Brace yourself, Nightwing fans. Dick Grayson is no more. Instead, prepare to meet Ric Grayson.

As DC Comics fans know, in the recent Batman #55, Dick took a bullet to the head courtesy of KGBeast while Nightwing and Batman were talking with Commissioner Gordon on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department. At the time, things looked pretty bleak for Dick and while Nightwing #50 revealed that the beloved hero had survived the shooting, this week's Nightwing #51 reveals that the man who survived isn't the same.

Nightwing #51 will see Nightwing a changed hero. He may not have actually died but he's dead in a sense just the same. Having lost much of his memory and his skills as well as seen a major shift in his personality, Dick Grayson is gone and in his place is Ric, still a hero, just one with a different, well, everything which should make for an interesting situation as Nightwing has more than just his own struggles to deal with. A "fear germ" is killing people in their sleep, giving the hero both professional and personal challenges to face.

Nightwing #51 is written by Scott Lobdell with Fabian Nicieza with art by Travis Moore and Gary Brown along with colors by Hi-Fi and Nick Filardi. You can check out the official description of the issue below.

"And while Nightwing struggles to uncover the truth behind the “fear germ” that is killing people in their sleep, he must also try to overcome his own sudden struggles with heights and vertigo. He has lost his primary skill set as a hero and will have to focus on his brilliance as a detective instead. And a distracting love triangle certainly isn’t helping him focus...This new storyline spins out of events in BATMAN #55. Don’t miss the start of a new direction in Nightwing’s crimefighting career!"

Nightwing #51 is in comic stores on October 17th.

Have you been reading Nightwing? Let us know what you think about this new direction for the hero in the comments below.