Today in Comics History, March 20: Happy birthday, Robin I (Dick Grayson, Post-Zero Hour)!

Hey Batman, what day is it?


from "A Little Nudge" in Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 one-shot (DC, May 2020), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Tom Grummett, inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Adriano Lucas, letters by Tom Napolitano
Batman, you're a bad dad, because today's the birthday of your faithful ward, Dick Grayson, aka Robin I! But: only the post-Zero Hour hero. It's November 11 in the Pre-Crisis days and October 24-ish post-Crisis. Geez, Dick, pick one birthday and settle on it!


from the impeccably researched The DC Universe Calendar
Anyway, we're gonna celebrate today.

Today in Comics History, December 25, Christmas: "A little robin sweetly singing / Came to my window on Christmas Day / But he's not coming back no more / 'Cause someone had to slay."

from "The Bats of Christmas Past" in Batman: Urban Legends #10 (DC, February 2022), script by Tini Howard, pencils and inks by Christian Duce, colors by Sarah Stern, letters by Becca Carey
Don't worry; it's all a bad vision by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Jerk.

Today in Comics History, July 15: Rest in Peace, John and Mary Grayson...hey, wait a minute!

Today is the date that John and Mary Grayson were murdered, falling to their deaths before a live audience at the Haley's Circus...or was it?


from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975), letters by Ben Oda
Maybe that's the Pre-Crisis date that they died, because here at Comics Oughta Be Fun! we always celebrate (wrong word?) that anniversary on June 27 (from the below Post-Crisis comic), one day after the death of Batman's parents. Well, not in the same year. That means the Dynamic Duo can get all their mourning over with in one weekend. Bat-efficient!


from Nightwing (1995 series) #1 (DC, September 1995), script by Dennis O'Neil, pencils by Greg Land, inks by Mike Sellers, colors by Cathi Bertrand, letters by John Costanza
Click here for more depictions of the fateful day!

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 27: There Is No Hope at Haley's Circus

As we saw a few days ago, the death of Dick Grayson's parents occurred on June 27 — a day after the anniversary of the death of Bruce Wayne's parents. Maybe he went to that circus to cheer himself up?


from Nightwing (1995 series) #1 (DC, September 1995), script by Dennis O'Neil, pencils by Greg Land, inks by Mike Sellers, colors by Cathi Bertrand, letters by John Costanza
Naturally, that means that June 27 is a major day in the life of Robin/Nightwing, and even more than Batman, his friends gather around him to support him on those days.


from Identity Crisis #1 (DC, August 2004), script by Brad Meltzer, pencils by Rags Morales, inks by Michael Bair, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Ken Lopez
But hey! Identity Crisis?! No way, Dick Gray! (son) Let's focus instead on a good comic book that shows his titanic pals coming to Robin's support on this day.


from "Regarding Robin" in Teen Titans Go! (2004 series) #47 (DC, November 2007), script by J. Torres, pencils and inks by Michael Chang, colors by Heroic Age, letters by John J. Hill
First Cyborg, then Beast Boy, is attentive to his mood. Somewhere in there I hope they offered to make him waffles. Raven is especially attuned to his mood. Well, considering who her father is, she probably wishes he had died in a freak circus accident. "Oh no! The amazing Trigon had fallen from the Big Top!"


Awwwwwwww. Your heart must be made of stone if you don't feel just a little bit sad about this scene.


And good for Starfire! Using her Tamaranean empathy (and cute big green eyes) to comfort Robin.


Maybe this isn't something Batman oughta be spying on, ya voyeur, Bruce.


Seriously, a sweet story, and a reminder that there is hope in Titans Tower.

Today in Comics History, June 23: Alfred is too polite to mention Dick's mullet and baggy pants

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published May 11, 2013.



from Nightwing (1995 series) #1 (DC, September 1995), script by Dennis O'Neil, pencils by Greg Land, inks by Mike Sellers, colors by Cathi Bertrand, letters by John Costanza
What's wrong with this panel? Well, fashion sense aside: note that the poster says "May" and the dialogue says "June" — so I'm going to assume the art is an error and the script is definitive, so I'm setting this "Today in Comics History" as June 23. 'S'alright? S'alright.

On the plus side (sorry, Dick!), this sets the date of John and Mary Grayson's death as June 27. June 27th is the day after Bruce Wayne's parents' death, so that tightens the mourning period in Wayne Manor down to a convenient two days. I hope Bruce an' Dick take real good care of each others on those dates.

Today in Comics History, May 5, Cinco de Mayo: Happy Batto de Mayo!

Here's possibly the greatest English-language Cinco de Mayo comic book story – perhaps one of the very few? It's a time for celebration...



from "Cinco De Madness" in Batman: Li'l Gotham #5 (DC, May 2013); co-script, pencils, art, and colors by Dustin Nguyen, co-script by Derek Fridolfs; letters by Saida Temofonte
...for ♥ romance ♥...



...for puns...


...and for tacos!



Happy Cinco de Mayo, everybody!

Today in Comics History, April 24, 20XX: VH-1's Pop-Up Criminal Records premieres

from Nightwing (2016 series) #86 (DC, January 2022), script by Tom Taylor, pencils and inks by Robbi Rodriguez, colors by Adriano Lucas, letters by Wes Abbott

Today in Comics History, February 14: I hope that's a magic marker Cass is holding, and not A HUMAN EYE

variant cover art of Batgirls #3 (DC, April 2022), art by Rian Gonzales

A Month of... There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 17: A Flashback Within a Flashback

Panel from Nightwing (2011 series) #30 (July 2014); script by Tim Seeley and Tom King, pencils and inks by Javier Garron, letters by Jeromy Cox, letters by Carlos M. Mangual

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 22

Panel from Nightwing (2011 series) #0 (November 2012), co-plot by Tom DeFalco, co-plot and script by Kyle Higgins, pencils by Eddy Barrows, inks by Eber Ferreira, colors by Rod Reis, letters by Carlos M. Mangual

Today in Halloween Comics History, October 31: Nightwing burns a pot of soup

from Nightwing (2011 series) #24 (DC, December 2013), script by Kyle Higgins, pencils and inks by Will Conrad, colors by Pete Pantazis, letters by Carlos M. Mangual

Today in Comics History, August 15: Dick Grayson falls to his death

...because really, without a Bat-Rope, how are you going to pull out of that fall?

Oh, I forgot. He's a very special circus acrobat. La dee dah.


from Nightwing (2011 series) #12 (DC, October 2012), script by Kyle Higgins, pencils by Andres Guinaldo, inks by Raul Fernandez and Mark Irwin, colors by Rod Reis, letters by Dezi Sienty

There Is No Hope at Haley's Circus

Yesterday I took you on a guided excursion...please do not stray outside the tour!—of Gotham City's Crime Alley: you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. (On this planet.) And I took you through some of the history, legend, and comic book stories of Crime Alley, explaining its importance and significance to our bat-garbed crimefighter. But tonight we're going to walk on a slightly more...bizarre path, looking at a few, quite different (and very possibly non-canonical) adventures in Crime Alley, and we'll end up with the explanation of why not just Bruce Wayne, but also Dick Grayson, the first Robin, can never forget what night Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered. Y'all ready? Please do not dawdle at the back there!

Today in Comics History: The "Pickles the Clown Will Write Your Child a Surprise Letter" company goes bankrupt

Panels from Nightwing (1995 limited series) #1 (September 1995), script by Dennis O'Neil, pencils by Greg Land, inks by Mike Sellers, colors by Cathi Bertrand, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, May 5, 19XX: Sorry about that, Katherine Riordan

from Nightwing 80-Page Giant #1 (DC, December 2000); script by Chuck Dixon; pencils by Mike Collins and Manuel Gutierrez; inks by Sean Parsons, John Stanisci, Wayne Faucher, and Steve Bird; colors by Tom McCraw, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, December 31, 11:59 PM, New Year's Eve: Batman tests the "Nightwing is kissing a girl" alarm

from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #94 (DC, February 2000), script by Greg Rucka, pencils by Pablo Raimondi, inks by Sean Parsons, colors by Jason Wright, color separations by Wildstorm FX, letters by Willie Schubert

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 364

Page from Batman: Gotham Adventures #60 (May 2003), script by Scott Peterson and Tim Levins, pencils by Tim Levins, inks by Terry Beatty, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Albert De Guzman

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 360

Panel from Detective Comics #839 (February 2008), script by Paul Dini, pencils by Ryan Benjamin and Don Kramer, inks by Saleem Crawford and Wayne Faucher, colors by John Kalisz, letters by John J. Hill

Today in Comics History, October 10, 1901: Happy birthday, Talon!

from Nightwing (2011 series) #8 (DC, June 2012), script by Kyle Higgins, pencils by Eddy Barrows, inks by Eber Ferreira and Ruy José, colors by Rod Reis, letters by Pat Brosseau

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 278

Panels from Detective Comics #839 (February 2008), script by Paul Dini, pencils by Ryan Benjamin and Don Kramer, inks by Saleem Crawford and Wayne Faucher, colors by John Kalisz, letters by John J. Hill