Grayson Squared

Comic Book Resources chatted up current Nightwing regular writer Devin Grayson, who will hop back on the series (currently hosting the Dixon/Beatty/McDaniel joint, "Nightwing:Year One") with new artist Phil Hester with Nightwing #107. As many fans have noticed, Grayson has taken a pretty extreme, almost "Born Again"-ish (I'm comparing the structure, not the quality here, folks. Don't click "comment" just yet) slant to the recent adventures of the former Boy Wonder. And for those thinking that Grayson will bail just when things get too dark for Dick, she responds:

I feel like I really can't leave until I redeem Nightwing again, and get him back up to - even surpassing -- his former glory. Fortunately or unfortunately, that's going to take a while - partly because the story demands a certain amount of time to unfold, but even more so because the pacing of the DCU as a whole is such that you can't get three scripts out in a row anymore without having to stop and incorporate an element from outside your book that further complicates the story and further integrates it into a larger, slower time line. I love this character so much and there's so much I want to see him achieve. I'm not as convinced, though, that I'm the best match for the DCU these days in terms of where it's going corporately, so in many ways it's feeling more and more like a race against time. I do know where I want to take the character, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to get there in this current climate.

Sounds like Grayson's personal goals for the series and DC's goals might be too different for a long-term plan. I'm not a fervent Grayson basher like some, but I do find a lot of her work to be overly melodramatic. Then again, it is comics. It's clear she has a great love for the character, and perhaps her pairing with Hester will present her work (she plans to bring Nightwing a little bit closer to redemption) in a better light. Here's hoping.