WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Nightwing #78, by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott, on sale now.
When Dick Grayson stepped out of his mentor’s shadow, Nightwing has made several of his own enemies. While Nightwing still shares many of his villains with the wider Bat-Family, he and Blockbuster have an especially noteworthy rivalry that has evolved as Roland Desmond went from a deranged monster to DC’s answer to Marvel’s Kingpin.
Roland first appeared in 1965’s Detective Comics #345, by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino. At the time, Roland’s brother, Mark, had become the original Blockbuster. Mark took a serum that greatly enhanced his strength. Roland took advantage of his brother’s condition, getting him to commit crimes across Gotham City. The timely arrival of Batman and Robin, however, stopped Blockbuster and put Roland in jail.
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Over the next few years, Blockbuster became a recurring foe for the Dynamic Duo. Ultimately, however, Mark Desmond was the Suicide Squad’s first casualty in 1987’s Legends #3, by John Ostrander, Len Wein and John Byrne. Mark’s death left room for Roland’s debut as the second Blockbuster in 1989’s Starman #9, by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle. In this issue, Roland became the new Blockbuster by taking the same serum as his brother. For a while, Blockbuster carried on like his predecessor, as a brute with little intelligence.
Everything changed in 1995’s Underworld Unleashed #1, by Mark Waid and Howard Porter, when Blockbuster made a deal with the demon, Neron. As a result of this deal, Blockbuster became intelligent as well as strong. Blockbuster’s next major appearance came in 1997’s Nightwing #6, by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel. With his newfound intelligence, Blockbuster became the Kingpin of Bludhaven’s criminal underworld.
Blockbuster held several political figures and police officers in his pocket, making himself virtually untouchable. Still, this didn’t stop Nightwing from interfering in Roland’s operations. From the moment he arrived in Bludhaven, Nightwing became a thorn in Blockbuster’s side. Despite Grayson’s meddling, Blockbuster remained untouchable, rarely facing justice for his own crimes.
In Nightwing #15, by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel, Nightwing and Batman brought Blockbuster’s fortress down upon him. Even so, Roland Desmond survived. On more than one occasion, Blockbuster hired assassins to get rid of Nightwing. For example, Shrike was hired in Nightwing #55, by Chuck Dixon and Greg Land. Blockbuster’s reign finally came to an end in 2004’s Nightwing #93, by Devin Grayson and Patrick Zircher. The well-intentioned but violent vigilante Tarantula shot Blockbuster in cold blood, ending his career.
During the DC Rebirth era, Blockbuster returned in the pages of 2017’s Nightwing #22-25, by Tim Seeley, Miguel Mendonca and Minkyu Jung. Roland Desmond initially told Nightwing that he wanted to hire him to stop Tiger Shark’s smuggling operations. This turned out to be a trap, however, setting Nightwing up to fight a group of assassins. In this new continuity, Blockbuster wanted to make Nightwing a public enemy so that he could look like more of a hero. Still, in Nightwing #32, by Tim Seeley, Scot Eaton and Miguel Mendonca, Roland and Nightwing were forced to work together to defeat Raptor.
Blockbuster just emerged as a renewed threat to Nightwing in Nightwing #78, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. In this issue, Blockbuster killed the mayor, placing Melinda Zucco in charge of Bludhaven. Clearly, Roland Desmond’s time as the Kingpin of Bludhaven isn’t even close to finished.
Much of Blockbuster’s DCU history makes him similar to Marvel’s Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. Both characters are men of immense strength and manipulative intelligence. This deadly combination allows them both to sit at the top of the criminal underworld. Moreover, both Blockbuster and the Kingpin are practically untouchable, with their respective cities serving them in one way or another.
While Blockbuster owns Bludhaven’s government, the Kingpin is currently the mayor of New York City, making it nearly impossible to bring either of them to justice. Blockbuster and the Kingpin also face determined heroes who bring them trouble at every turn. For Blockbuster, this trouble takes the form of Nightwing, while Kingpin is left to deal with Spider-Man and Daredevil. It’s rare that either Blockbuster or Kingpin will directly fight their opponents. Often, both Blockbuster or Kingpin will send assassins to kill their targets.
Of course, Blockbuster isn’t exactly like the Kingpin. While the Kingpin does have his anger issues, Blockbuster is much more unstable. Roland’s mental instability is largely due to the serum which enhances his strength. Fisk is strong, but he’s not as physically and mentally unstable as Blockbuster. Roland also has the distinguishing feature of being a legacy villain, carrying on his brother’s mantle. When Roland became Blockbuster, he largely did so to improve upon his brother’s criminal career, a task that he has definitely fulfilled.
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