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Your eyes aren't deceiving you - that's a character stuck in the background of April 16's Nightwing #300 who looks one heck of a lot like Yuji Itadori from ultra-popular manga/anime Jujutsu Kaisen.
This is, of course, almost certainly an unofficial meeting between Jujutsu Kaisen and the DC Universe - more of an homage than an actual crossover. But it's a great nod to the ongoing tradition of stories featuring young, powerful heroes learning the ropes of their abilities in both western superhero comics and in manga.
Unofficial crossovers are a longstanding tradition in western superhero comics, with characters who are just different enough from their official depictions showing up in competitor's comics. The idea goes all the way back to the '60s, when the Avengers faced off against the Squadron Supreme (pastiches of the Justice League), while the Justice League squared off with the Champions of Angor (thinly veiled versions of the Avengers who were later renamed 'The Retaliators').
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It's more rare for the tradition to cross oceans, which means it's extra fun for Nightwing #300 main artist Daniele Di Nicuolo to have tossed in a Jujutsu Kaisen Easter egg (possibly conspiring with series writer Tom Taylor). But manga itself has been splashing up against western comics for some time now, making this unofficial cameo feel strangely right at home.
In recent years, manga influences have grown strongly in western comics thanks to the rise of younger artists who grew up reading manga alongside their Marvel and DC titles, and Di Nicuolo himself has a manga-esque flair that fits the main story's interplay between Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne.
It's that dynamic of young heroes working together that makes Jujutsu Kaisen a perfect crossover for Nightwing and the Robins. Dick Grayson himself is one of the most popular and prominent teen heroes of all time, having started out as Robin before growing into his own identity as Nightwing. And of course he also co-founded the Teen Titans (now an adult team simply known as the Titans).
Created by Gege Akutami, Jujutsu Kaisen (for those who are somehow not among the manga's 90 million-plus readers or the anime's massive viewer count) focuses on a group of young sorcerers learning to tame the powers that come from their inherent dark sides, or 'Cursed Energy,' in the parlance of the story.
The character whose doppelganger appears in Nightwing #300 is Yuji Itadori, the main hero of Jujutsu Kaisen, who has a strange connection to the story's main villain, Ryomen Sukuna.
Nightwing #300 is an oversized issue which also features a contribution from writer Marv Wolfman, who 'graduated' Dick Grayson from Robin to Nightwing back in New Teen Titans in the early '80s (the pizza place is named 'Marv and George's' after Wolfman himself and his Nightwing co-creator, the late George Perez). The issue is on sale now.
Check out the best Teen Titans stories of all time.
