All of Nightwing’s Costumes, Ranked

Nightwing is the original Boy Wonder, the leader of the Titans, and one of the DC Universe’s most important and influential heroes. He’s been around longer than most of DC’s other biggest names, and ever since his introduction as Robin, Dick Grayson has been showing us what it means to be a hero in a world full of them. Given how long he’s been around, it’s only natural that Nightwing would go through more than his fair share of costumes, so today we’re going to be looking at all of them and ranking them from worst to best. By the end of this list, I’m sure you’ll see that Nightwing’s fashion highs are some of the best in all of comics, but his lows are very, very low.

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10) Ric Grayson

This suit brings me pain. Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with this design, but that’s its biggest problem; nothing stands out about it. It looks like the costume every hero pulls out of the bargain bin during a retelling of their year one, and absolutely nothing tells you that this is a Nightwing costume. The weird sleeveless jumper thing over the more colorful shirt also looks really awkward. But really, the thing that brings this suit down more than anything is that it’s tied to the time Dick got amnesia and started calling himself Ric Grayson, also deciding that he didn’t want anything to do with the Bat Family or being a hero. It was easily one of Nightwing’s worst arcs, and that’s not even getting into the Nightwings that took his place. This suit is permanently tied to that storyline in my mind, which brings the design down from offensively bland to straight up disgusting. He also briefly wore a black variant of this same suit, but that was even more generic than this one, so it’s probably best to just say this suit is terrible and move on.

9) Renegade

Starting back in Nightwing (1996) #112, the protector of Bludhaven decided to go deep undercover as one of Deathstroke’s allies to ensure peace in his city. To that end, he donned a new red and rust colored suit and started going by the name Renegade, becoming Rose Wilson’s mentor in how to be a vigilante. This suit was always blending into the shadows around him, and while that was a really cool effect, it worked so well because it hid as much of this suit as possible. Most of this costume is perfectly fine, with Batman-inspired elongated gloves and boots, but the mask really brings it down. Dick swapped out his usual domino mask with a Wally West-style cowl with a hole in the top for his hair. This mask just doesn’t work with Nightwing’s look, and even though I know this is the point, it looks a bit too edgy for my tastes. Not a terrible suit, but fit with far more negatives than positives.

8) Gold Trim

The infamous gold trim suit was Nightwing’s second suit, debuting in the early ‘90s, in case you couldn’t tell. This overly designed variation of the Discowing suit is exactly as over the top as everything else in comics was at that time. There’s just so much going on here. The points of the mask stretch out to take over most of his face, and the golden lines actually extended all the way around his back and loosely hung off, letting him deploy them as wings. The only thing louder than this suit, however, is Dick’s hair. This man is rocking the most luscious mullet in the entire universe, and while I definitely respect the dedication it took to grow that out, I can’t say that it works with the incredible amount of stuff already going on. Your eyes never know what to focus on with this suit, and it’s just too much information in too little a package.

7) Spheric Solutions

Nightwing geared-up with this Spheric Solutions-special when the fifth-dimensional imp and Nightwing superfan Nite-Mite accidentally transformed Titans Tower into an otherworldly warzone following an attack from the Zanni. This armored look is specifically designed to keep the hero safe in the harsh environment, being infused with Kappa energy that can harm fifth-dimensional creatures. The extra padding makes sense in context, and I like the way the blue pops against the black, but it still looks too bulky for Nightwing’s acrobatic style. I’m not the biggest fan of the blue lines on the sides, and I could live with the rest of it, but the real kicker is the extra-small logo. Nightwing’s logo is almost always big and bold, so this much more reserved one just doesn’t hold up compared to the others. Still, I do love the boots and leg patterns here, despite it all. Not a bad suit, but I’m definitely glad it was only temporary.

6) Rebirth

After years of the red variant and the normal spy clothes of Grayson, Nightwing finally returned to the black and blue. This suit is a lot like his classic look, but there are some subtle differences. The finger stripes are gone, and the central logo has a bird head at the top, along with blue strips being added around the top of his calves. His mask is also blue instead of the usual black. Overall, this is a good suit. There is nothing wrong here, but there’s also nothing exceptional. This is a solid, standard Nightwing suit, and it works perfectly well for that purpose, but there’s nothing here that could elevate it above the rest of the choices here on this list. It’s great for what it is, but it lacks the staying power of the others.

5) New 52

The start of the New 52 reboot not only saw Dick Grayson return to the role of Nightwing, but give him a new red and black color scheme to match with the rest of the Bat Family at that time. The red pops a lot more than the blue, and adding in the red streaks on the hips, neck, and mask really help break up the sea of black and look really great. This is a very strong redesign, but I will say that one major weakness is the excessive amount of lines all over the suit, which is a problem consistent with the design philosophy of the New 52 as a whole. Despite that, this suit is still really good, and definitely an awesome different look for the former Boy Wonder. Still, as good as the red looks, I’ve always preferred blue for Nightwing more, especially given that he’s evolved to be a much brighter hero in the past few decades.

4) Discowing

The first ever Nightwing suit, colloquially coined Discowing by the fans, is infamous as a product of its time. I mean, there’s three different shades of blue, golden feather trimming, and a deep V-cut that goes halfway down Dick’s torso. Despite how absolutely ‘80s this costume is, I really love it. This is Dick’s first foray into making his own costume and being his own man, inspired by Batman and Superman as his mentors and idols. It’s blindingly bright, excessively expressive, and so much fun. Discowing perfectly captures that feeling of stepping out on your own and forging your own identity, and shows how Dick isn’t afraid to be loud and himself, but also how he’s so much brighter than Batman. Superhero costumes, at the end of the day, should always be fun and expressive before they are fashionable, and this might just be the most fun of all of Dick’s suits. It’s unlike anything else, and that’s for good reason.

3) Classic

Nightwing’s third suit and the one that stuck as the standard for his design. It’s definitely easy to see why. The blue strips on the mostly black costume are the perfect mix of light and darkness, which makes the whole thing sleek and the logo pop so much. There are a few points that definitely set it apart from the other suits, such as the defined wrist guards and top of his boots, which gives the suit a very military uniform feeling in its practicality. This definitely fit the general atmosphere of Nightwing’s stories back in the day, though the bulkiness of them do stand out a bit in comparison to the lean rest of it. Still, those would eventually fade out and we would also be introduced to the now beloved fingerstripes that trail from his logo all the way down his arms. This suit is simple and fantastic, easily setting a bar that all other costumes will always be held to. It’s the one that gave Nightwing the look distinct to who he is, after all.

2) Superwing

In Nightwing (2016) #103, the demon lord Neron tried to tempt Nightwing into making a deal with him by giving him superpowers for two hours. Nightwing was gifted all the powers of a Kryptonian and a connection to the Speed Force, as well as this fantastic upgrade to his suit. Nightwing refused the deal, obviously, but the design change definitely left an impression, even if it was only for a moment. The gold additions to this costume bring back elements of Nightwing’s first two suits in the best way possible, the gold literally glowing and shining against the black and with the blue. Every gold highlight is beautiful, from the sides to the mask, but without a doubt the best part is the logo, where the gold works to create a little bird symbol inside of the larger design, which is so darn cool. This suit is vibrant and looking at it evokes the same childlike whimsy Superman’s Silver Age costume does. An easy ten out of ten.

1) Redondo Redesign

The classic Nightwing suit created the template, but legendary artist Bruno Redondo perfected it. Every single thing about this suit is beautiful and melds together perfectly. There’s no lines or bulky pads, just pure black fabric that is so sleek you can’t even tell where his gloves or boots begin. The blue is also much brighter than previous incarnations, being so incredibly vibrant, like it wants to stand out against the black backdrop instead of blending in, which is so brilliant. And of course, this costume brought back the incredible blue fingerstripes that had been missed for over a decade. Keeping the mask blue as well only made the entire suit pop even more. It perfectly captures who Nightwing is; one of DC’s most hopeful characters that will always be a spot of color even in a bleak world. This is a perfect Nightwing costume, and I believe that every other suit he has from now on will be compared to this one, being the ultimate standard of quality.

So there we have all of Nightwing’s suits, ranked from worst to best. Bludhaven’s resident superhero has certainly gone through his fair share of costumes, and not all of them have been winners, but I think there’s at least something to appreciate in all of them. Some you just have to look a bit harder for than others. Regardless, I think one thing is clear. Nightwing is a fashion icon, and will continue to be so far into the future.

Which Nightwing costume is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!