Richard John "Dick" Grayson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman and Teen Titans. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940 as the original and most popular incarnation of Robin, Batman's crime-fighting partner. In Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984), the character, after becoming a young adult, retires his role as Robin and assumes the superhero persona of Nightwing (created by Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez).