Proof That Dick Grayson Was Supposed To Die During Infinite Crisis

By Nick Tylwalk | Jan 19, 2015

I’ve attended enough panels at different comic conventions to know that when it comes to hardcore fans, killing off Dick Grayson is one of the least popular moves that could possibly be made by one of the major publishers. Yet DC co-publisher Dan DiDio has made no bones about the fact that Nightwing was one of the characters originally slated to die in Infinite Crisis back in the middle of the previous decade.

More from Comics

Now he’s provided actual proof of that planned death, thanks to whiteboards from the formative stages of Infinite Crisis that DiDio found in his basement and posted to his Facebook page. One is clearly marked “Hit List,” and while that might seem like a callous way to discuss the fates of popular comic book characters, at least it leaves no doubt what’s supposed to happen to them during the course of the story.

As you can see, Nightwing is not only on the list, he’s actually circled. Other longtime fixtures of the DC Universe that were literally marked for death included Martian Manhunter, Shazam, Dr. Fate, the Earth-2 Superman, Jade, Atom Smasher and “all non-used Young Justice.” Also notable: the directive to “kill Superman marriage.” Look out, Lois!

This isn’t going to make the fans who thought Infinite Crisis already had too high a body count too excited, but at least it should deflect some of the perceived blame away from Geoff Johns, who wrote the event. The character deaths were clearly group decisions.

On top of that, as it turned out, Dick Grayson not only lived through the event, he went to take over as Batman for what (in my opinion) were some excellent stories by Grant Morrison and others a few years later. We’ll likely never know if it was the inevitable fan outcry that made DiDio reconsider — CBR’s Robot 6 reminds us that Johns and editor Eddie Berganza were also against killing off Grayson — but it’s hard to imagine it didn’t play a part.

That’s why when DiDio says things like this …

"Most importantly, no matter what we planned or did, none of it would have mattered without the fans love and support."

… he’s not wrong. Always remain vocal in your love for your favorite comic book characters, because the companies who publish their adventures really do take note.

More from Bam Smack Pow