Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing/Batman Appreciation 2023.

[Godlike13]

And what was the status quo change as a result of a prison outbreak? Say what you will about City of Bane or Joker War, but those did cause status quo changes for Batman. Alfred died and Bruce lost his money, forcing him to move out of the manor. In contrast, basically nothing happened regarding the prison outbreak in Nightwing. The Titans built a tower replacing the prison!… and they’re already moving their operations to Gotham.

I don’t want Dick being depressed and moping, that’s actually the opposite of what I want. I want Dick to keep trying to improve Bludhaven, but I want it to feel like an actual challenge to do so. Give him setbacks, have some of his initiatives fail because of sabotage or corruption or because criminals target them. Really sell me that this is a battle for the soul of the city, because right now it all feels too easy.

It’s not that nothing happened though, again your just dismissing what happened as if it didn’t happen. Blockbuster is now gone, and Dick brought Titans to Bludhaven and built a new Titans Tower from the prison in response to the outbreak.

Dick literally just had to fight Blockbuster over Haven, after dealing with attempted sabotage and corruption. And people wonder why nothing can be built upon in Bludhaven. This is how we end up with Ric. At some point Dick has to accomplish something in the city. They can’t have Dick selling all the time if they want people to take him or what he’s doing seriously, turning everything he does into fodder for a villain. The entire point is that his initiatives here aren’t just more fodder. They buried his title for years because everything he did just turned into fodder, we really don’t need more of that.

[ayanestar]

Your stating opinion as fact.

I find the Pennyworth foundation to be much better than him being a police officer. That job was bound to not last. Taylor has made Dick a public figure in Bludhaven and actually integrated the Titans. What he`s doing now is also looking at crime through a different perspective than being a vigilante. He`s using his money and resources to fight corruption and help the desperate. You are literally just a hater determined to undermine the run.

Its not perfect. But like I said its a good foundation. The next run can continue to focus on Bludhaven or it can just use it as Dicks home base and go more global. Either way Tyalor has put together a solid foundation other writes can build on.

Dick is now a rich dude doing charity. He is basically Bruce without the playboy image. I didn't like him being a police officer either, but at least it made him part of the city and its inhabitants.

[Godlike13]

Taylor didn't make Bludhave Dick's home, he made it his social experience. Dixon made Dick join the police, see the city's problems through different eyes, see problems he didn't see as a vigilante (domestic violence), live with ordinary people.

And then they blew it up, and it wasn’t Dick’s home for a long while. Taylor is first writer to make Dick personally invested in the city since it’s return, not just as Nightwing but as Dick Grayson. Who has now become a fixture in the city. Something not even Dixon was able to accomplish.

What's really been streamlined?

I get it though, the character moments, the positive vibes, the puppy...Taylor knows what to emphasize.

Melinda will probably get ditched as soon as Taylor's gone though.

His Bludhaven mythology specifically.

[Avi]

At least this run is making Higgins and Seeley's run more appreciated, as they deserve.
I don't hate Taylor's run, but he has been a very limited writer. The same happened with X-Men Red. I just don't have any interest in the story he's telling anymore, it's not good and I'm sure it won't get much better.
The Titans are occupying space that should belong to other characters, new ones, created by Taylor himself, Melinda, the Heartless joke, and old ones. It's funny how every new writer on Nightwing always comes in saying they love the character but apparently hate what surrounds him because they ignore everything.

He really is a limited writer. I wonder if I'd be enjoying this run more if I hadn't read or looked into his other ongoings. He's rehashing plot left and right. Everyone gets a pet and a secret sibling, whether it makes sense or not. Most of his stuff is low stakes.

And what was the status quo change as a result of a prison outbreak? Say what you will about City of Bane or Joker War, but those did cause status quo changes for Batman. Alfred died and Bruce lost his money, forcing him to move out of the manor. In contrast, basically nothing happened regarding the prison outbreak in Nightwing. The Titans built a tower replacing the prison!… and they’re already moving their operations to Gotham.

I don’t want Dick being depressed and moping, that’s actually the opposite of what I want. I want Dick to keep trying to improve Bludhaven, but I want it to feel like an actual challenge to do so. Give him setbacks, have some of his initiatives fail because of sabotage or corruption or because criminals target them. Really sell me that this is a battle for the soul of the city, because right now it all feels too easy.

This! I want Dick's wins to matter and actually have impact. If the villain or situation doesn't challenge him, that's not happening. I think what you wrote on the WW board also applies to this run. The struggle is part of what makes heroes winning so appealing and what makes them look competent when they get out of a tough situation by being creative.

Taylor didn't make Bludhave Dick's home, he made it his social experience. Dixon made Dick join the police, see the city's problems through different eyes, see problems he didn't see as a vigilante (domestic violence), live with ordinary people.

All of this. Blüdhaven has never had less identity. Dick doesn't truly interact with anyone. The city's vibe is nothing more than "modern city painted at dawn".

Dixon and later Grayson made a point to show that Dick was personally involved with the citizens as both Nightwing and Dick Grayson.

Seeley and Humphries gave the city an entirely new character but they kept this nearness to the people.

He didn't even have to be a billionaire–but–not–billionaire to do that.

Taylor's Blüdhaven is simply empty. Dick has no ties to it's people. He hasn't exchanged more than a word with the orphans if even that.

I'm curious to you all given how much media Dick Grayson has been in, which Dick Grayson has been your favorite? For example, do you like BTAS, more than YJ or do you like titans more than The Batman kind of thing

Young Justice Season 1 and The Batman are in a tie for me regarding Robin! Dick. Sadly, there's no real favorite Nightwing yet. Bad Blood had a good DickBats even though the universe is so restrictive.

[Frontier]

It’s not that nothing happened though, again your just dismissing what happened as if it didn’t happen. Blockbuster is now gone, and Dick brought Titans to Bludhaven and built a new Titans Tower from the prison in response to the outbreak.

Dick literally just had to fight Blockbuster over Haven, after dealing with attempted sabotage and corruption. And people wonder why nothing can be built upon in Bludhaven. This is how we end up with Ric. At some point Dick has to accomplish something in the city. They can’t have Dick selling all the time if they want people to take him or what he’s doing seriously, turning everything he does into fodder for a villain. The entire point is that his initiatives here aren’t just more fodder. They buried his title for years because everything he did just turned into fodder, we really don’t need more of that.

I think people have less of an issue with it conceptually than they do the execution.

His Bludhaven mythology specifically.

Has he really done more for that than Seeley did?

[Mantis-Ray]

How do you define a city and give it a personality?

Like with Gotham is easy, just a lot of gothic architecture and shadows, but what makes Bludhaven its own concrete jungle?

[Frontier]

How do you define a city and give it a personality?

Like with Gotham is easy, just a lot of gothic architecture and shadows, but what makes Bludhaven its own concrete jungle?

Give it a strong color pallet, distinctive architecture, depict something about it's citizens or culture that makes it unique.

I feel like Seeley really tried with making it a tourist trap/Vegas stand-in with a strong fishing bent.

[Godlike13]

I think people have less of an issue with it conceptually than they do the execution.

People who seem to want writers to build on something by having Dick’s initiatives fail and his villains win, lol. The good old Didio approach. Taylor has brought about some of the biggest changes Bludhaven has seen, but since Dick’s not sleeping under a pile of newspapers at the end I guess none of it counts. You can’t have it both ways, you can’t ask for them to continuously tear down everything Dick tries do and then ask why nothing gets built on or improved. There’s no execution where that contradiction works.
Readers don’t actually want to read a Nightwing where the things he tries to do constantly fail, trapped under set backs, and not actually accomplishing anything. That why his numbers were in the gutter. That has been their approach with Nightwing for years now. It wasn’t working.

Has he really done more for that than Seeley did?

Seeley reinvented Bludhaven as if it was new and Dick had no history or mythology there. Taylor reintroduced Bludhaven in a more familiar form, and reincorporated Dick’s history and mythology there while consolidating it into a more assessable form. They did different things.

Even when it comes to Bludhaven, Sleeley focused more on trying to give the city an identity where Taylor is more focused on trying to give Dick an identity within the city.

[Vordan]

Give it a strong color pallet, distinctive architecture, depict something about it's citizens or culture that makes it unique.

I feel like Seeley really tried with making it a tourist trap/Vegas stand-in with a strong fishing bent.

Bludhaven as the Las Vegas equivalent was the best goddamn idea ever and I will always be disappointed it was dropped to go back to Gotham Lite. The Las Vegas aesthetic is pitch perfect for Nightwing, you get the darkness and the crime but also the showmanship which defines Nightwing reflected in his city.

[AmiMizuno]

Bludhaven as the Las Vegas equivalent was the best goddamn idea ever and I will always be disappointed it was dropped to go back to Gotham Lite. The Las Vegas aesthetic is pitch perfect for Nightwing, you get the darkness and the crime but also the showmanship which defines Nightwing reflected in his city.

Yea Las Vegas has this entertainment background same with Dick and we also have a lot of crime. I love the idea of Bludhaven being a big tourist.

[Avi]

Bludhaven as the Las Vegas equivalent was the best goddamn idea ever and I will always be disappointed it was dropped to go back to Gotham Lite. The Las Vegas aesthetic is pitch perfect for Nightwing, you get the darkness and the crime but also the showmanship which defines Nightwing reflected in his city.

The Las Vegas & Coastal City vibes that attracts not only criminals but also former criminals trying to rehabilitate and an array of marine people made Seeley & Humphries Blüdhaven a lot of fun.

A sweet little Garth & Dick team-up arc would have been perfect after Humphries story.

Gotham Lite Blüdhaven doesn't work anymore because what turned it into it's own thing isn't there anymore (supporting cast) or gets shunned (police officer Dick). Honestly, current Dick wouldn't survive a minute in old Blüdhaven.

[K7P5V]

I'm curious to you all given how much media Dick Grayson has been in, which Dick Grayson has been your favorite? For example, do you like BTAS, more than YJ or do you like titans more than The Batman kind of thing

Without a doubt, BTAS Dick Grayson/Robin is an All-Time Favorite
For what it's worth, I give credit to BTAS for being one of the reasons that brought me back to Batman/DCU (XD)

[Aahz]

Taylor's Blüdhaven is simply empty. Dick has no ties to it's people. He hasn't exchanged more than a word with the orphans if even that.

I'm not sure if that's really Taylor's fault of if that is due to the art.

Backgrounds Bruno Redondo look allways very clean and perfect (I would even say sterile) I guess he uses 3D Models or something like that, and that makes also all buildings look modern and basically like newly build. And that makes them look imo pretty boring an generic.

Scott McDaniels art had a much more unique look.

[Godlike13]

His sister is the Mayor.

[Avi]

I'm not sure if that's really Taylor's fault of if that is due to the art.

Backgrounds Bruno Redondo look allways very clean and perfect (I would even say sterile) I guess he uses 3D Models or something like that, and that makes also all buildings look modern and basically like newly build. And that makes them look imo pretty boring an generic.

Scott McDaniels art had a much more unique look.

I think it's a joined problem. Taylor doesn't give the citizens and with that the city a personality except for "inherently good and not the problem" while Blüdhaven is still supposed to be this cesspool, and Redondo draws the most computer-generated backgrounds. Comics are a joined effort and the two of them are such good friends, they've done multiple comics together. If one of them wanted to give Blüdhaven more personality, they could easily work together to archive that.

They show they can work together to insert memes that don't fit the characters like Barbara wearing a shirt of Bruce slapping Dick, deep characterization, and thinking about consequences just isn't "funny" enough. Both never go beyond surface-level characterization for anything. It's not surprising that especially Blüdhaven, which has always struggled to find an identity, falls flat.