Most comic fans know that when Dick Grayson finally grew tired of being Batman’s sidekick, he gave up the mantle of Robin and became the hero known as Nightwing. But what many don’t know is that the former Boy Wonder didn’t come up with his new name by himself - he actually got the idea from Superman.
Believe it or not, Dick Grayson wasn’t the first one to use the Nightwing moniker. In Superman #158, which was published back in 1963, Superman and Jimmy Olsen go into the miniature City of Kandor, a city from Krypton that was shrunk down by Brainiac and stored in a bottle, which Superman later brought to the Fortress of Solitude. The problem is, Superman has no powers inside Kandor, so in order to take down the bad guys, he and Jimmy take a page from Batman and Robin’s book and dress up as masked vigilantes to take down the bad guys, calling themselves Nightwing and Flamebird.
Years later, in 2005, the mini-series Nightwing: Year One details events from Dick Grayson’s first year after leaving Batman’s side. He seeks advice from Superman about what he should do next, and asks the Man of Steel why he chose to become a hero. Superman responds by telling Dick the story of a legendary Kryptonian hero known as Nightwing. “He dreamt of justice. He dreamt of helping the weak,” he says. “He used his talents and his skills to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves.” The tale strikes a chord with Dick; he adopts the Nightwing name for himself as he begins his own crimefighting career in the city of Bludhaven.
In the New Earth continuity, the story of Nightwing is somewhat different. Rather than a Kryptonian vigilante, Nightwing is actually one of the Kryptonian Gods. According to the mythology, Nightwing was a shadow creature sent by his father, Rao, the Kryptonian God of the Sun, to destroy the evils that hid in the darkness. The meant that Nightwing had to be separated from the other gods, forcing him to lead a very lonely life - until he met the goddess Flamebird and the two fell in love.
Interestingly, the dichotomy of love between dark and light continues on Earth with Nightwing and Starfire in the Teen Titans. It seems that Dick may have taken on more than just the name of the Kryptonian legend.
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