It's not often I call people out, but upon recent studies I've discovered that The Panel Biter has an archenemy. A man who sees the opinions this comic fan has as the incorrect hopes of readership he doesn't understand. Today I'll be talking about Dan Didio: The Man Who Almost Killed Nightwing.
Dan Didio is a writer, editor and publisher for DC Comics, he has been with the company since 2002 and should be respected for his works on many obscure books like OMAC, The Forever People, and Challengers of The Unknown. Didio is very much a supporter of the more obscure DC Comics characters and has been an overall help to the company's business. All praises sung, Didio's one place of opinion that falls short is when he talks about Batman characters. That's not to say he means to destroy Batman, but rather has only one point of view for Batman characters.
The first character to be slammed by Didio is Stephanie Brown. Stephanie has been the vigilante Spoiler, a short-time Robin, and the third Batgirl. Unlike other Batman characters, Steph was the kind of character who wasn't unbelievable. She was light-hearted and comedic to her allies, and more annoying than threatening to her enemies. She showed up around the time Tim Drake was Robin-and the smartest of the sidekicks-and Cassandra Cain was Batgirl-being a former assassin and master martial artist-so she wasn't seemingly vigilante material compared to them and her training took a lot out of her, but readers got to see her develop into a great hero. Then Didio happened. In "Detective Comics #809" in 2005, Stephanie-while using the Robin mantle-was tortured to death by Black Mask. After her death, readers were upset because she got no memorial in the Batcave like Jason Todd-another Robin who died and was honored by Batman with a case containing his costume in the cave. In a Q&A, Dan Didio claimed Stephanie was never a Robin. Despite the fact that she A. Wore the costume, B. Used the name, and C. Was referred to as Robin by Batman, who's pretty much the authority on who is and isn't Robin. Oh, it doesn't end there. In another interview about the story in which Steph died, Didio claimed the plan was to kill her at the end, but by then she wasn't Robin yet. So Didio told the writers to make Steph the new Robin for a short time, that way her death would be bigger. So basically, Didio made Steph Robin just to have her killed and than when he was called out on Steph's death being treated unequalled to Jason Todd, Didio claimed she didn't count as a Robin. Like an ouroboros, Didio chews on his own editorial fanny.
Next is Batwoman. And yes, Batwoman is completely different from Batgirl. Without going into family details, Kate Kane was another Gotham socialite who was inspired by Batman to use her fortune and military training to become Batwoman. Like many DC Comics characters, the history of both Kate and the Batwoman mantle is a bit complicated, all you need to know is that alongside being a perfectly capable crime-fighter, Kate is also Jewish and gay. In fact, she is DC Comic's most prominent gay character. In her most recent book, J.H. Williams and Haden Blackman planned on getting Kate hitched to Metropolis police officer Maggie Sawyer. Then Didio happened. Dan Didio forbid the marriage. And before you jump to conclusions and make this about sexuality, the ban on marriage was made to apply to all characters. Didio isn't homophobic, he's just a killjoy. See, Didio said in an interview (and I know I keep claiming he says this stuff in interviews without sources, but if you really cared you'd google this stuff yourself, shows more dedication from your end) that superheroes should not have happy social lives. That all heroes-no matter who they be-have to sacrifice personal pleasures and commit to defending others. If Batwoman was the only superhero in DC Comics, this would make sense. If Superman, Aquaman and Green Arrow hadn't been married in the past without any change to their duties as superheroes, this would make sense. But because Batwoman IS NOT the only superhero, it does not matter if she spends some time being a married woman. Because Superman, Aquaman and Green Arrow HAVE been married without any change to their roles as superheroes, having a happy personal life does not ruin a character. What makes these claims worse is that Didio doesn't state his opinion as just his, but firmly states that DC characters are not allowed to get married. Because of Didio, Williams and Blackman left the Batwoman book and fans collectively sighed in disappointment.
The final example is the one you loyal readers will understand the most. Didio wants to kill Dick Grayson. Yes, Dick Grayson, the first Robin, former Teen Titan, longtime Nightwing, current Spyril Agent, and one of DC Comic's most beloved superheroes. And my favorite comic book character. Dan Didio's initial desire to kill-off Grayson was when he uncovered a cancelled script for a 2005 "Crisis" event which would end with Dick Grayson going through some traumatic event and becoming a villain. Another script for that event was going to have Grayson die at the end, an act that Dan Didio really pushed, but was scrapped by Geoff Johns who saw the character as "the linchpin of DC Comics". Further more, in the more recent event "Forever Evil" Dick Grayson's secret identity as Nightwing was outed by a group of villains and he was strapped to a literal death machine. All the advertising made it seem like the character was going to die, but due to fan backlash Didio's plan of killing off Grayson was prevented again by the rest of DC Editorial. Instead of dying, Dick Grayson's death was faked to the public and he was sent undercover at a spy organization. Thus "killing Nightwing", but keeping Grayson alive. Didio has wanted to kill Grayson off for so long because Grayson opposes his opinions of superheroes. Grayson is optimistic, friendly, his love life is always booming. Didio probably wants him gone because he knows it'd spark stories about depressed friends of Grayson, making Grayson a martyr of sadness. Didio also must dislike the idea of Grayson being an adult because if Grayson is an adult that must make Batman at least forty-five. Comic books are a lot like professional sports, once someone passes the age of thirty-six people stop pushing them. That's why DC Comics is always rebooting their comics, to keep guys like Batman from aging. Despite the fact that one of the best Batman stories ever written is about Batman being, like, sixty.
Taking all of this in, you can understand why I have such gripes with Didio. Again, I have to respect this guy, he helps keep DC afloat and he does his job well. But when he is against something, its for such wrong reasons. It's like Dan Didio is against progression. "Can't let this character get married, than things will be happy and boring! Can't let this character older, than people won't like him anymore". The only time he wants characters to progress-like Steph becoming Robin-is so they make a bigger "thud" when they hit the ground. When he isn't being a stubborn maul about things, he's being a ratings-hungry business-hog! I'm not saying DC Comics should fire this guy, but at least stop giving control over what GOOD comic book writers have to offer that will shake up the industry he's obsessed with keeping the same.
Thanks for reading!
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