Nightrunner (comics)

Nightrunner
Nightrunner. Art by Trevor McCarthy.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics Annual #12 (February 2011)
Created by	David Hine & Kyle Higgins
In-story information
Alter ego	Bilal Asselah
Team affiliations	Batman Family
Partnerships	Batman
Notable aliases	Le Batman of France, The Free Runner, The Protector of Paris, The Night Runner, The Dark Athlete
Abilities	Parkour

Nightrunner is a fictional character created by David Hine and Kyle Higgins for publisher DC Comics. A comic book superhero, Nightrunner first appeared in Detective Comics Annual #12 (February 2011). Nightrunner is a 22 year-old Algerian Sunni Muslim French citizen that lives in Clichy-sous-Bois in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. He was recruited by Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson for Batman Incorporated as the Batman of Paris, Le Batman Of France.^[1]

Publication history

Nightrunner was introduced in a two-part story that spanned from "Detective Comics Annual" #12 to "Batman Annual" #28 in December 2010 (cover-date February 2011), The main story written by David Hine and penciled by Agustin Padilla, and the Back-up origin story written by Kyle Higgins and illustrated by Trevor McCarthy. David Hine created Nightrunner to mirror the current social and political situations unfolding in the French projects of Clichy-sous-Bois,. ^[2]

He also appears in a one-issue story arc in "Batman and Robin" #26, where he assists Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne with a breakout of the Black Garden, Paris's version of Arkham Asylum.

Origin

Bilal Asselah, a French-Algerian was raised by his single mother on the outskirts of Paris, France. Though peaceful, on Bilal's 16th birthday, he and his friend Aarif were caught in the middle of a French-Muslim protest, and beaten mercilessly by the police force. After they both healed, Aarif gave Bilal a gift including the music of Leni Urbana, an urban representative of the Muslim people in France, urging Bilal to listen to her words. That night Aarif was killed by police after he set fire to their station. After hearing of his friend's death, Bilal would forever be changed. Though he sympathized with the protesters, he found faults on both sides and decided to take a cue from Batman's origins: becoming a symbol, without racial or religious bias that could make a difference for what's right and just. Already a superior parkour athlete, he donned the mask of Nightrunner in order to help the people's cause and bring justice to Clichy-sous-Bois.

References

1. ^ Le Batman of France
2. ^ The Batsignal: Daid Hine, Comic Book Resources, November 5th, 2010