Nightwing FAQS
- Thanks to his training by Batman, Nightwing is among the top 10
DC
martial
artists, and maybe even the top five according to former Nightwing
Editor
Scott Peterson.
- Nightwing's costume is made of a special weave of Nomex and
Kevlar
which
is fire resistant and bulletproof and is also light-sensitive, growing
darker or lighter depending on lighting conditions. His mask, which is
held to his face by a substance called "spirit gum," has an electronic
transmitter and receiver with "Starlight" night lenses built in. The
costume
also contains a one time electrical taser charge with enough volts to
incapacitate
anyone who tampers with any part of the suit (handy in case Dick is
knocked
unconscious).
- In lieu of a utility belt, Nightwing's gloves and boots have
secret
compartments
in which he stores spare "Nightarangs," smoke pellets, knockout gas,
monofilament
decel jumplines and grapnels, a rebreather, lockpics, protable saw,
flares,
first aid kit and a portable computer. There are 12 compartments in
each
of his glove gauntlets and 7 in each of his boots.
- Nightwing also carries Escrima fighting sticks in holsters on his
back
which he uses for close combat. These are footlong, lightweight
cylinders
that can be used for offense or defense.
- Nightwing's transformable car has a convertable chassis that can
disguise
it as any similarly sized vehicle like a taxi cab or sports car. It
houses
a 3.7 McLaren racing engine mated to an automatic transmission with all
wheel drive, dual batteries and puncture resistant tires. The car is
not
only bullet proof but also bullet absorbent, preventing stray ricochets
from hitting innocent bystanders.
- Nightwing writer Chuck Dixon modeled Blüdhaven after
"Personville"
from Dashiel Hammett's Red Harvest. Artist Scott McDaniel studied
turn-of-the-century
New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia when designing Blüdhaven:
"There's a half-dozen high-rise buildings, with no one dominant style
of
architecture. I was told to make it look old, rundown and rat-infested.
It makes Gotham look good by comparison."
- Dick took elements of his Nightwing identity from his two
greatest
influences:
Batman and Superman. The name "Nightwing" is actually Kryptonian in
origin.
Dick took the name from a vigilante on Krypton that Superman once told
him about.
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