Publisher DC Comics Team affiliations Batman Incorporated Creators David Hine, Kyle Higgins Affiliation Batman Incorporated | Alter ego Bilal Asselah Partnerships Batman Partnership Batman | |
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Created by David Hine & Kyle Higgins Notable aliases Batman of Paris
Le Batman of France
The Free Runner
The Protector of Paris
The Night Runner
The Dark Athlete First appearance Detective Comics Annual #12, (February 2011) Similar Batman, Harold Allnut, Dark Ranger, Sasha Bordeaux, Orpheus | ||
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.
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Publication history
Nightrunner was introduced in a two-part story that spanned Detective Comics Annual #12 and Batman Annual #28 in December 2010 (cover-date February 2011). David Hine created Nightrunner to mirror the current social and political situations unfolding in the French projects of Clichy-sous-Bois.
Fictional character biography
Bilal Alsselah (Arabic: بلال الصلاح), 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 and freerun athlete, he donned the mask of Nightrunner in order to help the people's cause and bring justice to Clichy-sous-Bois.
He assists Batman in taking down a child-slavery ring.
