Dick Grayson Takes Over as Batman After Historic DC Wedding

Dick Grayson dons the cowl once again in Batman #51 while the Dark Knight goes on trial.

Batman and Catwoman are set to be married on July 4th after some time traveling shenanigans with Booster Gold and facing off against the world’s worst “best man,” the Joker. After the Batrimony, Bruce and Selina are going on a hard-earned honeymoon to parts unknown, but from the sound of the solicitation for Batman #51 by Tom King and Lee Weeks, their break from Gotham will be very short. 

Bruce has been selected for jury duty in a court case that’s going to hit close to home. Mr. Freeze is on trial, but he claims all charges should be dropped against him because Batman used “excessive force.” Now, we all know how old pointy ears can be when he goes rogue. It’s not hard to believe Batman threw one too many punches. Of course, King’s Batman has never been the sort of paranoid fascist we’ve seen in recent big screen appearances. We’ll just have to see how this case plays out. 

Meanwhile, Gotham still needs a Batman while Bruce is away. That job falls to Dick Grayson, who will don the cowl temporarily. This development should excite longtime Batman fans who were around for Grant Morrison’s legendary run in the late 2000s. After the Caped Crusader was “killed off” during his battle with Darkseid in Final Crisis, Dick took Bruce’s place to become a new, more lighthearted Batman. Morrison teamed Dick up with Damian Wayne, Bruce’s very grim and violent son, which made for an interesting juxtaposition of the usual Batman and Robin dynamic.

Dick remained in the role of Batman through Morrison’s Batman & Robin series as well as Batman Incorporated, which turned the Dark Knight’s crimefighting exploits into a global initiative. Dick’s time as Batman was later sort of (it’s hazy) rebooted during the New 52 relaunch so that only Bruce had ever been Batman. Since then, Dick has made some cameos in the cowl from time to time, such as when he acted as a decoy during the Joker’s attack on Gotham in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s “Endgame” story arc in 2015. 

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From the sound of it, Dick’s return as Batman will be brief, but undoubtedly fun. After all, King got his big start at DC with Grayson, the series that turned the first Robin into a high-flying super spy. So King knows a thing or two about the dude…

Batman #51 is out on July 18. 

Here’s the full solicitation:

BATMAN #51

Written by TOM KINGArt and Cover by LEE WEEKSVariant cover by OLIVIER COIPEL

The honeymoon’s over for Bruce Wayne as Gotham City’s most prominent citizen gets selected for jury duty in a chilling court case involving Mr. Freeze! Freeze claims the charges should be dismissed because Batman used excessive force; cue the outrage and media circus. While doing his civic duty, Wayne’s forced to take a hard look at the Dark Knight’s methods. And hey…what is Dick Grayson doing running around the city dressed as Batman?

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ON SALE 07.18.18$3.99 US | 32 PAGESEach FC | RATED T