WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #16!Nightwing has seen many redesigns over the years, but Dick Grayson’s latest look and role in the DC Universe is his darkest and most terrifying yet. This twisted transformation, forced upon him, comes with chilling implications and raises a crucial question: Will Nightwing succumb to corruption, or will he stand firm and uphold the values that have defined him for so long?
Tim Seeley’s
Down the Road
feels like a tribute to one of Dick Grayson’s most memorable roles outside of his Nightwing and Robin identities.
Tim Seeley, Kelley Jones, and Michelle Madsen’s Deadman and Nightwing-centric story, Down the Road, reaches its thrilling conclusion in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #16. The narrative follows Dick Grayson and Boston Brand as they unravel the mystery of a woman in red, seemingly tied to Dick’s circus past.
Their investigation takes a terrifying turn when they’re confronted by DC’s latest villain, The Unfallen—a deity who thrives on dragging people into darkness. With sinister intent, The Unfallen corrupts Nightwing, transforming him into the newly unveiled “Avatar of the Unfallen.”
DC’s New Villain Corrupts Nightwing, Turning Him Into the “Avatar of the Unfallen”
The Events of Nightwing & Deadman: Down the Road Take Place Before Knight Terrors
During their confrontation, The Unfallen reveals that his realm, the “Black Acres,” is a kingdom of darkness, and Nightwing, as “a symbol of trust in the night, the wings that lift up the lost,” threatens that darkness. To neutralize this threat, The Unfallen claims Dick as “The Avatar of the Unfallen,” forcing a terrifying transformation that reshapes the Original Boy Wonder into a form eerily reminiscent of Boston Brand’s Deadman. The villain’s chilling words, “You’re my Deadman now, boy,” make it clear that the similarities between Dick and Boston’s appearances are entirely intentional.
Kelley Jones’ art and Michelle Madsen’s coloring masterfully depict the horror of Dick’s transformation. His new form mirrors Deadman’s ghastly, emaciated figure, with an unnatural pallor and an elongated, skeleton-like body. Despite these grotesque alterations, Dick still wears his Nightwing suit, making his identity unmistakable even as he becomes nearly unrecognizable. Madsen’s use of pink and purple lighting enhances the eerie, otherworldly quality of this transformation, further immersing readers in the unsettling nature of his new role as the Avatar of the Unfallen.
Nightwing Gets a Dark, New Role in the DC Universe
Boston Brand & Rama Kushna Save Dick Grayson, Reverting Him Back to His Human Form
Nightwing’s transformation into the Avatar of the Unfallen comes with more than just a codename change and a redesign—it also brings a disturbingly dark new role. The Unfallen explains that Dick’s purpose now is to find those marked by the Black Hand, a symbol of those destined to be consumed by darkness, and “show ‘em nothin’ else is ever comin’ to save ‘em.” His mission is to spread this bleak message “from the end of the End of the Road all the way back to the beginnin’.” Therefore, instead of lifting others up, Dick is meant to drag them down into the depths.
True to his character, however, Dick Grayson completely rejects The Unfallen’s twisted purpose. Instead of letting others fall into darkness, Nightwing saves them, freeing the Unfallen’s victims from fear and cutting off the source of the deity’s power. With his strength fading, The Unfallen begins to unravel and ceases to exist. Unfortunately, this leaves Dick falling into the darkness himself. Just before he is truly lost, though, Boston Brand swoops in and rescues him. Soon after, they are greeted by Rama Kushna—the goddess of karma and balance—who restores Dick back to his human form, closing this dark chapter of his journey.
Nightwing’s “Avatar of the Unfallen” Form Is a Twisted Take on His Injustice Deadman Era
Dick Grayson Became Deadman in the Injustice: Year Three Comics After Damian Wayne Accidentally Killed Him
What makes Dick’s Unfallen form particularly intriguing is that it serves as a twisted version of his role as Deadman in DC’s Injustice series. In that storyline, Dick took on the mantle of the ghostly hero after Damian “Robin” Wayne accidentally killed him in a moment of frustration. Seeing him once again embody a Deadman-like role, but in a villainous form within a completely different DC continuity, adds a compelling layer to his embodiment of this mantle. And whether intentional or not, Tim Seeley’s Down the Road feels like a tribute to one of Dick Grayson’s most memorable roles outside of his Nightwing and Robin identities.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #16 is available now from DC Comics!
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Nightwing
Nightwing is the superhero moniker taken up by Dick Grayson, upon his aging out of the Robin role and becoming a superhero of his own. Inspired by the original Kryptonian hero of the same name, Grayson has risen to comic book immortality with the identity, earning respect as one of the greatest leaders in the DC Universe.
