As Batman’s first Robin, Dick Grayson may have been DC’s first great sidekick, but even he couldn’t teach DC’s worst sidekick a lesson.
Of the many sidekicks Batman has taught to become heroes over the years, Dick Grayson has the distinction of being the first and arguably most successful. He stepped out from Batman’s shadow to become Nightwing, has led several superhero teams and recently became one of the richest people in the world. When he first became Nightwing, he took on his own sidekick to replicate how Batman helped him. But Nightwing failed to teach DC’s worst sidekick, Nite-Wing.
Created by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel, Thaddeus “Tad” Ryerstad debuted in Nightwing #8. Tad initially portrayed himself as a runaway who was abandoned on the streets of Bludhaven as a child. He claimed to never have gotten a legal name, with Tad being short for “Tadpole” and Ryerstad coming from a local beer brand. Tossed around from one foster home to another, he grew up idolizing comic books and the superheroes within them, particularly the original Tarantula, John Law. Tad decided to emulate his personal hero and became a crime-fighter, hoping to make Bludhaven a better place to live. Dressed in his civilian clothes, he took to the streets with a pool cue and an affinity for incredible violence. He answered minor crimes by beating everyone involved mercilessly. Sometimes he even “solved” crimes that were entirely in his head, assaulting innocent people.
In Nightwing #21 by Chuck Dixon, Scott McDaniel, Karl Story, Roberta Tewes and John Constanza, he debuted the persona of Nite-Wing, drawing inspiration for the name from an all-nite buffalo wings restaurant. On his first night as a vigilante, he went up against a gang that filled him with bullets. When he was rushed to the emergency room, Blockbuster’s thugs got wind and spent the whole night trying to kill him, thinking that he was actually Nightwing because of how similar their names sound, which made Nightwing spend the night protecting him. After Nite-Wing was released, he went to get revenge on the gang, killing every single member. He continued his rampage, killing a lot of Blockbuster’s mobsters until he was confronted by Torque. Nite-Wing and Nightwing worked together to escape him and Nightwing took him under his wing, not realizing how unstable he was.
Afterward, Nite-Wing went after the Bludhaven police chief to get all of his files on Blockbuster. He then showed them to Nightwing and the two planned an attack on the villain’s base. Unfortunately, they were captured and separated. When an undercover FBI agent went to rescue Nite-Wing, Tad beat him to death. Once he realized who the agent really was, Nite-Wing fled. Nightwing eventually tracked him down to Lockhaven Penitentiary, where he had been imprisoned for the agent’s murder. During Nightwing #51 by Chuck Dixon, Kieron Dwyer, Patricia Mulvihill and John Constanza, it was revealed that Tad had lied about his backstory. He was actually the son of an abusive corrupt cop and disinterested mother who lost himself in comic books to escape his dreary reality. Tad told his father’s drug dealer that he was a snitch, which led to his father’s murder and his mother’s imprisonment. Even though he was adopted, he ran away and lived on the streets.
Back in Lockhaven, Torque was assigned to be Tad’s cellmate and the two began to formulate an escape plan. Resenting Nightwing, Tad made it his first priority to get revenge. He killed Torque after he escaped and was implicated in the murder of Bludhaven’s police chief. Tad went to Nightwing for help clearing his name, and the duo eventually figured out that he had been set up by Blockbuster and the new Tarantula. After clearing his name, Nightwing sent his former sidekick back to prison.
While his first sidekick ended disastrously, Nightwing eventually had far more success taking on Damian Wayne on a sidekick. After Batman was thought dead, Dick took the Batman mantle and trained Damian as Robin. Like Tad, Damian was also prone to violence, but Dick was far more successful in curbing those tendencies. This shows that failing to teach Tad was a fluke and that Dick still has what it takes to train heroes to save the world, as he currently does in Teen Titans Academy.
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