Those who teach, can...

[digicom]

Fans of comics love to argue who is the best/fastest/toughest character. Among DC Martial Artists, Cassandra Cain, Lady Shiva, or Batman often get the nod. But there's one fellow who sometimes gets missed, even though he's been around since the early 70's:

Part of it is understandable, as he disappeared from comics after his short-lived series (based on a novel by Denny O'Neill & Jim Berry) was canceled, but 23 years ago, Denny re-invented him as the archetypal martial arts master, that guy who isn't as flashy as some, but is the best person to learn from.


Richard first re-appeared (along with his sometime ally Lady Shiva) in The Question #2, where he put Vic Sage on the path to, if not enlightenment, at least relative sanity:





After that, he disappeared from the book until the last arc, when he showed that he wasn't quite as helpless as Vic had assumed.

After Barbara Gordon was shot by the Joker, Richard helped her find new strength, both physically and mentally.











When Vic Sage saw Huntress heading down the same self-destructive path he'd been on, he took her to Richard, hoping that he'd be able to help her as well.








And finally, when Vic was searching for a successor, he took Renee Montoya to Nanda Parbat, where Richard now resided


 

It's because these scenes (among others) were so cool that I didn't care for the Dixon revamp. I do have a pet theory that "Richie" is a different fellow entirely, but this might not be the place for that. :)

(Scans from Birds of Prey #87, Batman Chronicles #5, Cry For Blood #3, and 52 #27.)