DICK GRAYSON: Ranking his best/worst costumes!

[@langleymneely]

“First thing to know as a new comic book fan: Check cool at the door.” Lmao 😂🤣

[@calebmurphy9406]

I don't get it

[@langleymneely]

@@calebmurphy9406 Essentially it’s saying if you’re going to be a comic book fan don’t expect to be seen as cool or anything in comics being cool.

[@mr.master2017]

As a younger comic book fan, I’m grateful saying that this hasn’t rlly applied with me, but it is hard sometimes to get older people to understand my interest so I still feel this a bit 😂

[@yabbadabbindude]

Couldn't be me 😭 😂

[@langleymneely]

@@mr.master2017 All kidding aside it’s infinitely better today to be a pop culture nerd or comic fan. Sounds weird now but even being a massive fan of something as big as Star Wars could get you ostracized from certain bone headed “popular” cliques as a kid in the 80s and 90s. The entire culture around this stuff has changed for the better, though you still get old nerds with a chip on their shoulder trying to gate keep and sow “outrage” for the dumbest things.

[@TheAlrightSpider-Man]

I don’t mind the early night wing costume with the collar it feels like he’s keeping his flying Grayson days alive and I love that

[@MissingShogiPiece]

I love how his Symbol, his origin, his motivations and his ideals are all tied into one-another. On contrary to Batman being about the punishment or impact from the fall, Dick tries to catch people before as they are falling due to his trapeze origin which also ties into his symbol too, a bird swooping down to catch their prey.

[@daelen.cclark]

New 52 Nightwing’s costume looks like Jason Todd trying to impersonate Nightwing.

[@WarriorSmurf]

The Robin suit trunks are a part of a one-piece armor. There is a grern scale mail shirt under the tunic (like a onesie). Iirc, it was addressed in an issue of The New Teen Titans.

[@michaellabonte6390]

I always loved Grant Morrison's explaination in batman and robin reborn on why Grayson dropped the cape. The specialized cape is weighted so it makes it harder to be as acrobatic. It restricts graysons style as, in his own words, "its like having a circus tent on your back"

[@shadowanderson2004]

I think the new 52 suit’s color change was to make it more noticeable that he’s “older Robin”. Dick Grayson is my favorite superhero no matter if he’s Robin, Nightwing, agent 37, or Batman. Glad to see more and more people talk about him recently

[@GeorgeInglis]

I only like the red Nightwing suit in Injustice when it’s Damien Wayne wearing it

[@aerialace4625]

Nightwing shouldn't be red because that's the Robin colour. The whole point of the identity is leaving that past behind. Why call back to it?

[@HovektheArtist]

Because for decades bludhavens color was red for a bunch of stuff to the point the shade of red used is called bludhaven red. Then writers and artists started using it every once in awhile when he really wants to distance himself from batman and show he is the protector of bludhaven

[@aerialace4625]

@@HovektheArtist Really not sure where you got that from. Blüdhaven didn't exist when he was wearing the red. That's according to Higgins. New 52 Nightwing was based in Gotham (Not exactly separating himself from Batman). Then Chicago. I think Blüdhaven is only referenced once in the New 52. In a Green Arrow comic. With no connection to Dick.

[@langleymneely]

1:13:30 Im actually surprised that the New 52 suit or any Nightwing suit after the 90s goldwing era didn’t try to incorporate a gold coloration into the iconic black and blue of the 90s/2000s suit? I think it might have worked better than the red. Especially for fans that were used to him using gold as an accent in the 80s.

[@aiursurvivor]

Aww, man. I always really liked the New 52 suit, especially the ribbing. A halfway point between it and the classic blue is what I always leaned towards. I was never a fan of all the extra blue that the Rebirth and Infinite Frontier suits added to him, especially on the calves. If you really want to add details to the suit, it needs to be in black, which is what the ribbing accomplished, but the key is to not go ham on it. Capullo really got that part right the handful of times he drew Nightwing during the Snyder run.

[@loganthomas2421]

Always enjoy these costume/design rankings

[@ItsOver9000Productions]

Dude, thank you so much for talking about the pants thing in regards to Dick. I've been saying this for years and people think I'm ridiculous for even caring but Tim Drake's reinterpretation of the Robin costume is in my opinion monumental. Robin had essentially the same costume for 40 years, and now we keep pretending that wasn't the case. Tim Drake is my favorite Robin and has my favorite costume and time and time again, in most adaptations, they always take Tim's suit and give it to Dick or just forget about Tim altogether. It sucks being a Tim fan sometimes. My favorite look for Dick is The Batman 2004 cartoon and even THAT takes Tim's costume.

[@nickolasramirez]

What if the Dan Mora suit had shorts instead of pants? A way of signaling that Dick is a little older without having to give him Tim’s look. In my head I’m thinking, like, biker shorts length but that can be tweaked. I think it could’ve worked.

[@threex0xthree]

I have a feeling that Dick's New 52 suit is gonna get the harshest of rankings.

[@superjlk_9538]

Nightwing or Robin? The Robin suit sucked but the red Nightwing suit was cute

[@threex0xthree]

​@@superjlk_9538 I meant the Nightwing suit.

[@robertwild9447]

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I do like the New 52 Nightwing suit. The blue is obviously better, but I still think the red one is cool.

[@CanopiedwithBowers]

It's a cool-looking suit, but then again, I am a sucker for a black and red color scheme. That being said, I agree with their criticisms; it just doesn't fit Dick at all--could have been a cool out of continuity suit in the right context, though.

[@kadegetslaid634]

Dan moras robin suit honestly is the best interpretation of the robin suit, it could be adapted 1-1 in live action and look amazing tbh, dan mora even made AQUALADS costume work 😭 which is insane

[@docpenguindoc]

1:14:50 Considering they already took the bird logo from TNBA, I'm surprised how long it took the retractable wingsuit from TNBA to be integrated into the comics. (Unless you count his early 90's yellow suit which had glider wings) I'm still waiting for a Nightwing mask that covers his nose though. I always liked how that looked in TNBA and Teen Titans as a more "mature" Nightwing. (Unless you count Armageddon 2001 Nightwing, whose mask covered his nose)

[@docpenguindoc]

Also, 1:15:27 - I have not read Futures End, but he is clearly just wearing Red Star's costume lol

[@joshuamcchristian5365]

This was the best topic you guys could come up with 😂 All love Sal

[@langleymneely]

Speaking of Ric I will never understand the weird hangup DiDio had about Dick Grayson? The hoops he jumped thru to hurt the popularity of Nightwing was insane! Also in defense of the New 52 red suit that Ric era red outfit is 10 times worse! Lol

[@bignoasted2701]

He literally hates him cause he grows up that's literally it

[@CosmicPsychonauts]

50:40 I never knew that Nightwing had his nipples pierced, I actually love that idea. If I redesigned him myself I would give him his long hair back, but instead of a mullet or a ponytail I would modernize it with a messy bun and trimmed beard.

[@soujimura4839]

Tim seeley even agreed the red suit looked evil where he put deathwing in the costume during his run

[@maria_from_ga1461]

Ngl I disagree about pants being Tim Drake’s thing because decades before Tim, Earth-2 Robin had pants multiple times, Dick when thinking about changing his costume in the Bronze Age, all the new costumes had long pants also. And during the Bronze Age when he was at college, Robin made jokes about how dumb his short shorts were and how he should wear long pants. Plus, even for Pre-Crisis Jason Todd (who was a Dick copy and also an acrobat), his proto-Robin outfit when he first fought crime had long pants too. Since like the 60/70s, it was kinda clear that Robin wearing short shorts was only done out of long-standing legacy and not that it is something Dick/Jason would actively choose which is why it took Jason dying in the classic suit for main canon Robins to stop wearing short shorts Also male gymnasts and acrobats frequently wear long pants (in fact it’s more often you see male gymnasts start with long pants and go to shorts later on than the other way around)

[@langleymneely]

The bearded Jon Snow Knightwing look makes me wonder have we had an old man Nightwing with a grey beard before? Or even a young present day bearded Grayson of any kind?

[@superjlk_9538]

I only think it’s ever shown up in Last Knight

[@langleymneely]

@@superjlk_9538 I will have to check that out then! Thanks 🙏🏾

[@superjlk_9538]

@@langleymneely *Last Knight on Earth

[@superjlk_9538]

@@langleymneely he also has a beard in Batman/Catwoman but he’s only police commissioner. And then he’s supposed to have one in the Tom Taylor arc starting in 114 but his costume isn’t the regular one

[@jessebaughman3139]

The new 52 depiction of the discowing as seen in red hood and the outlaws in flashbacks drawn by Kenneth rocafort was really cool

[@Mahdster]

Nightwing year one all 3 suits from that story, Nightwing Year One: Robin Suit & Prototype Nightwing Suit & 1st ever Nightwing suit

[@GwydionAE]

No hate to the 2016 look, but Nightwing isn't Nightwing without the fingerstripes, haha. Still a solid A, though. Personally prefer the V to the bird, but the current look and the classic blue V version are both *chef's kiss*. Probably my favorite superhero costume.

[@SuperiorJohn]

Tbh I have some nostalgia for New 52 Nightwing so take this with a grain of salt, but I actually love his red suit because all of the Robins have an underlying coordination with red that it makes me want to love it so badly. But the blue is easily the best suit with my favorite being the Tom Taylor suit with with the stripe going down to the fingers

[@kadegetslaid634]

Same here i love tom taylors nightwing suit

[@langleymneely]

As someone that never knew about the Renegade villain costume I actually dug the red New 52 costume, the revised version sans the red eyes. I always liked it as a color variant to the iconic blue costume. As far as the Grayson spy outfit I couldn’t disagree more, not only is it not an F its a B or dare I say an A! Granted as far as it being a costume for super heroics, it’s not ideal but I absolutely love the simplicity of the Grayson SPIRAL suit. Plus the SPIRAL GRAYSON era is still my favorite ongoing story by King. I normally only dig his miniseries but Grayson was far better than anyone could have imagined.

[@bignoasted2701]

I don't like the suit but I will say without the red eyes it's just not worth even mentioning I do think the red eyes give it a little spice that it definitely needs because otherwise it's just a completely minor recolor

[@MarvJohnny]

Wow… 90’s suit over the N52 one. Did not see that coming honestly

[@bacsilva]

12:28 Fun thing: kids who don't speak English from birth usually have no idea "Robin" is a bird's name.

[@nigelflood7074]

I can't believe you forgot his Target costume

[@bignoasted2701]

Honestly I've never heard or seen that one before it's not that Iconic of a suit

[@pbc1232]

Dont know if anyone pointed this out but you put "Raking" instead of "Ranking". Great vid btw

[@matterstoyou2970]

I think the new 52 was analogous of C.O.’s visual take on Robin in the Schumacher films. While not a great look it’s familiar (the BIG red bird) to general masses whether they like the Schumacher films or not they can glance at books and notice the character better too more hero’s wear blue and black to give the metaphor clearly of P.d.

[@jacejensen8778]

I just noticed something the V shape in most of his suits do look like a set of wings

[@CosmicNerdStudios]

Hey idk how long sal and Joel have been stalking me but I was literally having the exact same conversation with a friend as the original live stream started, so either Sal somehow bugged a random warehouse in Indiana or great minds just think alike I guess?

[@kenlsten4651]

The 2nd new 52 suit by Brett booth is my favorite solely for the fact they added a belt to the suit. The red stripes look cool IMO, just change it to blue and it’s perfect IMO. Also, I think the rebirth design is lazier than the new 52 ones. The new 52 tried to match him with the rest of the robins and give him some of the bat gear while the rebirth suit was different for no reason. The glove straps and ugly thin blue stripes felt so unnecessary. Redondo cleaned it up the original rebirth design was not my favorite.

[@davidjeffery9493]

The Scott McDaniels drawn suit...and the original suit....but only when it is drawn by George Perez

[@jakejupiter5905]

SUPERWING! Dic only wears it for a hot minute in the Tom Taylor run but I liked it.

[@bignoasted2701]

Actually think that's a pretty iconic one although there isn't a lot of like major memorable stories with it DC promoted the hell out of it

[@oatmat]

Batman TAS Season 4 and the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon costume

[@Thebian100]

Robin's first look was a nod to Robin Hood.

[@ftfasttalkfoodreviewsyt]

There's an alex ross nightwing design. I kindve like it. But I don't like nightwing with a cape.

[@bignoasted2701]

Yessss Nightwing 👍

[@BenAndJakeLightsaber]

Original black and blue “V” Nightwing > New 52 (original version) Nightwing > Modern Nightwing> Rebirth Nightwing > Original Robin > Yellow “V” 90s > Dan Mora Robin > Original Nightwing > New 52 Robin

[@TaylorChatsMan]

Not a huge fan of robin but this episode surprised me and made me laugh quite a bit.

[@GohanYuki]

Never seen renegade but i like… new 52 was prob my first intro to comics proper i liked the red but with white eyes.. nightwing is my fav red x is cool in the show

[@Jay_SGE]

Nah you guys are so harsh on the New 52 suits The suits are fine 😂 they are ICONIC.

[@kadegetslaid634]

Modern nightwing is definitely my fav, its practical and amazing looking, and he actually has a bird as his symbol!!! Instead of a stupid v that you cant tell what it is 😭

[@Nexion3653]

Dan Mora Robin Suite is the best design

[@99jmaster]

Yeah I agree that new 52 Dick Robin suit was ass The only good new 52 Robin suit in my opinion was the one that Jason wore in flashbacks 1:14:46 since I didn't really have a lot of access to comics where Nightwing shows up as a major focus I don't know about in comics but in TNBA he had it it's just that part was also black whenever he used it

[@ThorneIdentity]

Are they counting Earth 2 robin

[@CoraValentine1999]

Dragonslayer just looks like Chris Redfield

[@jessebaughman3139]

Beast boy wears a doom patrol uniform

[@alexandrefrauches132]

"Red eyes denote evil" Then I guess Daredevil and Gambit must be super villains.

[@comicpopreturns]

Gambit was a bad guy initially and Daredevil is based off the devil

[@bignoasted2701]

​@@comicpopreturnsgotem

[@HovektheArtist]

And don't forget Thomas Wayne, an arguably evil batman, has the red eyes

[@alexandrefrauches132]

@@comicpopreturns Technically Gambit was thief with heart of gold. He even went against Sinister after find out he help the Marauders killed the Morlocks.

[@alexandrefrauches132]

@@HovektheArtist To be fair he's more of anti- hero, so the logic of "red eyes = evil" makes sense in his case

[@ThePandaSupreme]

Imo the green underwear just don’t work at all imo… just looks ridiculous… pants complete the look of robin imo

[@kadegetslaid634]

For a 12 year old robin green underwear is fine, but over that i prefer pants

[@ThePandaSupreme]

@@kadegetslaid634 I can understand that… like 12-14 him having underwear I can get and then he moves onto pants because well puberty lmao

[@kadegetslaid634]

@@ThePandaSupreme exactly, that's my headcannon at least LOL

[@ThorneIdentity]

Perez’s nightwing was the worst

[@kenlsten4651]

Because John Stewart’s future state suit was such a winner…

[@ThorneIdentity]

@@kenlsten4651 thank you! Always glad to meet another fan!