Dick Grayson and Body Image: A Thread

I’ve heard people call Dick Grayson the sex symbol of DC.

Ever since the era of DCYou and Rebirth, along with some selective Pre-52 material, he’s been characterized to know how good he looks.

He wins over women, he walks around shirtless, he uses his sex appeal to gain info.

But what these people don’t know is that this is actually a HUGE mischaracterization.

Here’s a thread about how Dick’s personality and views of himself have changed to fit a sexualized agenda, rather than staying true to his character.

Let’s begin with the Pre-Crisis era.

Dick first began to show an aversion to the sexualization of his body in Tales of the Teen Titans, which was his primary book at the time.

Here Tara’s ‘compliments’ are met with a brief thanks before he reminds her of his modesty.

This would continue into the edge of Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis, with a sense awkwardness for any sort of joke involving his body or appearance.

At this point he and Kory have been dating for a number of years, but Dick still seems embarrassed with a comment such as this one.

In The New Titans, a disguised Dick says to Kory that he’s “pretty conservative” about nudity, and she replies that he must learn how to accept himself.

“Easier said than done.”

This reveals that Dick actually struggles with an insecurity regarding his body.

When what’s generally known as the Pre-52 era of Post-Crisis rolls around, Dick never overtly admits his struggles like he did with Kory.

But there are several instances where he is clearly uncomfortable with people sexualizing him or pointing out his appearance.

Both of these instances fall within Nightwing (1996). Similar comments are made, and both times, his response is exasperated and uninterested.

Unfortunately, Nightwing (1996) is also tainted by the hand of Devin Grayson, who plays a role in the new wave of sexualizing Dick and portraying him as a womanizer.

But this just goes to show that even despite that, there were still hints regarding how he could care less.

Dick Grayson being the sex symbol of DC makes no sense when you consider his character history before the work of Devin Grayson and Tim Seeley, among others.

Dick is also an incredibly monogamous person to whom love means a lot. But that’s another thread for the future.

The point here is that he should still be appreciated as a character with his insecurities and struggles meaning something.

Tossing that away in order to appeal to the people who truly believe Dick thinks himself all that is a complete disrespect to his development.

I hope this was informative!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.