Warning: spoilers ahead for Nightwing #92!
Out of all of Batman's sidekicks, fans were vocally unive of Jason as a Robin during the 1980s.
The main thing that Jason Todd's Robin was criticized for is his impulsive nature and tendency to jump headfirst into a dangerous situation, something Batman repeatedly chastised him for. This aspect of Jason's personality has spilled over into his life as Red Hood. Jason's impulsiveness is a sign of his dedication to the job as well as his desire to prevent innocent people from getting hurt. Being more outwardly emotional than Bruce Wayne, this difference has underlined many of Red Hood's disagreements with Batman over the years.
Now, in a new issue of Nightwing, Dick Grayson has revealed that he shares the same tendency to put himself in harm's way. Opening up with a flashback scene to Dick's days as Robin, he stops a man from being killed by a group of criminals before backup had arrived, leading the men to beat him until Batgirl and Alfred Pennyworth showed up to rescue him. Dick its that, "No matter the odds, no matter the danger, when I see the powerless attacked... I leap in" because he's "never been able to ignore when someone's in trouble." Nightwing #92 is written by Tom Taylor, featuring art by Bruno Redondo, colors by Adriano Lucas, and letters by Wes Abbott.
In this way, Nightwing proves that his Robin and Jason Todd's weren't all that different when it came down to their basic instincts: they simply are unable to watch people get hurt. While Jason's impulsiveness eventually got him killed, it can't entirely be written off as a bad Robin trait because it is one Dick also exhibited. If anything, the drive to "jump in and figure things out later" disrupts Batman's tendency to avoid addressing the most immediate problem in front of him, pushing the Dark Knight to be more sensitive to the suffering of everyday people.
Nightwing and Red Hood may have had vastly different trajectories as characters, but they still share a core desire to protect the innocent at all costs. By viewing Jason as a bad Robin for a trait that Dick himself also has, fans are misguided in their criticisms. If anything, Nightwing's impulsivity as Robin proves that Jason Todd was right to be so responsive to his surroundings, as both of them have grown to be powerhouse vigilantes in their own right.
Nightwing #92 is available now from DC Comics.
