Dick is a former member of the Flying Graysons acrobatic family in Haley's Circus. Dick and his parents performed nightly with their death defying high wire acts. When the circus came to Gotham City, the gangster, Tony Zucco tried to extort protection money out of the owner, but he refused to cooperate. In retaliation, Zucco sabotaged their high-wire trapeze act, staging an "accident" that ended in the death of Dick's parents. Bruce Wayne, who helped to get the circus to town, was in the audience and witnessed these events unfold. Wayne arranged with Commissioner Gordon of the Police Department to become the 10-year-old' boy's legal guardian. However, in the rather large and empty Wayne Manor, Dick became more and more detached. Alfred Pennyworth brought this to Wayne's attention, who was