Danny the Street is a sentient, living street with the power to teleport anywhere they want without causing any damage or disturbance to the roads and buildings that were already there. Using this ability, Danny the Street travels the world in search for those in need of shelter and friendship. Of course, being a street, Danny can’t actually talk so they mainly communicate with people through the use of street signs and billboards.
Danny The Street History
They made their first appearance in Doom Patrol Vol. 2 #35 (1990). However, since then the DC Multiverse has been rebooted twice. Once during the New 52 reboot and once during the DC Rebirth event. An event within which we saw many of the changes made during the New 52 reboot reversed (and many remain). This means that for more obscure characters like Danny the Street, it can be difficult to decipher which parts of the character have remain unchanged since the New 52 reboot.
That being said, in the case of Danny the Street (Prime Earth) there are some changes made during the New 52 reboot that were definitely reversed during the DC Rebirth event. Which just makes things all the more confusing considering that all of the things that happened in between New 52 reboot and DC Rebirth, are also still technically cannon.
We first saw the current version of Danny the Street in Teen Titans Vol. 4 #3 (2012), and just like their previous incarnation they’re definitely one of the weirdest comic book characters of all time.
Danny the Street Origin
Danny the Street is shrouded in mystery. We don’t really know anything about how they were created or where they came from. However, much like the Joker, the mystique that surrounds them is one of the most compelling aspects of the character. The only difference here is that instead of there being multiple origins causing the confusion, there are none at all. We have no idea where they came from. Ironically, as is the true nature of Danny the Street, they seemingly just popped up out of nowhere one day.
Although, despite the absence of any reference to their origin I do have a theory of my own. When we first encounter Danny the Street (Prime Earth), they’re being held captive by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. (a nefarious group that carry out experiments involving the enhancement and implementation of superpowers within their captives). A group that the previous version of Danny the Street also had a lot of history with. So, maybe Danny did actually come out of nowhere (or rather N.O.W.H.E.R.E.).
Just to be clear, this not something I’ve ever seen anyone mention inside or outside of any DC Comics before (apart from myself, of course). But it certainly would make a lot of sense if this turned out to be the case. Danny was later revealed to be “undercover” there but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t created by them long ago.
N.O.W.H.E.R.E.
In this story, Superboy broke into The Colony (N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s secret base of operations) in search of his creators. Of course, as you’d expect, he was almost immediately greeted by a group of hostile N.O.W.H.E.R.E. henchmen. He managed to fight them off, but not without a struggle. He was left a lot more hurt than he let on. Sensing Superboy’s imminent danger, Danny the Street appeared out of nowhere begging Superboy to let him take him to safety.
However, in his confusion, Superboy just ignored Danny’s pleas. He just though he was hallucinating due to brain trauma or some kind of trick that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. was trying to pull. This turned out to be a terrible choice as he was almost instantly knocked out by Rose Wilson. When he gained consciousness, he found himself chained up and paralysed without the ability to use his powers.
Danny the Street then rushed to tell the Teen Titans that Superboy was in trouble and needed their help. It’s at this point that Red Robin revealed to a very confused Kid Flash who Danny the Street was. He told him that Danny the Street was an ally of his long before the Teen Titans was created. He also revealed that Danny had been gathering intel for him during his time as a prisoner. On top of all this, Danny had been in the neighbouring cell to Kid Flash and was the one responsible for helping him escape. Danny then gave Red Robin blueprints to The Colony and teleported them there so they could rescue Superboy.
Danny the Alley
After the events of The Culling, the Teen Titans found themselves on a strange island populated by prehistoric creatures. The rest of the team believed Danny the Street to be dead. However, it wasn’t long before they realised Danny was still alive and pieces of them were scattered all over the island.
So, the Teen Titans searched for the scattered pieces of Danny the Street and gather them all in one place. This gave Danny the strength they needed to communicate, and it wasn’t long before a message in a bottle appeared floating in the sea. In the message, Danny tell told them it had been an honour to fight alongside them. Proclaiming, that as one last act as a team member, they wanted to get the team home safe. Despite probably not having the strength to survive the trip themself.
Initially, Red Robin refused to let Danny the Street sacrifice themself. However, Wonder Girl soon convinced him that it wasn’t his place to decide. Danny knew the risks of being a Teen Titan and has the right to make their own choices. If Danny wanted to sacrifice themself to save the team, then they should honour their request.
And so, Danny took the team home, seemingly dying in the process. Although, is quickly revealed to have survived as Danny the Alley.
Danny the Brick
We next see Danny the Street just after the DC Rebirth event. Contrary what was previously suggested, they’re now alive in the form of Danny the Brick. Meaning they’re now just a single brick that communicates by printing messages on their surface. They also describe briefly being a cabana before reducing themselves to a brick to travel the universe with Crazy Jane. This tells us that since DC Rebirth event the Danny the Street continuity has reverted to a lightly rebooted version of what it was before the New 52 reboot.
Whilst travelling the universe with Crazy Jane, Danny the Brick met a stranger by the name of D. At first, D seemed nice. He took them to parties and showed them new things they’d never seen before. However, the fun all came to a crashing holt when his true intentions were revealed.
One day, D led them to a castle in the sky and used Danny as a weapon to kill a god. It’s never explicitly revealed what his motive was, but D takes a picture of the body after the murder. Leading us to be believe that he must’ve been a contract killer, and Danny – being indestructible – must’ve been the perfect weapon to kill a god.
Traumatised and confused by this event, Danny ran away as fast and as far away as he could. As he ran, he soon realised he’d evolved and become more powerful than ever before. Danny discovered he’d gained the ability to create life. They vowed to use this power to create “better people” for them to live with. Danny also came to the conclusion that he would need to create a person to protect them. This person was Casey Brinke.
