Dick Grayson: Robin/ Nightwing/ Agent 37 Appreciation 2021

[Murrocko]

He had a concussion

Oh he did? I must have missed that

[WonderNight]

Is deathstroke's new book an espionage action book? Because it sounds like what I'd love for the nightwing book to be.

[HsssH]

Massive disappointment that Fear State is going to last 3 issues. Taylor was moving at snail's pace as it was and now add 3 more issues of this and I feel like as far as meaningful Nightwing stories go we might be done for 2021.

Hopefully he'll manage to add something that connects back to his run in those three issues.

[Restingvoice]

I'm gonna hold off on saying it's derailed until it's actually derailed. Nightwing #83 is gonna set up Dick's long term plan for Bludhaven, and that will be a good ending for the current arc since Alfred's inheritance is the framing device, and Melinda Zucco will be the bigger problem that continues to the next arcs.

The only part I can see derailed is Heartless, because it will be weird to see Dick run back to Gotham while a heart butcher is roaming around, but issue #82 and #83 should be enough to find and finish him off if he already decides Nightwing will be his main target.

Oh and I think the problem with this issue is not that Dick is knocked out when he already had a head injury and facing an advanced supervillain, all those make sense, but the fact that the narrative choice is having him suffer multiple head injuries for a pretty... tiresome reveal. (Melinda being the bigger story arc than Heartless)

Like why not have him skillfully fight Heartless to the point he's forced to retreat albeit stylishly and threateningly, and then find out Melinda is his sister by sneaking into her place successfully and find hard evidence for it. The result is the same, but he's not knocked out twice.

Well, okay, it doesn't establish Melinda as a legitimate threat that knows Dick's identity, but I get the feeling she's supposed to be more complex than a simple villain, so there's also no need to reveal identity this early.

[hairys]

Disappointing for sure. Let's hope Taylor can make lemonade out of lemons. Probably the #1 most important skill of any writer at the Big 2 these days is to be able to navigate a crossover / event while still telling your story well.

[Drako]

Disappointing for sure. Let's hope Taylor can make lemonade out of lemons. Probably the #1 most important skill of any writer at the Big 2 these days is to be able to navigate a crossover / event while still telling your story well.

Pretty sure he had to deal with crossovers in All New Wolverine too. I think it was Civil War II.

[Konja7]

I don't mind guest artists, but three months is too much for a crossover. After August solicits i thought we dodged a bullet, but i was wrong.

I though it was a dodget bullet after Williamson said Robin won't be part of the crossover. It seems Nightwing doesn't have such luck.

[Grayson - The Dark Heir]

Wait, I don't think the Fear State event will last 3 Nightwing issues, it's just that the joined covers are for three issues and Nightwing is one of the books included. It's probably Nightwing, Batman, and Detective Comics or something like that.

Still hate the idea that we have to lose an issue of Nightwing for the sake of the crossover. He lives in Bludhaven, he can appear in Gotham at the drop of a hat if the storyline calls for it. I mean he's appeared in Batman without it being made into a big deal anyways, like the Ghost-Maker introduction issue. We all know Dick's history with Batman events over the past 10 years, he's not going to play an important role and is purely there to prop the event and Bruce up so this just sucks. I really hoped for better now that Taylor and Redondo were leading the book, but I guess not.

[Avi]

Wait, I don't think the Fear State event will last 3 Nightwing issues, it's just that the joined covers are for three issues and Nightwing is one of the books included. It's probably Nightwing, Batman, and Detective Comics or something like that.

Thought so too the first time I heard three covers but nope. Their editor already confirmed it's NW #74-76.

[AmiMizuno]

I wonder. Tom says he is a A lister but so far he been getting his butt handed to him. Dick underestimating Heartlesss some really off since this is the first time they meet. I mean it would be helpful if they used his head injury to show he still not fukky healed but no. They go with he is fine and still kicking it. I hope this pays off

[Rac7d*]

Is deathstroke's new book an espionage action book? Because it sounds like what I'd love for the nightwing book to be.

It sounds like his off brand teen titans redone

[Grayson - The Dark Heir]

Thought so too the first time I heard three covers but nope. Their editor already confirmed it's NW #74-76.

...I have very little faith left in this run now. Like, this is basically Ric in Joker War-tier, and I was really hoping we were past that lol.

Edit: I forgot about the Monster Men crossover, but that was to buy time for artists who weren't used to working on twice monthly books. Maybe I'm just oversensitive to these things after Ric.

[Arsenal]

I'm gonna hold off on saying it's derailed until it's actually derailed. Nightwing #83 is gonna set up Dick's long term plan for Bludhaven, and that will be a good ending for the current arc since Alfred's inheritance is the framing device, and Melinda Zucco will be the bigger problem that continues to the next arcs.

The only part I can see derailed is Heartless, because it will be weird to see Dick run back to Gotham while a heart butcher is roaming around, but issue #82 and #83 should be enough to find and finish him off if he already decides Nightwing will be his main target.

Oh and I think the problem with this issue is not that Dick is knocked out when he already had a head injury and facing an advanced supervillain, all those make sense, but the fact that the narrative choice is having him suffer multiple head injuries for a pretty... tiresome reveal. (Melinda being the bigger story arc than Heartless)

Like why not have him skillfully fight Heartless to the point he's forced to retreat albeit stylishly and threateningly, and then find out Melinda is his sister by sneaking into her place successfully and find hard evidence for it. The result is the same, but he's not knocked out twice.

Well, okay, it doesn't establish Melinda as a legitimate threat that knows Dick's identity, but I get the feeling she's supposed to be more complex than a simple villain, so there's also no need to reveal identity this early.

Maybe the bits about Dick’s head injury is some kind of subplot that Taylor has plans for later down the line?

[Avi]

...I have very little faith left in this run now. Like, this is basically Ric in Joker War-tier, and I was really hoping we were past that lol.

Edit: I forgot about the Monster Men crossover, but that was to buy time for artists who weren't used to working on twice monthly books. Maybe I'm just oversensitive to these things after Ric.

Yeah, looking at the extend of the event it seems to be very much like Joker War. But I think the difference is that Taylor & Redondo planned for Fear State from the very beginning. While it seems as if Jurgens was more or less pushed into giving Dick his memories back through Joker War instead of the Owls, there is no such indication this time around (yet).

As DC likes to remind us Fear State has been a year in the making. Barbara has been heavily involved in Dick's run so far. Now her involvement continues. She gets her new look designed by Redondo like ironically people speculated before this run started, and it premieres on a Nightwing cover. I also can't imagine Redondo would actively ask his editor if he can draw a triptych for the event Issues if he and Taylor weren't into this event.

I love this book so much. It's exactly what I needed after Ric Grayson.
That said I have two not-quite-complaints
1. Taylor, I know I asked for a "Nightwing & Robin" series, and I appreciate this, really I do, but we both know I was talking about Damian.
2. I really hope Taylor and whoever is writing Titans get some coordination going, cause right now it really seems like they're playing chicken with Dick cheating on Babs and Kory.

Long lost sister routine is cliche but will roll with it.

While I agree that the constant back and forth with both Babs and Kory is cumbersome, looks bad, and is frankly not doing anything good for any fandom involved, Dick isn't cheating.

[Godlike13]

Jurgens run continued to exist so it could tie into events like Year of the Villains and Joker War. His entire purpose was to stretch to the next event. They didn’t interrupt his run, they were the driving force. Personally im not too upset over the tie interruption, as Redondo was going to need a break at some point, and i'd rather he does all the main stuff. But ideally 1 or 2 issues at most would have been prefered. 3 is, ehh.