Kyle Higgins Bids Classy Farewell to Nightwing Fans

It is with a touch of sadness that I read today that Kyle Higgins will be leaving Nightwing as of this April after almost three years on the comic. He has written every issue since the New 52 relaunch and has undoubtedly became my all-time favorite writer on the character - although I remain a pretty big Chuck Dixon fan.  In a message released on his Facebook account today, he relayed a classy farewell to the character that serves to make me feel even more melancholy about the switch-up.

But all good things must come to an end...

Truth be told, with all of the inevitable changes the character will go through as a result of his central part in Forever Evil I had long suspected a new creative team would take over. I just did not want to believe it. In one sense, it's exciting that my favorite character has a mainstream storyline and that the future looks bright for Nightwing in April, as in, an epic transformation in light of his identity being revealed to the world as opposed to the possibility of him dying and being replaced, but I will get back to that shortly.  What this announcement first made me think of was one of my all-time favorite memories as a comic book fan.  In one of my few star-struck moments, I had the fortune of meeting Kyle Higgins while attending my first Comic Convention at the Javits Center in October 2011.

Aside from the profanity, I think I came across pretty cool

As the enormous late morning crowd had trapped me in a slow-moving line to nowhere in-between a video game demonstration and the abyss of fandom that was the autograph section, I began having idle conversation with a familiar-looking face. Suddenly it dawned on me who he was and my wholly-inappropriate response to discovering his identity was: "Are you fucking Kyle Higgins?"

He was kind enough to let that slide - although looking back he did not exactly have an escape path at that moment - and for the next few minutes I was able to talk to the man who was writing my favorite character in comics. At the time of this meeting, only the first issue of his run had been released but had already given me high-hopes for the future therefore putting him at the top of my list for autographs. When I mentioned to him that Nightwing was my favorite comic book character, to my excitement, he revealed that was something we had in common. Even as the crowd slowly dissipated he stuck around and discussed his passion for the character with me before signing my book. By the end of that conversation, I was certain that Nightwing was in good hands.

Fast-forward a couple years and almost thirty of the best issues I have ever read, Kyle Higgins revealed that he was leaving the book on his Facebook page earlier today:

So here’s something I’ve put off writing for a while. On Tuesday, DC solicits for April 2014 hit. They’ll introduce a new creative team on NIGHTWING which, sadly, I won’t be a part of.

It’s a weird feeling to leave the book after almost three years, and even though I would love nothing more than to write Dick Grayson for another fifty or sixty issues, it’s time to move on. (In that spirit, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention BATMAN BEYOND 2.0 and C.O.W.L…two of the books I am currently working on, which are also– both in their own way– helping to curb the Grayson withdrawal :-)

I’ve talked many times about my love for Nightwing. He was the hero I grew up with, the book that got me collecting, and the inspiration for my first film. For all those reasons, I had a lot of reservations about launching his New 52 series. What if I wasn’t good enough? What if DC wouldn’t let me tell the stories I wanted? What if people hated it? What if I hated it?

As much pressure as I felt about doing DG justice, the truth is there’s very little I ever could have done to break him. He’s an amazing character who’s been around for almost seventy five years and will still be around long after I’m gone. Instead of thinking about what I’ve been able to do for DG, I’ve found it much better to think about what DG has been able to do for me. In that regard, I’ll only ever be able to look at my time on Nightwing and smile. Why?

Because Dick Grayson made me a better writer.

So, with that, I want to thank Mike Marts for championing me, Scott Snyder for believing in me, Jen Aprahamian, Ryan Parrott, Alec Siegel, Michael Nie, James Tynion, Brian Buccellato, and Brad Bode for supporting me, Eddy Barrows, Rod Reis, Trevor McCarthy, Geraldo Borges, Andres Guinaldo, Juan Jose Ryp, Brett Booth, Will Conrad, Jason Masters, and Russell Dauterman for inspiring me, and finally– to every single Dick Grayson fan out there who bought the book and gave me the chance to live out a dream… issues 28 and 29 are for you. You guys are amazing and I owe you everything.
Kyle Higgins
Los Angeles 2014

All good things must come to an end and are a lot easier to swallow when paired with an earnest display of humility and gratitude. In response, let me just say "thank you" and I look forward to your continued success in whatever projects you choose to pursue in the future. Meanwhile, I will have to remind myself to add C.O.W.L to my pull list.
   

Like Higgins, Nightwing was the first series I started collecting when I became interested in comic books. Actually, it was Nightwing and Ultimate Spider-Man, but largely for the same reason. Unlike the vast majority of mainstream super-heroes the journey of these two characters is always about growth and transformation.
Sure, those themes present themselves from time-to-time in the tales of all super-heroes but with these two it is ingrained in their characters from their origins onward. Despite my love for Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, including Miles Morales, I personally find Nightwing even more interesting than Spider-Man...or Batman for that matter. I always have.

While Peter Parker became a hero after a freak accident gave him super-powers and tragic circumstances brought him face-to-face with the weight of his new-found responsibilities, Dick Grayson never had the benefit of super powers and does what he does because he was given the opportunity to help - as Robin - and then chose that life for himself - as Nightwing. He's a hero you can believe in and, in my view, Batman's greatest victory is helping to form a better hero than himself because Nightwing is not driven by tragedy and inner demons but instead by genuine altruism and his incredible dedication to servicing his community. Plus a lot of money for vehicles and grappling guns but I let that slide. Over the years he has opened up his shop of good works in Gotham, New York City, Titans Tower, Bludhaven and most-recently Chicago...which is a lot like real life in that he never outgrows the shadow of the Batman and Gotham but simply grows out of it into his own man by being a hero wherever and whenever one is needed.

In a departure from the obsessed approach of Batman, Dick sometimes takes a break to get laid or is the best friend he can be to the Teen Titans rather than always crime-fighting. A few years ago, he took over the role of Batman for a temporarily-dead (time-displaced is more accurate) Bruce Wayne and, during that time, helped instill humanity in an impossibly competent but tragically immoral Robin in Damian Wayne. Now it seems the character is headed for another transformation as his central role in the New 52's first big event, coupled with the recent announcement that he will appear in the upcoming Batman-Superman film, makes me believe the notion that Nightwing is not a mainstream hero is going to become, like Kyle Higgins magnificent run, a thing of the past.
 
As I have stated before, I personally find that reading most mainstream comic books often feels like you're ingesting the same stories ad nauseam. Oh Superman saves Metropolis from so-and-so but there is bigger threat looming and they have Kryptonite...uh-oh there's another psychotic band of super-criminals on the loose in Gotham City and Batman has to come face-to-face with his inner demons in order to stop them...damn Supergirl is hot and also punches bad guys and flies and stuff. All right, maybe I am exaggerating a bit to make my point but its inevitable that the same themes to get repeated when characters have existed in much the same ways for decades on end. That's part of being a super-hero, if there were no criminals there would be nothing but a character study. The publishers bottom line relies on those other stories to maintain a healthy bottom line. Sometimes we get both, but it is a tricky balance to maintain both for the writer and the publisher. But, from my perspective, Nightwing has never fallen off that tight rope.

Like Spider-Man, Nightwing has always been a hero whose greatest strength was his ability to smile and enjoy a life of altruistic service to his community while maintaining strong relationships coupled with general badassery. But what really made me connect to him was that, unlike Spider-Man or any other character I can think of, Nightwing is a character who is in constant transition. From where he lives, what he does for a day job, who he associates with there have always been changes to his status quo. Now it appears that he is headed for another transformation, perhaps as a public hero or perhaps as an hipster chick, but I take solace in knowing that his legacy will always be that of a young man with no powers other than his ability to be an ass-kicking light of hope and justice in a world of crime-ridden darkness. If Batman became fear to overcome darkness, then as Robin he became hope to light his way. Then he went off on his own as Nightwing to do good works on his own while honoring his past. That's a life-long commitment that I, as an emotionally-subnormal adult, can rationalize a lot easier than most mainstream heroes.

Hopefully the bigger spotlight will show only serve to shine that light brighter. If the new creative team is anything like Kyle Higgins, I don't think I will be disappointed.