Stephanie Brown proved that she could be the successor to Dick Grayson’s greatest legacy – through the power of friendship.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batgirls #4, on sale now from DC Comics.
Right now, everyone is interested in who Batman’s successor is but, if Dark Crisis is anything to go by, the future is coming fast and even those who are already carrying on a heroic legacy will need their own successor sooner or later. Nightwing is one of DC’s most popular characters, as his latest series by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo proves. However, Dick Grayson is no longer a sidekick and, with everything he’s building, he’ll need someone to carry on the legacy he’s built by himself. That person, the one worthy of being his heir, is actually someone close to home – another member of the Bat-Family.
In Batgirls #4 (by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Jorge Corona, Sarah Stern, and Becca Carey), the power of friendship was a major focus. Stephanie Brown has somehow recently fallen under the influence of Gotham’s latest supervillain, Tutor. Any time the Batgirls encountered the villain, Steph would begin to slip into a hypnotic trance. During their latest encounter, it looked like she might be too far gone but Cass was able to bring her back, and in a way that speaks to the legacy of Nightwing.
Cass called Steph her best friend and embraced her instead of fighting her. That’s actually all it took to break the Batgirl out of her trance. By focusing on her close relationship with her fellow Batgirl, she was able to focus on something other than Tutor, and whatever method he’s been using to control all these people. This allowed them to finally put an end to his reign of terror.
The relationships that Stephanie Brown has with everyone in the Bat-Family is what makes her a true successor to Nightwing’s greatest legacy. Dick Grayson has always been the glue that’s kept them all together. Even when he wasn’t on speaking terms with Batman, he always had time for the Robins, Alfred, or any of the Batgirls. Without him, the Bat-Family would surely crumble but maybe that’s not the case anymore. Maybe Steph can take his place.
It’s actually already happened in the world of DCeased. Dick fell early on in that universe and Steph stepped in as Robin to Damian Wayne’s Dark Knight. Being able to work with Damian is the mark of a true successor to Nightwing, as Dick was one of the only people that could work with the Son of Batman. Her history as a Robin is another thing she has in common with Dick Grayson. Batman may not have been so easy to accept both of them when they became his sidekick but, given time, both became essential parts of the family.
Earlier in the issue, Steph and Cass talked about their friendship, after being referred to as “besties” by one of Barbara’s old college friends. Steph remarked that both she and Cass had lonely childhoods, which made making friends difficult. As her own father was the supervillain Cluemaster, this may be true, however, she’s made tons of friends after becoming a crime-fighting vigilante. Not just in the Bat-Family but through the Teen Titans and Young Justice too. Stephanie Brown is friends with pretty much everybody, even those who others find hard to get close to, like Damian and Cass.
That’s why she’s capable of carrying on Nightwing’s most important legacy. Steph’s friendship with Cass is proof enough. Who else in the Bat-Family, or even the DC Universe, is capable of making the most brutal Batgirl laugh? Should everything go terribly wrong in some future Crisis and the Bat-Family loses its heart in the form of Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown has proven that she can hold the heroes of the DC Universe together. Both in Gotham and beyond.
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