Batman's History
In the wake of Bruce Wayne's disappearance during Final Crisis, Gotham is thrown into chaos by a new Black Mask who destroys Arkham and takes control of its inmates using microchips.
While Nightwing rallies Batman's Network to stop the gang violence, Jason Todd begins wearing a Batsuit and violently gunning down criminals. Penguin and Two-Face go to war as the two biggest figures in Gotham, not realizing Black Mask is manipulating them. Grayson refuses to try and replace Bruce, so Tim Drake begins wearing his own Batsuit that gets him stabbed through the chest in a fight with Jason. Secret Six members Bane, Catman and Rag Doll in a Robin costume show up to help out in Batman's honor, but Nightwing banishes them for murdering terrorists. He also battles the new Azrael for stealing the Suit of Sorrows, but they come to an understanding and Azrael is allowed to operate in Gotham. The Network go after Black Mask when they realize he's their real threat, and Dick personally hunts down Jason. Jason lies that he killed Tim, leading to a fight atop a subway car where Dick kicks him and Jason seemingly falls to his death. In the aftermath of these events, Dick realizes that he really was destined to become Batman and takes the cowl with Damian Wayne at his side as Robin.
Batman Reborn
At Bruce Wayne's private funeral, Dick announces that they cannot allow Batman to die and his legend must continue. Alfred Pennyworth helps him build a new Bat-Bunker so he can make the identity of Batman his own, and Dick begins his career by taking down Scarecrow.
He makes an immediate impression as a more media-friendly Batman who allows crime scenes to be recorded so his convictions stick. When he goes after the Penguin, Black Mask intervenes by sending Clayface and Lyle Blanco as hitmen. Two-Face breaks into the Batcave using a teleporter and tries to confront Batman as an impostor, but Dick convinces him otherwise. His first mission with Damian Wayne as Robin involves Professor Pyg and the Circus of Strange, who they stop from spreading drug addiction like a virus and turning people into Dollotrons. They continue to struggle with Hush posing as Bruce Wayne, and begin keeping him under constant guard to stop him from damaging the Wayne Foundation. Firefly betrays Black Mask to satisfy his pyromania and Zsasz uses the Broker to construct a gladiatorial abbatoir.
Tim Drake believes that Bruce is still alive, and leaves Gotham as Red Robin to look for clues in Europe when Dick won't support him. They test the mettle of Stephanie Brown as the new Batgirl when they're attacked by Roulette. He also observes Batwoman taking down the Religion of Crime, although he allows her to operate independently. The Riddler gains his respect when they work together on a case involving Conundrum. In an encounter with Booster Gold, he's briefly erased from history by the Black Beetle and then restored. Aqualad visits him for advice on how to handle Atlantis after losing his mentor Aquaman. His new identity is also shown to affect Starfire, who still has romantic feelings for him. When Vigilante arrives in Gotham, they fight and then arrive at a mutual understanding. In his first team-up with Azrael and the Question, Robin is kidnapped and they go after a religious cult named La Saligia.
Life After Death
Black Mask remains cornered by the National Guard in Devil's Square with his mind-controlled False Faces, but he plans to threaten the city with experimental toxins using his Ministry of Science including Doctor Death, Fright, Hugo Strange and the Reaper. Mario Falcone returns to Gotham after many years and tries to take organized crime back for the Roman Empire, although Batman eventually burns his estate down. The Penguin hires a young thief named Kittihawk who plagues Batman, although she eventually becomes Catwoman's sidekick and takes the name Catgirl. Eventually Batman is forced to lead a frontal assault on Devil's Square using the Network, and he exposes Black Mask as the newly insane Jeremiah Arkham.
Batman and Robin meet a foreign crime-fighter Oberon Sexton who begins assisting them. Jason Todd returns as Red Hood with a new sidekick named Scarlet and begins violently executing criminals. Red Hood attracts the attention of the Penitente Cartel and their top-level enforcer El Flamingo, who nearly kills them before Batman has Todd arrested. While Arkham is incarcerated, Batman visits him for help in one of Black Mask's homicides but Arkham's schizophrenia is too far gone and he is still evil. Batman and Robin assist Azrael when investigation into the Religion of Crime uncovers new leads in the death of his siblings Gwendolyn and Marion. When Humpty Dumpty finds the corpses of children in the river, it leads them to Zsasz's gladiator ring which Robin and Abuse take down from the inside.
Blackest Night
Zombies rise in Gotham when power rings turn the dead into agents of the Black Lantern Corps. The reanimated corpses of Abbatoir, Blockbuster, Deacon Blackfire, KGBeast, King Snake, Magpie, the Trigger Twins and the Ventriloquist lay siege to GCPD Headquarters. Batman, Red Robin and Robin ally with Deadman and Etrigan during this crisis. Dick is forced to confront his resurrected parents John and Mary Grayson trying to kill him, but the heroes survive by freezing themselves.
Eventually Dick decides to reanimate the corpse of Bruce Wayne in a Lazarus Pit, traveling to London where he fights King Coal and the Religion of Crime with Batwoman, Knight and Squire. This goes horribly wrong when it's revealed that the corpse was not Bruce Wayne, but an insane clone made in the Evil Factory during Final Crisis. They stop the clone from killing Alfred and Damian with the help of Colonel Kane, and Dick acknowledges that Bruce Wayne must really be alive somewhere.
Justice League
In the aftermath of Blackest Night, Donna Troy and Hal Jordan rebuild the Justice League inviting Batman into their membership including The Atom, Congorilla, Cyborg, Doctor Light, Green Arrow, Guardian, Mon-El and Starfire.
The Return of Bruce Wayne
Upon his return to the present, Bruce Wayne has turned the concept of "Batman" into a global operation known as "Batman Incorporated", after revealing to the press he has been "funding" Batman all these years. Dick has retained the the Batman identity despite Bruce's return to the mantle. He continues to operate as Gotham City's primary defender with Damian Wayne continuing as his Robin. He has also joined the current incarnation of the JLA.
The Black Mirror
When several murders are committed with old super-villain weapons, Dick begins pursuing a villain known as the Dealer. He infiltrates the Dealer's headquarters Mirror House and finds a dark cult, although he's quickly discovered and drugged. Escaping through violent hallucinations, he returns and takes the Dealer's plane down when he tries to leave Gotham.
James Gordon, Jr. returns to Gotham after many years and is rejected by his family as a psychopath, although he requests a recommendation from Dick to work with Leslie Thompkins. Commissioner Gordon suspects that his son is a murderer, and hunts down old leads with Batman's help.
Tony Zucco's daughter Sonia Zucco is targeted by super-villains, and Dick agrees to help her as she's become a legitimate businesswoman. This leads him to a weapons dealer named Roadrunner who tries to kill him in a car-crusher. The real culprit is a pirate named Tiger Shark who gets away because Sonia manipulated Batman into dealing with her other enemies. Dick meets with James Jr. and gives him a good recommendation, although it's revealed that James is still torturing people.
The Commissioner discovers his son plans to drug a nutrition facility and turn thousands of infants into future psychopaths, while the Joker escapes simultaneously. Dick goes after the Joker when Barbara Eileen is attacked with toxin, but the Joker only wants to fight his own Batman and insists he didn't commit the assault. James Jr. finally kidnaps Oracle to murder her, and Dick rescues her at the last moment but it's left unclear whether or not he was able to save the nutrition facility.
Traps and Trapezes
The DC Universe heavily changed its continuity into the DCnU following the events of Flashpoint in 2011. This was part of an effort to make storylines more accessible to newer readers, beginning with the New 52. This new timeline combines elements from the DCU, Vertigo Universe and Wildstorm Universe while drastically changing the origins and histories of characters.
Dick returns to his identity as Nightwing, leaving Bruce Wayne to be the only Batman again. Haly's Circus comes to town for the first time since his parents were murdered. In his civilian identity he is attacked by an assassin named Saiko who insists that he's the fiercest killer in Gotham. Dick inherits the deed to the circus from a dying C.C. Haly and begins a relationship with his childhood friend acrobat Raya Vestri. Saiko tortures Haly for information on Nightwing's secret identity, and the old man dies in Dick's arms after telling him the circus holds a terrible secret. Investigating leads, he tracks down a supervillain named Feedback who used to be a childhood friend but doesn't learn anything. Batgirl visits and they team up to take down a shape-shifter named Spinebender. Following Haly's clues, he finds a mysterious Book of Names in the circus that holds his on the last page. He's forced to fight a rhyming demon named Acheron when his clown Jimmy Clark is attacked by an ex-fiancee using black magic. Tracking down more leads, he fights a super-villain known as Shox for information. The circus announces they will be doing a memorial show on the anniversary of the night Dick's parents were murdered, and Saiko attacks by detonating a massive explosion. It's revealed that the circus has been training assassins for years, and Saiko was a childhood friend using Raya as an accomplice. Grayson had been selected to become a new Talon for the Court of Owls, but when Batman adopted him Saiko took his place. The killer plummets to his death, and Raya turns herself in. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce reveals to Dick that the current Talon is his great-grandfather William Cobb.
Night of the Owls
Nightwing recieves Alfred's message, which conveys the forty people the Court of Owls targeted for assassination. He goes to save Mayor Sebastian Hady and comes face-to-face with a Talon. Using lethal force on the Talon, Nightwing stabs him across the eye with his stick, as the Talon is already dead and Nightwing's stick is slowing his healing factor down. However, William Cobb, having been revived by another Talon, attacks Nightwing and stabs him in the chest. Nightwing then tricks Cobb into leading them to Gotham's train tunnels, where he is able to freeze him with a liquid nitrogen tub.
