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This star means that the title or site is recommended especially for younger teens
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Introduction Nightwing, a.k.a. Dick Grayson, once Robin to Bruce Wayne's Batman, struggles to define himself as an independent superhero. Can you imagine trying to distinguish yourself compared to Gotham's hero, let alone trying to step out of his shadow and become a superhero of your own? He's determined to make it his own no matter the opposition (remind you of anyone?) Despite his skill, however, he may have reached a little too far. Chuck Dixon, a legend at work, writes great storylines and dialogue, with his black humor and talent for true-to-life dialogue in prime form. Art intro by robin Series Titles The Bludhaven Years reviews by petra |
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Okay, point of warning here. Dick spends the entire volume in some of the most frightening clothing this side of the early 80's. I breathed a sigh of relief when Alfred and Harold (Batman's chief mechanic) presented him with a new Nightwing costume towards the end of the volume, because while Elvis was the king, that particular fashion statement wasn't doing much for my confidence in Nightwing as a superhero. That being said, this is an interesting book. It's an intermediary novel between Nightwing as leader of the Teen Titans and Nightwing as independent superhero. It's also an intermediary novel between the older style of comic writing which drew heavily on the use of the omniscient narrator and the cliff hanger phrase, and the more recent comic writing which tends to use dialogue and the running internal monologue to tell the story. There is also a fun story about Alfred at the beginning of the volume, which isn't something that you get to see very often. I don't think that its essential for a collection, and it isn't really part of the new Nightwing series that Chuck Dixon is writing, but if you're into the Bat-verse its worth reading, you just have to take a deep breath and ignore the polka-dotted shirts. review by petra |
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Blüdhaven is Gotham's coarser, dirtier, more violent little sister. Nightwing originally goes down river to Blüdhaven to investigate a series of bodies that have been floating upriver to Gotham. What he finds is a city badly in need of help, a city where corruption starts at the top and works its way down infecting every level of life, especially the police department where crooked cops are the norm. After solving the case Nightwing decides to stay on in Blüdhaven making it his new home, however unwilling the city's leaders are the see him. review by petra |
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Having decided to make Blüdhaven his home Nightwing starts ingratiating himself with the locals. Soon he has a place to live, a cute landlady to flirt with, and his very own growing list of enemies. Previously Nightwing discovered that Blockbuster has decided to make the crime syndicate in Blüdhaven his starting block for an expanding power base. Now he learns that Detective Soames, who was throwing him clues, is also involved with Blockbuster, and is perhaps not being as helpful as he seems. As if that wasn't enough to getting on with Dick is also fighting lingering demons regarding his relationship with Batman. review by petra |
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Nightwing has settled into life in Blüdhaven. He's got a job, a place to live, and even a new secret lair. Life, for Blüdhaven, seems to be running on a pretty even keel. In retrospect, this should probably have been the first sign that things were going to go crazy. Following some radical emergency surgery that saved his life, but left his head on literally backward, Soames is back. He's going by the name Torque now and has a serious grudge against Nightwing. Also, there seems to be someone else in Blüdhaven going by the name of Nite Wing, who the real Nightwing has to rescue when the wrong people decide that this is a good opportunity to rid themselves of Blüdhaven's new masked wonder. This volume also contains one of my favorite conversations between Nightwing and Robin about Nightwing's disastrous love life, the weirdness of Batman and on what its like to be Robin. review by petra |
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Dick has come to the conclusion that cleaning up Blüdhaven can't just be a nightjob. In order to really have an impact on the system he needs to work at it from the inside, so he enrolls in the police academy. There his biggest problem isn't making it through basic training, it's trying to look like he's at least struggling a little bit. That act gets easier when a pair of agile, unethical sisters go on a crime spree in Blüdhaven. Then Batman comes to him asking for a favor, which leads Nightwing to sneaking into Blackgate prison, where Gotham's most violent criminals are housed. Batman thinks that the management of Blackgate are setting up their own superhuman army on Gotham's doorstep. Needless to say neither the management nor the inmates are all that happy to see Nightwing (especially not the inmates many of whom were put in Blackgate by Nightwing). review by petra |
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Barbara Gordon's career took a violent left turn when a run-in with the Joker left her paralyzed from the waist down. Formerly known as Batgirl, she is now the information broker for Bat-verse, known to both her friends and enemies as Oracle. That right there is the crux of the problem. Her research activities for Batman and Nightwing, and her own desire to have a more proactive role in crime fighting, have brought her to the attention of Blockbuster. She has cost him millions in thwarted criminal efforts, and bank account drains. He wants to take her out before she can cause him anymore problems. The problem is that Oracle is a phantom on the internet; nobody has any idea who he or she is. Blockbuster is hunting her through a pair of hackers, and it becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse where Oracle has to stay a step ahead of her pursuers and alive long enough for reinforcements to get to her. It makes her confront both the limitations of her life now that she can't be Batgirl anymore, but that doesn't mean that she's has to be helpless. Oracle is probably my favorite character in the Bat-verse, and an entire story about her figuring out who she is now, and kicking a little butt along the way, is my idea of a really good time. This volume is also the first time the Birds of Prey women finally meet each other in the flesh. review by petra |
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This is the sixth volume in the Nightwing series, and rumor has it the last one DC is planning on releasing in trade paperback form (rumor being the ever helpful guys at my local comic store). Just because Blockbuster is out of commission for the time being, and Soames has gone underground, doesn't mean that Nightwing can relax and rest on his laurels. Nite-Wing is back. Nightwing just got his ass kicked by a woman dressed entirely in super strong, experimental red microfibers. There's a woman in a mask and black leather body suit tattooing mysterious numbers on to her victims. And last, but not least, Dick Grayson has just become the newest member of the Bludhaven PD, but new partner doesn't think he's going to make it beyond being a rookie. The artwork here is a perfect compliment to the story. It manages to show what is not an explicit part of the written story the intersection of Dick Grayson's multiple lives as Nightwing, as police rookie, and a friend and neighbor and how completely they are intertwined. review by petra |
Nightwing:
Ties that Bind
Nightwing:
A Knight in Blüdhaven (1)
Nightwing:
Rough Justice (2)
Nightwing:
Love and Bullets (3)
Nightwing:
A Darker Shade of Justice (4)
Nightwing:
The Hunt for Oracle (5)
Nightwing:
Big Guns (6)
copyright Robin Brenner 2002-2004