Wait, Did DC Just Clone Dick Grayson?

Batman and Dick Grayson’s partnership is probably the most famous and important one in all of comics. Robin is the original superhero sidekick, having started the trend that made so many other heroes take on younger partners they planned to have succeed them one day. He’s been a part of Batman’s history since darn near the beginning, first showing up in Detective Comics #38. Even after he moved on to become Nightwing, Batman and Dick Grayson have stayed as close as father and son can, often working together and facing down threats like only they can. Now, however, the good old days are coming back to be a problem. Robin Dick Grayson is stuck in the present, and he just met his future blue-and-black clad self.

Super-intelligent and psychic ape Gorilla Grodd recently acquired Martian Manhunter’s powers. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’s enlisted the aid of Justice League Unlimited member Air Wave to travel to the past and recruit his Legion of Doom teammates when they were in their villainous primes. He’s brought them to the future to take down the heroes of the DC Universe once and for all in the “We Are Yesterday” storyline, which is told in a crossover between the Justice League Unlimited and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest comics.

How Robin Got Launched Through Time

After recruiting his dastardly squad and telling them of his plan to take down the heroes in the future, Grodd told his allies that they needed to acquire enough tachyon energy from various time travel artifacts across the world. They all split up. Bizarro, Lex Luthor, and Captain Cold went after the Flash’s Cosmic Treadmile in Central City. Scarecrow and Joker team up to steal Carter Nicholas’s Time Ray. Finally, Sinstro, Cheeta, and Black Manta take down the Atom to use Professor Hyatt’s Time Pool. 

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Naturally, the World’s Finest hear about this blitzkrieg of attacks and launch their own counter. Superman helps the Flash, Batman and Robin take on their own rogues, and Plastic Man and Green Lantern are called in to save the Atom. Despite their best efforts, the Legion of Doom is able to gather all the tachyon energy they need. Worse yet, in the struggle Robin takes a blast meant for Batman from the Time Ray, which sends the Boy Wonder careening through the timestream. The Justice League gathers to take down the Legion, but then Grodd unveils his secret weapon. He has new villain Pythoness use her magic to convince the heroes and Cheeta that the cat-villain was the one behind this, and they abandon her as they flee to the future. With that, they’ve ensured their future-day attack will be a total surprise. 

Or will it? In the final pages of the story, we see that Robin reappears inside the modern-day Watchtower. There he finds Batman, and besides him, Nightwing.

Time For a Robin/Nightwing Team Up

You know, this isn’t the first time Robin has been shunted through time in World’s Finest. It happened way earlier in the run, except that time he ended up in the past, and now not only he is in the future, but he’s met his future self. Now the floodgates are open for Robin to learn all about the man he becomes, and how his partnership with Batman will change as he gets older. While they are on the best terms nowadays, there was a time when the relationship between Dick and Bruce was fraught, near irreparably destroyed, mostly due in part to Bruce’s overprotective nature and his grief over the death of Jason Todd. This split is what inspired Dick to give up his Robin mantle and become Nightwing, inspired by stories of the Kryptonian hero he heard from Superman.

Nightwing has become a cornerstone of the DC Universe, and Robin has a chance to learn all about his future for at least until the end of the event. It’s a chance for Robin to face a future that probably looks nothing like what he imagined for himself, but that doesn’t mean it’s not great. And it’ll give Nightwing a chance to either air some grievances about his past, or build himself up for what’s to come next. And besides, one Dick Grayson is hilarious. Two? The duo is going to drive everyone around them insane, including their villains, Batman, and maybe even themselves. No matter what, this may just be the ultimate team up, because who knows you better than yourself? It would be very interesting to see the young Robin stick around in the present for a little bit, especially because Damian Wayne is planning to quit, but this is likely only going to last until the end of the crossover. Oh well, at least it’s guaranteed to be fantastic while it happens.

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