Nightwing is a comic book series published by DC Comics as part of the New 52 branding initiative. The series was launched in 2011 with Kyle Higgins as writer and Eddy Barrows as artist.
After the events of Flashpoint, and with the company wide New 52 relaunch, Dick Grayson has returned to being Nightwing. After operating in Gotham for a time, he moved to Chicago following Death of the Family and set up a life there.
However, during the events of Forever Evil, Dick was captured by the Crime Syndicate, and his identity was outed to the world, resulting in Dick faking his death.
The series ended with Issue 30, with a new series titled Grayson, beging in July, with Dick Grayson as a Secret Agent of Spyral alongside another famous Faking the Dead character: Helena Bertinelli.
Nightwing (New 52) contains examples of:
- Adaptational Villainy: Acheron is an evil demon.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Nightwing with Barbara Gordon.
- Cartwright Curse: Dick's love interests haven't been very lucky. Two women that Dick has slept with have died (one within the same issue she was introduced). Another love interest was the target of an attempted assassination. And then there's Barbara Gordon, who has been going through a Trauma Conga Line in her own book.
- Darker and Edgier: Nightwing's portrayal here shows him as somewhat more violent than before, and his costume is now red and black instead of black and blue, although this does have the benefit of putting all four of the Robins in red. With his move to Chicago post-Death of the Family, this actually decreased a fair amount.
- Evil Costume Switch: Not evil actually, but in the New 52, his black and blue changed to black and red, reflecting his more anti-heroic nature. Which, ironically enough, looks kind of like the Robin costume from Batman & Robin, albeit without the cape.
- Hijacked by Ganon:
- The opening arc, where Nightwing is being hunted by Saiko and inherits Haly's Circus before finding a mysterious ledger with his name in it, was revealed to part of the Night of the Owls storyline that had been building in Detective Comics as it turned out Haly's Circus had routinely given a child to the Court of Owls to become a Talon, and Dick was being groomed to be next in line before his parents died.
- The overarching plot of Dick setting out to rejuvenate the Amusement Mile in Gotham with Haly's Circus as the centrepiece, was brought to an end thanks to Death of the Family (Which saw Joker attack the circus to get at Nightwing in part of his larger plan to destroy Batman) and the subsequent and unrelated death of Robin.
- Missed the Call: Turns out Dick missed a villainous call in his backstory. The Court of Owls wanted to make Dick into a Talon, but Bruce adopting him on the eve of his parents' deaths put him out of their reach.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: Issue #30 is very clearly meant to serve as one to the Grayson ongoing, giving the context for the series. That, and it in no way relates to the previous arcs, and it's the last issue.
- Redemption Failure: In the New 52 universe Anthony Zucco actually does try to turn his life around to be a good role model for his son Brian... then he learns that his wife and son left him and he decides to embrace being evil.
- Shock Stick: Nightwing's Escrima sticks are now electrified, and have the ability to deliver an electric shock, similar to their use in Batman: Arkham City.
- The Unmasking: In Forever Evil (2013) #1, Nightwing is promptly beaten to a pulp and publicly unmasked as Dick Grayson in a show of force by the Crime Syndicate. For some reason, this does not cause the rest of the Batfamily's identities to be revealed despite their close connections in and out of costume.
- With This Ring: Nightwing rescues an old circus acquaintance from his crazed, demon summoning ex-fianceé Zohna, who was using the ring with which Jimmy had proposed to fuel an unholy soul binding ceremony. Once Nightwing rescued him, Jimmy tossed the ring down a sewer grate.
