Nite-Wing

Last updated
Nite-Wing
Nite-Wing (Tad Ryerstad).png
Tad Ryerstad as Nite-Wing on the cover of Nightwing vol. 2, #31 (March 1999); art by Scott McDaniel.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance As Tad:
Nightwing (vol. 2) #8 (May 1997)
As Nite-Wing:
Nightwing (vol. 2) #21 (June 1998)
Created by Chuck Dixon (writer)
Scott McDaniel (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoTad Ryerstad
Partnerships Torque
Notable aliasesTadpole
AbilitiesCapable street fighter
Carries many billiard balls
Use of a modified three-foot pool stick or steel rod as weapons

Nite-Wing (Tad Ryerstad) is a fictional character in the DC Comics series Nightwing . [1] He is an antagonist, a fascist foil to the eponymous superhero (Dick Grayson).

Contents

Obsessed with becoming a superhero to attain purpose, fame, and wealth, Ryerstad based his vigilantism on mass culture such as comic books, films, television and paperbacks, his hates and prejudices, and accusations against him (despite his claims to be fighting injustice). He is rejected and despised by Nightwing and other heroes after they discover that he is a psychopathic, reactionary neo-fascist unable to distinguish right from wrong, a spree killer no different from the supervillains and other criminals he seeks to fight. Ryerstad becomes a fugitive, pursued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Nightwing. He blames Nightwing for ruining his life by depicting him as a villain and seeks to kill the superhero, whom he calls a "betrayer of justice" and believes that this would "clear his name".

Chuck Dixon said in a 2008 interview, "I wanted to show, without the proper upbringing and the wrong motivations, what would happen if a guy tried to become a vigilante. Tad's a guy who just gets everything wrong that Dick Grayson gets right, and he doesn't even necessarily have good in his heart ... He wanted the bragging rights of being a hero without having anything to recommend him as a hero, except that he got a buzz off the danger". [2] The character was created to counter the then-popular style of violent and reckless pseudo-heroes in comics and other media and demonstrate that archetypal superheroes with strong morals, like Nightwing, made for a better hero. He is based on the 1950s Brooklyn Thrill Killers.

Character biography

Tad Ryerstad, an amoral, narcissistic, hypocritical, and sociopathic fame-seeker, has a great deal of rage and hate and is prone to loud outbursts. He frequently refers to himself in the third person. [1] The similarities between his name and Nightwing's have gotten him into trouble, and nearly led to his murder on two occasions. [3] [4]

Growing up an orphan in Blüdhaven (a former whaling capital near Gotham City), he goes by the first name of Tad — originally Tadpole, the nickname he was given in the orphanage because of his diminutive size. His last name, Ryerstad, is the name of a local beer brand adopted by his father Randy as a criminal alias; Tad never knew his family's true surname. His father was an abusive alcoholic; his mother constantly smoked and talked on the phone, and Tad never received a proper education. Due to his lack of parental involvement and his anti-social nature, Tad devoured popular culture by stealing paperbacks and comic books and sneaking into action films to escape; this desensitizes him to violence, but he teaches himself to read. His inadequate education, combined with an unstable and loveless childhood, produced a deluded psychotic trapped in a heroic fantasy. He was never sane, embodying what society feared from the mass media and child abuse.

Tad soon began to resent his father, who earned money by fencing, and feared that he was also on a criminal path. He frames his father (an act he believes to be heroic) by anonymously telling his father's crack dealer that he was an informer. His father was murdered by gangsters as a result, and his mother was imprisoned. After living with a number of foster parents who learn that he is violently unstable, Tad lives on his own. As an adult he reads works by Friedrich Nietzsche, who is commonly associated with fascism because his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche was affiliated with the Nazi Party during World War II. Unemployed, Tad is usually a vagrant who can afford to feed himself only by stealing from people he kills after accusing them of crimes. [5] He attacks people (sometimes innocent bystanders) for minor offenses, often causing their deaths. [6]

Tad exercises and patrols his neighborhood. He lives in a condemned building, and could later afford an apartment only by thievery. He targets the homeless, drug abusers and the disabled, seeing them as inferior and often demanding that they leave Blüdhaven. One of his victims, whom Nightwing had tried to help, is found dead in an alley. A white supremacist, Tad targets African Americans based on criminal stereotypes in the media; he has one person beaten nearly to death in front of his step-nephew and niece (traumatizing them) after accusing him of pedophilia.

He meets John Law, an elderly novelist who was the Tarantula (a masked mystery man who was a member of the defunct All-Star Squadron superhero team). After hearing his stories, Tad decides to become a superhero (unaware that Law is terrified of him because he recognizes Tad's psychosis). He has difficulty finding a name until he looks across the street from his apartment at an all-night deli specializing in chicken wings, and Nite-Wing is born. [7]

On Nite-Wing's first night out, a gang shoots him repeatedly. Nightwing spends the night defending him from the Blockbuster's men, who think that Nightwing is in the emergency room. While hospitalized, Tad dreams of being an inspiring leader of heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. After his release from the hospital, he kills the gang.

Tad's rampage continues. He kills men who worked for the Blockbuster, including Ricky Noone (a major capo). Tad is cornered by Dudley Soames, a former police inspector turned psychopath who now calls himself Torque. He meets Nightwing; they escape from Torque and Nightwing agrees to help train Tad, unaware of his violence.

Tad corners Redhorn, Blüdhaven’s corrupt police chief, and obtains the files pertaining to the Blockbuster. He and Nightwing begin to attack the Blockbuster's power base, but are captured and separated. When Ronald Houston (a Black undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the Blockbuster's organization as Cisco Blaine) came to free Tad, Tad beats him to death. He flees, remorseless, after learning that Houston was a government agent. Nightwing tracks Tad down and tells him that would never be accepted by real superheroes like Superman or Batman, but he has gained notoriety amongst Nightwing's closest superhero allies (including Batman) and has being labeled a supervillain by Oracle (Barbara Gordon) on her databases. Despite his being insane, he is sentenced to Lockhaven Penitentiary, instead of a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane such as Arkham Asylum, due to the lack of a diagnosis by a criminal psychologist. Tad and Nightwing become enemies, and Tad vows to kill Nightwing.

In prison, Tad writes a detailed account of his past as a "crimefighter" which begins with causing his crooked father's death and his refusal to accept the fact that his actions are not heroic; he still refers to himself as a superhero, despite his status as a felon. He declares one-man war on Nightwing and all superheroes, whom he sees as hypocrites and villains. Tad naively tries to get himself released by giving his account to the federal agents who are holding him in custody, expecting them to share his mindset; however, he exposes himself as a spree killer. He denies his criminal status despite evidence to the contrary and beats the inmates who mock him. The FBI later gives him an adequate first name "Thaddeus" to help them filing him competently.

When Torque is captured by Nightwing, [8] he is Tad's cellmate. Torque has a plan to escape, and he makes Tad part of it. They drug the food of Aaron Helzinger, a prison guard who is the reformed villain Amygdala; when he goes berserk, they escape. Tad kills Torque after his escape and is implicated in the murder of Chief Redhorn. [9] He is innocent of that crime, however, and was framed by the Blockbuster and the new Tarantula (Catalina Flores); he contacts Nightwing to help clear him, despite their antipathy. Tad is arrested again with Tarantula, and is returned to Lockhaven. He escapes on Christmas Eve, and is again at large.

Modus operandi

Nite-Wing sees himself as a hero and seeks to bring justice to the world, but his methods are flawed; he kills a number of people, including an undercover FBI agent. Tad does not appear to understand the consequences of his actions, shrugging off regret or responsibility by saying that he is a "good guy".[ This quote needs a citation ]

Powers and abilities

Tad has no superpowers, but he is in peak physical condition and a self-taught, ruthless street fighter. He often carries a number of billiard balls taped to his back, and uses a modified three-foot pool stick or a steel rod found in a junkyard as weapons. Despite his overcoming the Blockbuster's low-level criminal subordinates, due to his idiocy and lack of advanced combat training he is easily subdued by Nightwing and the FBI agents.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin (character)</span> Fictional character

Robin is the alias of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, to serve as a junior counterpart and the sidekick to the superhero Batman. As a team, Batman and Robin have commonly been referred to as the Caped Crusaders and the Dynamic Duo. The character's first incarnation, Dick Grayson, debuted in Detective Comics #38. Conceived as a way to attract young readership, Robin garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reception, doubling the sales of the Batman titles. Robin's early adventures included Star Spangled Comics #65–130 (1947–1952), the character's first solo feature. He made regular appearances in Batman-related comic books and other DC Comics publications from 1940 through the early 1980s, until the character set aside the Robin identity and became the independent superhero Nightwing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nightwing</span> DC Comics superhero

Nightwing is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most prominent is Dick Grayson, who takes the name when he leaves his role as Batman's partner and sidekick Robin in his adulthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Grayson</span> Fictional DC Comics superhero

Richard "Dick"Grayson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman, Teen Titans and Justice League. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940 as the original and most popular incarnation of Robin, Batman's crime-fighting partner. In Tales of the Teen Titans #44, the character, after becoming a young adult, retires his role as Robin and assumes the superhero persona of Nightwing. Grayson has donned the cape and cowl to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman. His most notable spell as Batman follows Bruce Wayne's supposed death in Final Crisis, and sees Grayson adopt Damian Wayne as his Robin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deathstroke</span> Supervillain in the DC Universe

Deathstroke is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, the character debuted in The New Teen Titans #2 as Deathstroke the Terminator.

Wildcat is the name of several fictional characters, all DC Comics superheroes, the first and most famous being Theodore "Ted" Grant, a long-time member of the Justice Society of America (JSA). A world-class heavyweight boxer, Grant became entangled inadvertently in the criminal underworld and developed a costumed identity to clear his name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarantula (DC Comics)</span> Two comic book characters owned by DC Comics

The Tarantula is the name of two characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hush (character)</span> DC Comics character

Hush is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, the character first appeared in Batman #609 in January 2003 as part of the twelve-issue storyline Batman: Hush. Hush serves as a criminal foil to the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.

Blockbuster is the name of four supervillains and a criminal organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first iteration was an adversary of Batman and Robin, while the second served as one of Nightwing's greatest enemies. The latest version first appeared in the pages of the series 52 wherein he is directed into battle against Lex Luthor's team of superheroes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrocutioner</span> Comic book character

The Electrocutioner is an alias used by three fictional characters in the DC Universe, all minor enemies of the superhero Batman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amygdala (character)</span> DC Comics character

Amygdala is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, who is an opponent of Batman. He has reduced mental capacity, near superhuman strength and endurance, and is prone to outbursts of violence due to medical experimentation on his brain, chiefly the removal of his amygdala. Amygdala is briefly referenced in an article by Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist and expert in the role of the anatomical amygdala in fear processing, as testament to popular interest in the brain area.

Anthony Zucco is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in Detective Comics #38, Zucco is a mobster responsible for murdering the parents of Dick Grayson, which leads to Grayson's adoption by Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman and becoming the latter's sidekick and original Robin and Nightwing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orca (DC Comics)</span> Comics character

Orca is the name of two fictional anti-hero characters who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly known as one of the adversaries to the superhero Batman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torque (DC Comics)</span> Fictional DC Comics supervillain

Torque is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe and an enemy of Nightwing. Created by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Scott McDaniel, he first appeared in Nightwing #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damian Wayne</span> Fictional character

Damian Wayne is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, commonly in association with Batman. He is the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul, and thus the grandson of Batman villain Ra's al Ghul and the potential inheritor of Wayne and al Ghul's families' wealth and resources. With the al Ghuls citing Bruce Wayne as the optimal successor to their empire, after faking a miscarriage to his father and calling off their marriage, Talia has kept his existence hidden from Batman until Batman #656 (2006). In turn, the character is revealed to have originally been intended to "kill and replace his famous father," as well as serving as a host body for Ra's al Ghul, thus, in theory, unifying the Wayne and Demon factions as intended by the al Ghuls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Vic</span> Comics character

Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton, a.k.a. "Lady Vic" or "Lady Victim" is a character in the DC Comics universe. She is an English noblewoman who works secretly as an assassin, bounty hunter, and mercenary. She is employed on a semi-regular basis by Roland Desmond and appears most frequently as an antagonist of Nightwing.

This article is about the publication history of the DC Comics fictional character Dick Grayson, who has been portrayed in comic books alternatively as Robin, Nightwing, and Batman.

<i>Batman: Bad Blood</i> 2016 animated superhero film directed by Jay Oliva

Batman: Bad Blood is a 2016 American animated superhero film which is the 25th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the sixth film in the DC Animated Movie Universe. It serves as a sequel to the 2015 film Batman vs. Robin. The film was released on January 20, 2016 for iTunes and the Google Play Store, and on DVD and Blu-ray on February 2. While not a direct adaptation of a particular storyline, it derived from Grant Morrison's run on Batman, primarily the Leviathan story arcs.

<i>Grayson</i> (comic book)

Grayson is a 2014–2016 spy comic book ongoing series published by DC Comics about the character Dick Grayson leaving behind his superhero life to become an agent of the fictional spy agency Spyral. The series was initially written by Tim Seeley and Tom King, with art by Mikel Janín and Stephen Mooney. The creative team departed the series after issue #17, with Seeley working on Nightwing and King & Janín on Batman for the impending DC Rebirth relaunch; from issue #18 onwards, the series was written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly with art by Roge Antonio.

Dick Grayson (<i>Titans</i> character) Character on the show "Titans"

Richard John "Dick" Grayson, also known by his superhero alias Nightwing, is a fictional character and a superhero on the DC Universe, and later HBO Max, television series Titans, based on the character of the same name created by Bill Finger, and adapted for television by Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti. In this version, he has been acting as a superhero, going by Robin, for about 16 years, operating in Gotham City, under the wing of his adoptive father, Bruce Wayne / Batman, until he decides to leave the city, assuming the name Nightwing in the second season. Dick Grayson was portrayed by Brenton Thwaites from 2018 until 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Nightwing (vol. 2) #8
  2. Cadigan, Glen (2008). Titans Companion Vol. 2. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 124. ISBN   9781893905870.
  3. Nightwing (vol. 2) #12
  4. Nightwing (vol. 2) #14
  5. Nightwing (vol. 2) #51
  6. Nightwing (vol. 2) #13-17
  7. Nightwing (vol. 2) #21
  8. Nightwing (vol. 2) #60
  9. Nightwing (vol. 2) #77