Nightwing, Volume 6: To Serve and Protect

Nightwing (1996) (New Edition Trades)

by Chuck Dixon, Greg Land (Illustrator)

The legendary NIGHTWING creative team of Chuck Dixon, Greg Land and Drew Geraci presents the latest collection of the classic Nightwing stories in NIGHTWING VOLUME 6: TO SERVE AND PROTECT.

Nightwing protects the city of Blüdhaven from a deadly array of super-villains by night, but by day he patrols the streets as rookie police officer Dick Grayson. But if he thought becoming a cop would help him defeat Blockbuster, the meta-powered crime kingpin of Blüdhaven, he was dead wrong.

Now Dick Grayson must split his time fighting super-powered assassins, like the deadly Sylph, as Nightwing during the evening, and then as Officer Grayson he must deal with former police inspector Dudley Soames, who is now a crazed gun-toting maniac.

Plus, Catwoman tries to seduce Nightwing, the secret origin of Tad is revealed, the deadly new threat known only as Hella is introduced, and Dick comforts Oracle (a.k.a. Barbara Gordon) after her father, Commissioner Gordon, is shot in the line of duty.

Collecting NIGHTWING #47-53 and NIGHTWING 80-PAGE GIANT #1!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

264 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2017

About the author

Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, perhaps best-known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.

His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.

In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.

His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.

He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .

While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.

In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.

On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though Chuck Dixon isn't the artist, he's managed to give Nightwing a visually striking looking rogues gallery during his run. He adds to it here with Slyph, Torque, and Hella. I like Dick's turn as a police officer. It allows for some different stories. The Catwoman appearance was an especially fun story. I loved the ending. DC keeps feeling the need to reboot Nightwing, but the winning formula is found right here during Dixon's run. Fun, action-oriented stories with lots of acrobatic art and some doses of humor thrown in. It's that simple.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a good book, I loved it!

So there are so many great stories like the one with Dick graduating and becoming a police officer and the craziness of the job like the story vs Soames and his attack on Mac and the drama there and how Dick saves the day plus his partner Amy and her disdain for Dick leads to some big drama and then there was that story with "Hella" aka Kate Riordan and how her family were police officers and taken down and in revenge what she does/did and her story is so well written, really made you feel for the villain and a promise she may come back.

Speaking of personal revenge, another villain "Sylph" was kinda same, the story was her going after partners of her father who well took him out because business IP and all that and that story similarly had a vague ending, but the design and power of the villain were cool. Having these stories back to back, it feels like same idea done differently but they were compelling origins and both had the villains disappear and a promise to come back and I hope in future volumes they do come back, and then finally the origin of Tad which was really well written, he is gonna become a compelling villain!

And then there is story with Catwoman as he is stopping a heist and some weird stuff in between them and then a tie-into the "Officer down" event with Gordon having been shot and how Dick soothes Babs and the drama there and the reaffirmation of what the line is and all that and a good tease for the relationship to come!

So yeah fun volume with good pacing and its already become one of my favorite runs on the character and dc comics in general, it continues with the lifestory of Dick and has great action and new villains and tease of things to come!!

[Boo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m still obsessed with Kate Riordan/Hella

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe there are only a few people talking about how weird the whole thing with Selina was...and so unnecessary too.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

With No Man's Land and the Hunt for Oracle behind him, Dick tries to focus on his new career as a police officer. But enigmatic new assassin Sylph, the revitalized Blockbuster, and the seemingly unkillable Torque are going to make that as hard as possible for him. Plus, an 80 page extravaganza featuring Hella, and the secret origin of Nite-Wing! Oh, and Catwoman snogs Dick. Yeah, seriously.

Two steps forward, one step back for Nightwing it seems. This collection of stories is all fairly standard Nightwing fare at this point, a mix of shorter stories that edge the Bludhaven plots along slowly but without too much substance to them.

The Sylph two-parter is fun, and she's a great visual, but it's over too soon in favour of more of Soames blowing shit up; that plot at least seems to be moving towards something else finally, since he at least gets caught this time. The Nite-Wing one-shot is standard nasty origin story stuff, and the Catwoman story just made me scratch my head with how Selina was being written - attempting to shag Nightwing mid-heist is...weird. There's also an issue that ties into Officer Down that is another good examination of Dick and Babs's relationship, but like all crossover issues, you don't get to see how the story ends.

The 80 page giant was surprisingly good; it's a straight forward story, but it's told in a way that doesn't make it seem bloated or overwrought, as well as having an impact on the main series that would throw you off if it wasn't collected here.

The art's a bit more varied than usual, with Greg Land and Patrick Zircher returning from last volume as well as some contributions by Kieron Dwyer who makes the Tad issue a lot creepier than it would have been otherwise, while the Officer Down issue is by Rick Burchett, who has some strange ideas about how faces work. The 80 page giant doesn't have an artist billed, which is a shame, because drawing 80 pages of consistently good art is an achievement I'd like to praise.

After a super great volume last time, we're back to the bog standard Nightwing stuff again. Sigh.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Nightwing fun fare, and while not mindblowing, is solid throughout.

I love seeing Nightwing join the police force. He has to find ways to sneak away, very Spider-man like. Also it's nice to see Dick happy with Babs while also building on new relationships. Also cool to see Dick take care of his shit with Ted. My only negatives is the last Catwoman issue is meh and everyone seem to have to get a Origin Story.

Good stuff though, and a easy 4 out of 5.

[alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5**

the catwoman feature was the best part of the book

[LBK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is just so good

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Meh, the storylines were okay but some of the art was really rough.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chuck Dixon keeps the momentum up and manages to build on it. Great series.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been enjoying Chuck Dixon's original Nightwing series very much, and I was happy to see a new volume published. Nightwing vol. 6: To Serve and Protect has Dick Grayson taking up a new job - as a Blüdhaven police officer. Not to worry - he's still protecting his city as Nightwing at night, but Dick now has a new "day job". As a rookie, Dick is assigned a female training officer, Amy, though she's not all that impressed - thinking Dick uses his connections to get his new job. Nightwing has Oracle trying to find out more information about Tad, who is now in prison for killing an undercover Federal agent.
Dick Grayson works two major cases in this book, both with female villains who aren't out-and-out evil - they simply go to extremes. What's interesting about the approach is Dick works these cases both as a police officer and as Nightwing. The first involves "The Slyph" the daughter of a clothing inventor who was taken advantage of by corporate hacks and mobsters. Her father invented a marvelous new fabric which should have net him millions, but the formula was stolen and Sylvan's father committed suicide after being ruined. Slyph's costume is yards of red fabric wrapped around herself - fabric that can attack - almost like it's alive. Slyph kills two of the industrialists in revenge, before being "killed" by her own fabric. However, when the police arrive to take away the body, she's no where to be found.
The second is Hella. At first, it's unclear what she wants - with her long red hair, and black costume - she actually reminds me of Batwoman, but this isn't Kate Kane. She's the last of the Riordans, an old Blüdhaven family of police. With three generations of Riordan men in the police - she becomes the first woman. But during her police academy graduation, there's an explosion - her family is killed, and she's thrown clear - but horrible burned. The skin grafts aren't wholly successful and she hides herself in her costume and seeks revenge against the mobsters who destroyed her family and ended her career before it began. In the end, she's killed by another explosion, this time on a boat. Dick sees to it that her family gets the monument in the cemetery that they deserve.
In between we have Torque attacking the Blüdhaven police headquarters - Nightwing stops him. Catwoman gives Nightwing a run for the money. Dick works closely with Oracle on all of his cases. And we learn a little bit about Tad. Plus, there's a bonus story from the "Officer Down" storyline in which Commissioner Gordon is shot.
I enjoyed it. It was great to see Dick Grayson as a cop, finally - something he had talked about since moving to Blüdhaven, though I had to wonder what Bruce Wayne thought of Dick's choice. The art in the book is fantastic - from Slyph's red, flowing costume to Hella's black one. Even Catwoman's purple outfit practically glows, and there's explosions, and perfect full-page panels. This is an excellent volume and not to be missed.

[☠︎︎ A. ☠︎︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ✩

As a huge Nightwing fan, To Serve and Protect had a lot of great moments for the hero, as well as some interesting supporting characters and the potential for greater plots. But that’s the problem I’ve encountered so far with this Nightwing series: its missed potential. For how engaging some of the story arcs can be and how fun the character of Nightwing is, there are just as many arcs and characters that are under developed or underutilized that are chock full of potential to be even better.

Although this is specifically a review for To Serve and Protect, a lot of my notes are also applicable to Volumes 1 - 5, as the highs and lows of all the books are relatively comparable.

• Dick Grayson is a strong leading character, but I feel like we don’t get nearly enough development for him.
• The villains Nightwing encounters are super interesting, and yet most of them aren’t recurring or their story ends after a couple of issues.
• The foes that stick around eventually fizzle out, and occasional plot lines seem to go nowhere.

This series has loads of potential, and I’m always hoping that I’ll finally find the stories that put it at a 5-star read, yet it never quite reaches all that it’s capable of being.

This isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the series, or this book in particular. Obviously, I gave it 4-stars, so these low points aren’t so bad that they ruin the reading experience. Dick Grayson is still a fun character, the plotlines are still engaging, and the stories overall are good. I’ve just noticed patterns after 50+ issues of this series that I think could be easily improved upon to make these stories even better. Of course, I still look forward to seeing more narrative developments through the rest of the series, but I think it’ll be a lot of the same story beats and ideas that I’ve already seen in these first 6 volumes of Nightwing.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trade paperback picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next seven issues (47–53) of the 1996 on-going series along with the one-shot: Nightwing 80-Page Giant.

In the on-going series, Dick Grayson finally gets a placement in the Blüdhaven Police Department and is partner with Lieutenant Amy Rohrbach, who immediately hates him, because she thinks that the only reason he got a job at the Department and achieved his high scores at the Academy was because he was crooked or that he's connected.

During his off time (and sometimes during his day job), Grayson dons his vigilante mask and fight crime as Nightwing. Aside from the usual, Blockbuster, Torque (Dudley Soames), and Nite-Wing creating havoc with his nightlife, Nightwing encounters a new villain in Slyph. Cameo appearance is made by Catwoman who is very seductive in that issue and Grayson also comforts Barbara Gordon when her father, Commissioner James Gordon, is shot in the line of duty.

I surprisingly enjoyed the one-shot, Nightwing 80-Page Giant, Nightwing encounters Hella, who is later discovered to be Kate Riordan a former member of the Blüdhaven Police Department, in fact, she comes from a family of police officers – twenty in fact. The Riordans were considered very honorable police officers, which didn't sit well with the mayor at the time and orchestrated an explosion during a ceremony, which killed the Riordans, sans one – and now she's out for revenge.

All in all, I really enjoyed this volume, story and art was incredibly good. I really like seeing Dick Grayson using his detective skills that he’s been taught as a police officer, while still maintaining his Nightwing persona. I just wish I knew where he has the time to sleep!

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short version: it's fine. If you like Dixon's writing, or the Nightwing character, sure, read it. If neither of these appeal to you, you're not missing much.

This volume follows up with Dick as a member of Bludhaven PD, which is a storyline I don't particularly care for, but it's not completely terrible. The introduction of Sylph was neat, as she's at least interesting as a villain, and Katherine Riordan / Hella would be fine, but both of these characters are incredibly similar: they're both out for vengeance, twisted mentally by revenge, blah blah blah. This is enough of a well-tread trop that I don't know why we need two virtually identical villains / storylines in an 8 issue collection. There isn't much character advancement of Dick nor Babs, and the other supporting characters around Dick barely show up. The issue dedicated to Tad is annoying at best, and at worst, seeks to humanize a monster in a way that doesn't need to be humanized. The only thing that gets this to three stars over two is the one-off issue where Catwoman shows up, which is at least fun.

The art is good, a huge improvement over previous volumes. All in all, it really feels like Dixon has stalled out here. He's done good work with Nightwing / Dick in the past. This isn't really bad, it's just not particularly interesting.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chuck Dixon's run on Nightwing is nothing if not full of interesting concepts and this volume is not an exception. I particularly love the bizarre villains Sylph and Katie who have very unique designs and Katie, in particular, has a very interesting backstory. there is also a very interesting depiction of The stand out of this volume is the story about him Gordon being in the hospital, the breakdown of batman that he cannot move on, Nightwing inspiring hope in barbara reminding her of the difference between justice and vengeance it's incredible and really well executed. that being said some of the other concepts are not executed as well, for instance, Nightwing being a cop is handled pretty well but i feel it doesn't fully explore the concept and I know he's just be introduced but even so I want to see the true level of corruption in the bludhaven police department. how truly broken the system is there and there isn't really a full exploration of that. There is also the matter that sylph has a very generic origin that doesn't share the uniqueness of her design. but overall it is a very good comic there are just some things that hold it back.

[Nate]

With this volume and the last, I think I’m finally on board with this series. The plotlines, while still somewhat standard, are more compelling and Dick has more tangible character development than before. Here, we see him join the Bludhaven police for real while facing off against some new villains in both uniforms. At first I wasn’t sure about Dick becoming a cop but it works really well and creates a unique dynamic. The 80-Page Giant featuring new character Hella is my favorite story in the book; it’s well-told and impactful, with an interesting mystery at the center. There’s also more scenes with Dick and Barbara, who are always charming together. The major dud is the Officer Down issue. It’s part five of the crossover and loses heft without the other issues. It does, however, contain the scene when Alfred leaves Bruce for a time, during which Sasha Bordeaux comes into the picture. I also don’t really care for Tad’s origin issue. It tries too hard to be edgy, a quality of which this series has been refreshingly devoid.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chuck Dixon's Nightwing was always fun. Here, we get a version of Dick Grayson that no one thought to do before, a cop. It makes perfect sense in a town like Bludhaven. Dixon did a fantastic job creating a rogue's gallery for Nightwing without relying on Batman or Gotham. Here we get Torque & Nite-Wing and are introduced to Hella & Slyph. The Officer Down chapter was a disappointment but overall, this was another very good addition to the Bat-family.

[jess ⋆. ̊ · Rating 3 out of 5]

im liking the art better except for the last issue but that was a crossover so im hoping vol7 isn’t fugly like that one… other than that I don’t rlly have many emotions on this volume ? i liked the tad story but he’s a racist so all the sympathy i had for his character is gone 😭.. i hate selinaxdick… the writers were having some weird bdsm era or smthn …

above all else at least my son is beautiful ! some of ur favs could never !

[Tim Rooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy to see the art change. This is back when Land’s work wasn’t just tracing posed photographs and I actually quite like his work here. Dixon’s run continues to disappoint with surface level villains with no motivation and no memorable personalities. Just boring, uninspired rotating group of assassins.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in Chuck Dixon's Nightwing series. I enjoy watching Dick fight crime, but I am really hoping for some more emotional stakes to be raised in his fight to save Bludhaven. I want to be gripped by this tale, rather than just being entertained.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS THE NIGHTWING WE DESERVE

[Lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent collection of Nightwing stories. There's always more lighthearted references and jokes smattered throughout Nightwing comics which makes them so endearing.

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soames is the best thing about this volume

[JessisWhelmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun with this (despite the tie-in at the end) but I will never care about Tad or why he is the way he is. That guy’s the worst. Just the worst.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, being a cop and stopping someone from killing billionaires? Real lame stuff, Dick.

[irenemelita ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

bro why you kissing your dad’s girl wtf 😭

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super enjoyed this volume with really nothing negative to say about it. (Ok, some of the art was FUGLY, but the writing was totally 5 stars to make up for it.)

LOVE seeing Dick as a cop here. Yay! That's all he wanted!
Too bad it's now getting in his way of being Nightwing. ;)
(Loved his little cowboy rush against Torque earlier on in this volume and then his strip in the staircase lol.)
So glad to see Tad's storyline wrapped up here (I hope!). I hate Tad, lol. And loved seeing Nightwing go after him pretty aggressively...Reminds us that he was trained by Batman, after all.

Can't believe Torque was in this too (still), but maybe we won't see him for a while now that he's locked up. (Being featured in five volumes in a row is a lot for a bad guy whose whole thing is he's power-hungry with nothing to lose & his head is on backward.)

Sylph is a good new baddie. Having Nightwing uncontrollably falling was kinda nerve-wracking. It's good writing to take a character who is so comfortable falling, leaping, jumping & swinging and see him almost get defeated by it.

Hella (Kate Riordan) is a also a good new baddie, though I hate her costume. I get that she needs to wear a compression mask, but she looks like a scary dominatrix with clown makeup. :-/

So total, we got a lot of strong ladies in this volume! Two new baddies and features from both Oracle and Catwoman! Dick and Barbra KISS!! Yay! I'm not a huge Barbra fan, but I do kinda ship them.... and Catwoman and Dick also kiss. Lol. Well, it was more like Catwoman kissed Nightwing, but it was still salacious! And then she punches him when he calls her out for only wanting to make Batman jealous LOL!
I haven't yet read Birds of Prey, so I'm assuming Black Canary gets away from Blockbuster after Nightwing: The Hunt for Oracle, cuz she's also here for a page.

And, I know I hate on Tad, but I actually did like his issue Tad. It was perfectly crazy.

The last issue in this volume is Officer Down pt. 5. (Nightwing #53) I haven't read the other parts, or Batman from this time, so I have no idea what's going on & why Alfred threatens to leave Batman (!!!). :'(
I did like Dick and Barbra's back and forth, with him trying to compliment her & her not giving him the time of day (pretty fair since her dad is in critical condition in the hospital). I also really liked when Dick asks for the weapon/evidence back so he can hand it in, and she doesn't want to. It's such good writing when our heroes don't want to abide by the rules and need to be talked back into it. Devin Grayson writing Dick goes a great job here.
Dick: "All of us are what we are because we lost something we thought we couldn't live without, and were proven wrong. We can survive without parents and without walking and even without always being able to protect the people we love. But we can't survive without knowing in our bones that we're not like them, not like the ones who stole from us. There's a line. Barbara. And Jim Gordon would fight harder than anyone to keep you from crossing it." Pg. 252


Great volume overall!

[Heather Robinson (GFB) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely read 4.75 🌟 stars

An interesting variety of stories. The Tad one was especially chilling very appropriate for October reading (it came out in January but it had Halloween vibes)

It's not a full 5 stars because it contains the worst thing Chuck Dixon has ever caused me to read: Catwing.

For 1. It seems like at this point Dickbabs is established so why is my boy floundering around. He even broke my girl Clancy's heart for Babs. I miss him being wholly devoted to Kory. Simping for Starfire 😭

For 2. I know Catwoman is hot. But Dick! Your Dad's mouth has been all over that woman!! 🤢

At least it wasn't Brucebabs I guess 🤷‍♀️