into an independent hero, Nightwing, and the many storyline connections which put him at the center of the DC Universe. His character is explored in the contexts of feminism, trauma, friendship, and masculinity.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Dc Comics

363 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 9, 2015

Reviews

[Emilija]

2024 52 Book Challenge - 19) A Buddy Read

I loved this book. Probably because it's a book about my favourite comic book character, I was pretty much going to love it regardless, but it was sp interesting seeing the various thoughts and angles that other people looked at Dick Grayson with.

I struggled more with the earlier essays, but I particularly liked the second half of the book, Parts 3 and 4, which covered the friendships and relationships Nightwing and Dick Grayson have with the wider Batman community and the even wider DC universe. I wished that in the Titans section, they had covered Wally as well, I thought that it was weird that they didn't cover their friendship as well. I also found the Grayson, Sex and Feminism essay really interesting.

I read this book alongside a Dick Grayson Discord server, and I found it quite difficult to keep to the schedule, but it was very interesting reading the book with a group of people and how various people read the same material differently.

[Guilherme Smee]

A leitura deste livro faz parte dos meus esforços de ler livros acadêmicos sobre os quinze super-heróis presentes na minha pesquisa. O Robin é um deles. Este livro é uma homenagem aos 75 anos de criação de Dick Grayson, o primeiro Robin, que depois se tornou o Asa Noturna. O livro dá conta de diversos aspectos de Dick Grayson e de sua mitologia. Contudo, nem todos são de "scholars" como diz o título. Isso porque poucos deles trazem um formato acadêmico, alguns deles são basicamente descrições de histórias sem conter nenhuma análise, nenhuma teoria associada, nenhuma metodologia. Em seguida, temos as entrevistas com criadores, em que a organizadora do livro, Kristen L. Gearman, não entrevistou os artistas, mas retirou as respostas e perguntas de fóruns e sites da internet, montando sua própria estrutura lógica. Do meu ponto de vista, poucas partes deste livro valem a pena para quem quer se aprofundar no personagem, na sua mitologia com análises bem-embasadas. Apesar de ter quase quatrocentas páginas este é um livro mais para fãs do que para estudiosos.

[Tom Swift]

Not every essay in this is brilliant but this is exactly what I'm interested in. In our time I would argue that pop culture analysis is the most important kind we can do, the art consumed by the most people is the most necessary to critique and comics studies is an important part of that. I also now want to read every Dick Grayson comic and also write a book exactly like this.

[Maria]

masterpiece.

[Jacqueline]

Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder is an excellent essay collection about Dick Grayson - Robin, Nightwing, Agent of Spyral, and the heart of the DC Universe. Some of the essays in this collection take a strictly chronological approach - summarizing different eras in Dick Grayson's career from his earliest days as Batman's "young sidekick" to the New 52 Era of Grayson. Other essays use a particular lens to examine the character from Freudian psychology to Feminism. Grayson's relationships with other important characters in his life including Alfred and also the Teen Titans are examined. Finally, the book concludes with interviews with some of the more influential writers of various DC Comics.

I really enjoyed this book, though it took me a while to read parts of it (I never was a fan of Freud and Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin left me cold. So the chapters devoted to those topics were tough going. But, on the other hand, the essay on New 52 including Grayson was very interesting - and I'm not a fan of New 52 either.) I also learned a lot about the history of the character and of DC Comics. I highly recommend this book to Grayson's many fans, and to anyone who would like to learn more about the character and the history of DC Comics. Each essay is meticulously researched and documented with footnotes.

[Gilda Felt]

There was a decades long gap in my comic book reading, so, as a longtime Dick Grayson fan, I was thrilled to find this book. Informative, and easy to read, it caught me up on all the years I’d missed. Especially with the recent changes to the DC Universe, it was great to relive the stories when Dick was still a part of the Batfamily. Will he be again? I certainly hope so, because I can’t imagine Bruce Wayne’s life without him.

But not just his place in the Batfamily was explored. His connections to all the other DC heroes, some of them I knew well, others hardly at all, were scrutinized, rounding out his life and legend.

If you have any interest at all in the original Robin, this is the book for you.

[Lance Lumley]

This book is a collection of essays about DC Comic character Dick Grayson, who was known as Robin The Boy Wonder, and later, NightWing.
It is filled with different takes on the character, and his impact on the comic world. Some of the essays are interesting, while others are just so far out there. I liked the essay covering how the outfit of Robin may have been created, and the symbolism of the colors used. This is a book that you would find in a college bookstore in a POP Culture class. There are criticisms from a Freudian aspect, a cultural, and many other types on the character .
For an in depth review, go to: https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...

[Marsh Myers]

An interesting scholarly read if you’re looking for a background in context about Batman, Robin and the role of comic books in our society is general.

[Cudahy Family Library]

Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder is a collection of essays written by scholars and creators on the history of Dick Grayson’s Robin, his change into Nightwing and his relationships with the other members of the DC universe. The last section also collected interviews with the most important writers of Dick Grayson. It was published in 2015, so only 4 years into the awful New 52 reboot, which was good because only two of the articles were New 52-based, both of which I skipped (I skipped 4 essays in total after giving them a cursory look). The book starts with Dick Grayson’s beginnings in April 1940 and goes all the way up to 2015, truly exploring how a character who began as a no real depth sidekick has endured over the decades.

What a great book!! I really learned a lot from these essays about the history of the character and that’s saying something considering Nightwing is my second favorite superhero after Superman. It wasn’t only learning the things in comic but also the behind the scenes of making the character. The writers of these essays really get Dick Grayson and their knowledge shines through every word they wrote. This book also better helped me organize my comics to read list and what order they go in so I can continue delving into the stories of Dick Grayson.

*My favorite essays were:
3. Fashioning Himself a Hero: Robin’s Costume and Its Role in Shaping His Identity
5. The Child is the Father to the (Bat)Man: The Inverted Parent-Child Dynamic of DC Comics’ Dynamic Duo
9. Building Character: The Writers Who Shaped Dick Grayson’s Personality
10. The Heart and Soul: Dick Grayson as the Center of the DC Universe
14. Big Brother Dick
15. Dick and Damian: The Second Batman and His Robin
16. Titans Together

*My favorite interviews: Marv Wolfman, Chuck Dixon, Devin Grayson, Kyle Higgins

If you’re a fan of Dick Grayson or are interested in learning more about him, you’ll want to read this book!

[Bethany]

I don't feel like its fair of me to rate this book (since I am a contributing author). But I love it.

Nothing is going to make me excited about Frank Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin, but Alexandra Schulz's "Deconstructing the Dynamic Duo" was brilliant, particularly the connections she made between ASBAR and The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

I got to read and hear about some of essays before this book went to print, so the biggest surprises for me were the creator interviews (I think Chuck Dixon's, Devin Grayson's, and Kyle Higgins' were my favorite--partially because they still seem so connected to and passionate about the characters they worked on).

[El Neo]

Pretty thorough history of the character. Great interviews with comic creators.

[Alessandro Lorini]

I've always considered myself as a great fan of every kind of Dick Grayson's comics. and in fact I am. you think that just because you consider him as you favourite comics since ever, U know everything 'bout him. well the thing is you don't. .. there are so many considerations that can be made, so many hint so many facts related to Grayson's stories that every single page is a discovery of multiple sides of this character. is he still my favourite after having read this book.... oh boy you can bet your yellow R that he is