Eclipsed by the rise of flashier shows, such as Cirque du Soliel, Haly's Circus seemed doomed to follow Barnum & Bailey's departure as traditional circuses fell out of favor and entered obscurity. The Flying Graysons changed all of that, forming a renaissance era for the Big Top in the early 2000s. Dick was born about 10 years later, timed to coincide with a scheduled hiatus to update several acts. He grew up as a circus performer, tumbling and riding on a unicycle as a clown by the time he was 6 and becoming part of the Flying Grayson's act at the age of 8. The decision prompted mixed reactions, with Dick's performance being lauded while critics called for child exploitation and abuse investigations into the circus.

The criticism only seemed to fuel heightened interest in the circus, with Dick's addition to the high wire performance drawing record-busting crowds at Gotham City. Unfortunately, the media weren't the only ones to take note of the crowd, or the opportunity that the crowd represented. The Joker (Martha Wayne) seized the opportunity to terrorize Gotham, in an event dubbed the Haly Circus Massacre.

Orphaned, Dick entered in foster care in what is arguably the worst system in the United States. Media take-out seized on what seemed a sensational turn, however, when the reclusive Thomas Wayne took the boy in -- simultaneously hailed by gossip columns as a publicity stunt in poor taste or a demonstration to the world of how to make things right. That was a year ago. In the twelve months since, Dick has faced the loneliness of empty chairs at empty tables, dwarfed by a mansion whose master is rarely home.

The lack of interaction between Thomas and Dick began to change a little more than six months ago, as exploration by a sleepless Dick led to the inadvertent discovery of Thomas' double life as the Batman. That gave them something to talk about at the very least. Adopting the mantle of the classic hero, Robin Hood (stories of whom his parents had loved to tell him), the Boy Wonder emerged as a part-time sidekick to the Batman in the last several months.

While Gotham presents no shortage of threats not appropriate for Robin, there are enough harmless -- or relatively harmless -- nutjobs to allow the boy the same sort of therapy that Thomas has found, channeling rage into something that has the best chance of real change in a city under siege. In his short time in the cape, Dick stopped the Condiment King and help put Slugsy Kyle behind bars. The takedown of disgraced actor Burt Weston ended in the criminal's death, however. Raising the question of whether the Boy Wonder is just following Thomas' descent into Hell.

Saving the day, after homework and before bed time.

I gravitate toward sidekicks and nothing is more iconic than Batman & Robin, which I've only had the opportunity to write a handful of times. Other than drawing a good bit of inspiration from All-Star Batman & Robin in terms of how to approach Dick's trauma and view of the Batman, this is a very played-straight take on Dick Grayson. Gowi's vision for Batman also aligns with what I had been doing previously with Jason, focusing on smaller, more episodic type of stories rather than larger, interconnected arcs. Dick being a kid also allows me to dip into some of Batman's more wackier rogues and just have fun with those concepts.

As Dick is a very part-time vigilante, I'll be doing just as much exploration of Dick sans mask, with some Encyclopedia Brown meets Robin the Boy Wonder stories in mind for solo adventures either separate from Batman or intertwined in Batman stories for Dick's side of the story when he's logically in school and not swinging from the rooftops. But mostly, he's intended as a foil to Thomas Wayne.

Plus, the triumphant return of the Condiment King as a major villain. What's not to love?