Two sidekicks and a mutant…all dutiful dudes

Nightwing - Cyclops

Robin- Bucky

Yet another entry in KomikKounterparts’ Big Cheating Cavalcade!

I justify one DC character being paired with two Marvel one by positing that the Dick Grayson character is hugely important, and in two ways: A.) He is known by non- comic book readers as Batman’s little friend; B.) He is known by nerds as Batman’s ex-sidekick, the leader of the Teen Titans and DC's key “legacy” character.

So here we split him into two…

The Titans leader/solo guy prevailing iteration is paired with the key player in the X-Men mythos, the straight-shooter/responsible guy who has been de-emphasized for decades in favor of Wolverine (Summer’s character was killed off for no particular reason in the third X-film).

So the sidekick version is paired with Captain America’s accomplice. For forty-five years, the death of Bucky was virtually the only death that stuck in Marvel continuity: he’s now said to have been a —ahem— Russian spy since the end of the war and now has taken on the identity of Captain America. This second pairing also allows me to reference Earth II continuity from the ‘70s…see below…

Commonalities:
Bucky, a creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, was obviously modeled after Jerry Robinson and -ahem- Bob Kane's Robin, so them two line right up. As for Cyclops, Grayson was written as a similarly driven, principled leader guy once Titans writer Marv Wolfman, likely mindful of interpersonal dynamics that had worked in X-Men, got his hands on him.

Differences:
Only that Cyclops shoots them optic rays, and Nightwing doesn’t. Otherwise, both are supremely resourceful and tremendously skilled combatants.

Alternate histories:

NW: Orphan Richard Grayson is taken in by scientist Niles Caulder as the first student in a school for young crimefighters and meta-humans. Once fellow students Donna Troy, Roy Harper and two others to be named later join, Grayson begins to lead the Teen Titans against a number of menaces. Shortly after Grayson and Troy become lovers, the original lineup of the Titans leave the school; Grayson then leads a new team. Some time later, it appears that Troy, in her guise as the Dark Angel, dies, and a dejected Grayson leaves the Titans. But the true Troy reappears, and she and Grayson are reunited. Nightwing has remained with the Titans ever since.

CY: Orphaned young mutant Scott Summers becomes the apprentice of Captain America, and gravitates towards four other mutant sidekicks, including Jean Grey and Warren Worthington. The five name themselves the X-Men and then combat various menaces for a few years, disband and then reform with four younger mutants. Cyclops becomes distant from Captain America and eventually presides over the X-men during a number of tragedies. He works on his own and with the Avengers and the Defenders for a short time before finally reforming the X-Men.

RO: During World War II, Bruce “Batman” Wayne takes on an young apprentice, Dick Grayson, who is assigned the code name Robin. He serves alongside Batman, Aquaman and other operatives until the waning days of the war, when he is assumed to have been killed in action. It has recently been revealed that he has been an operative for a foreign government since WWII: he has recently assumed the “Batman” identity after Wayne’s assassination.

BU: In a parallel universe containing “Counter-Earth,” a Captain America native to said diaspora began his career shortly before wartime and adopted James Buchanan Barnes as his partner. As this Captain America retires and transitions to a military career in his identity as Steve Rogers, “Bucky” continues as a costumed operative and eventually joins the Liberty Legion, Counter-Earth’s premiere super-hero organization.