Dick Grayson was a capable young man even before he became the first Robin. As a member of The Flying Graysons, he was trained in acrobatics from a young age. However, he picked up other skills as part of a found family of circus performers. Skills that would prove surprisingly useful as the squire of the Dark Knight. However, an off-hand remark in Batman and Robin: Year One #6 suggests that one of Dick Grayson’s teachers was a superhero besides Batman.
Written by Mark Waid, with art by Chris Samnee, Batman and Robin #6 finds Dick Grayson in dire straits. The young hero went off on his own, seeking the gangster Anthony Grimaldi. He was successful in his manhunt but was unable to evade capture by Grimaldi and his men.
When Robin refused to turn pigeon and tell Grimaldi how to find Batman, the gangster resolved to leave the hero for dead in a burning warehouse. Thankfully, while only a vigilante for a few weeks at this point of Batman and Robin: Year One, Dick Grayson had already learned how to free himself from being tied up. However, his escape artist skills came from a surprising source.
Elongated Man taught Robin Escapology
After he freed himself, Dick Grayson credited his training to one “Dibny the Contortionist.” That curious name may ring a bell with DC Comics readers and fans of detective fiction. While Batman and Robin: Year One does not give a full name for Robin’s teacher, it is almost certainly Ralph Dibny, a.k.a. Elongated Man.
Originally introduced as a rival of The Flash, Elongated Man is a notable character in several respects. He was the first DC Comics superhero to operate without a secret identity in the Silver Age. He was also the first superhero to get married and is considered the best detective in the world after Batman. Yet how could he also teach a young Dick Grayson’s escapology before Batman and Robin: Year One?
Before he became a world-famous superhero, Ralph Dibny was a gangly boy from Waymore, Nebraska, Fascinated by the rubber man of a traveling carnival, Ralph resolved to learn the secret of being more flexible. This led him to spend several years studying circus performers and their habits. This, in turn, led to Dibny developing a formula that gave him stretching superpowers.
Dibny is not a common last name, even in the DC Universe. Given that, it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine that Ralph might have found employment as an escape artist while studying other contortionists. This opens the door to his teaching something of the craft to Dick Grayson before the events of Batman and Robin: Year One.
Batman and Robin: Year One #6 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
