Many comic book fans like to toss out the possibilities superhero lineage. "How cool would it be if Captain America had a kid with Black Widow? That kid would be badass". Fortunately, we aren't the only people kicking those ideas around. Today we'll talk about the superheroin that could be, this Week's Z-Lister is Nightstar!
Created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross in "Kingdom Come #1" in 1996, Mar'i Grayson is one of many heroes to be part of a tainted generation. In the world of "Kingdom Come" the heroes of old have taken a backseat and allowed younger, more dangerous heroes to battle without concern for casualties. "They fight simply to fight, their only foes each other". As Nightstar, Mar'i is one of these many uncontrollable heroes and is the daughter of Dick Grayson (the first Robin, formally Nightwing, and then Red Robin) and Starfire (who is MIA in this universe). When Superman begins building a superhero army to lock away those who threaten the Earth with their abilities, Bruce Wayne/Batman gathers old and new heroes alike to mislead Lex Luthor's group of villains. Along with new versions of Kid Flash, Speedy, Aqualad, and the son of Donna Troy, Nightstar helps Batman's party defeat Luthor and battle Superman's regime. In the process, Nightstar falls in love with Ibn Al Xu'ffasch. Ibn is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, and by relation is the grandson of Ra's al Ghul and heir to his throne. If Ibn sounds familiar, that is because his main universe equivalent is Damian Wayne, the son of Batman and Talia and the current Robin. At the end of "Kingdom Come" Nightstar is present when her father Dick, grandfather Bruce and lover Ibn all bond as a family.
In the unnecessary sequel series to "Kingdom Come" she becomes an active member of The Titans, taking her father and mother's position as one of the team's elder members. She also works as security for Green Lantern Alan Scott's space station. Finally in "Justice Society of America #22" in 2009, we learn Mar'i and Ibn eventually got married and had a son and a daughter, continuing The Grayson bloodline. And mixing it with the Wayne bloodline, offsetting enough.
Nightstar is definitely one of the successful cases of superhero breeding, bringing the best personal aspects of her parents. Even as a dangerous and rebellious hero she showed the moral balance of the heroes before her. I'd be interested to see more good stories about "What If" heroes, but I think we should leave Nightstar's happy ending the way it is. After all if Nightwing and Starfire had such a cool kid imagine what kind of kid their kid and Batman's son would make! Again, the twisting of those two bloodlines is either really sweet or really creepy.
Thanks for reading!
Facebook: The Panel Biter
Twitter: @ThePanelBiter
Podbean: Panelbiter.podbean.com
No comments:
Post a Comment