Nightwing: Knight Terrors

Nightwing (2016)

by Scott Lobdell, Travis Moore (Illustrator)

Who is Dick Grayson? After suffering a life altering injury in the line of duty, the once boy wonder takes on his greatest challenge yet. Remembering who he is.

Who is Dick Grayson? After suffering a life-altering injury in the line of duty, the onetime Boy Wonder takes on his greatest challenge yet: remembering who he is.

A young Dick Grayson hopes to escape the shadow of the Bat and earn the title of Nightwing, while an older Dick Grayson must deal with a blow he did not see coming. A common enemy unites the timelines: the Scarecrow! This story explores the mythology and nightmarish development of classic Batman villain Dr. Jonathan Crane!

The creative team of horror novelist and Green Arrow alum Benjamin Percy and artist Chris Mooneyham (BOOM! Studios' Planet of the Apes) will take Nightwing on a nightmare run that has the former Robin tangling with the king of fear in Nightwing: Knight Terrors!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2019

About the author

Scott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.

He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy Smokes Batman! Do you smell that? Is that...is that dog shit? Oh no, it's Nightwing "K"NIGHT terrors (Fuck you).

I though the last volume was awful, but this is REALLY bad. This might be...no...I take that back. THIS is the WORST Nightwing comic I ever read. Dick-- I mean RIC. Oh yeah guys, didn't you hear? Dick is now Ric because...well I don't really know. Oh no, not Rick. That be semi-fucking-normal. But Ric. Just Ric. I don't even know anyone named fucking Ric. Anyway Ric has lost his memories after getting shot in the head and now he's trying to rediscover himself. But not his old self, as he stated, but his new cab-driving self.

This has to be one of the dumbest stories I've ever read. The idea isn't even horrible. After suffering a head injury to have Dick build himself back up could be inspiration and well told if done right. Except they handed it to Scott Lobdell...

The way Dick...I mean RIC acts is so off the charts weird that it makes no sense even with getting injured. On top of that he decides he wants to be a cab driver and that is the life...to be a driver...after years of training and being a hero he becomes...this. Then got a awful subplot with cops deciding to wear Nightwing's old costumes and become like a Nightwing fighting force...I shit you not. No. This isn't a joke. No, it's not some bad fan-fiction. This is really happening.

A big Fuck you out of 5.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that good

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's so much I don't like about how DC handled this. First, they hired two Marvel retreads from the 90's in Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza to write this. Then Nightwing gets shot in the head over in Batman and then it's all just glossed over here, at least get us up to speed in his own book. Time has passed and Dick is back to being healthy but he's lost all his memories from the moment he met Bruce Wayne. So he still remembers being Dick, yet he decides to be called Ric now. He's a bum who mooches off others including breaking into people's houses and living there when they aren't home. Dick remembers his formative childhood, yet his personality has changed and he no longer cares about breaking the law. A bunch of cops find all of his old suits and decide to become vigilantes. There's a lot more ways a group of cops could make things right as a group of vigilantes than just patrolling the neighborhood. See Garth Ennis's Red Team for this concept handled properly. Then it ends with Ric joining up with these vigilantes. What's the point? It's like that dumb We Are Robin series all over again. Every comic book reader knows this is all for naught anyway. It's only a matter of time before Nightwing is returned to the status quo.

[Sans · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read as single issues. Regretted just about every moment of it.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the KGBeast shoots Nightwing, massive brain damage resets his personality. But while the newly christened Ric Grayson may not want to be a superhero anymore, his body, and the Scarecrow, have other ideas.

I actually don't mind the story here. It's a fresh start for Nightwing, but there's glimpses of the character we all know and love just below the surface, so seeing him deal with the new circumstances is pretty fun. The new team of Nightwings that array themselves around him are also surprisingly compelling, and I like that they're sticking around - the same with Ric's new love interest. The Scarecrow's plot bubbles away in the background until it comes to the fore in the later part of the volume, but it's just basic Scarecrow fare to be honest, nothing groundbreaking, but it does the job of getting Ric back on the superheroic path in a way.

We also don't shy away from previous characters trying to convince Ric to come back to his old life, even if he doesn't remember it. Barbara Gordon is on hand a few times, but Ric's choice is clear - this is his life, for now, and he's going to live it.

It's the art that really throws me out, to be honest. Most of the book is drawn by Chris Mooneyham, and I don't think his scratchy, Klaus Jansen-esque style is a good fit at all. It looks especially bad when compared to Travis Moore's pages, which are absolutely gorgeous, and I swear if Nightwing's new costume was just 'shirtless' I'd petition for him to draw every issue, because he draws a damn good Dick/Ric.

I don't mind Ric Grayson, and I'm curious to see where this all leads - I just wish he had a more suitable art team more often than not.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually pretty good!

So Dick loses his memory and we see the sequence of events and how he is coping with that and going by Ric and well meeting different Bat family characters like Alfred and Babs and then in the present how he is a cabbie now, dating a woman named Bea and the emergence of a new nightwing or a team of them and we get to see who they are and then when Scarecrow threatens the city and these new nightwings may not be enough to stop him, so Ric has to step up and stop this villains plus some flashback sequences too.

It felt like it was extended to 7 issues but then again reads so much better in this format as we get to see the origins of this new status quo and the fallout and I like how Ric is adjusting to this new life and not wanting to return to that previous life but the memories keep coming back at and hinting at things to come!

So yeah and good art, though the previous volume story gets sidelined which was weird but if you ignore that you might like it.. or not.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

"all these people who seem to care about me, don't really care about me... they care about Dick Grayson.
- "Ric" Grayson

Truer words have never been spoken. Bring him back.

Dick Grayson once again goes through a near-death experience, once again in a completely different book and once again becomes a new person.

Last time he faked his own death to become a secret agent, and it was awesome. This time, he gets shot in the head, gets a cool scar and now doesn't really remember who he was and he's fine with that. It's... less awesome.

I'll admit I went in with low expectations. If you've ever read any of my reviews of Dick Grayson books, you know I love the character.... I mean I have a Dick Grayson shelf for God's sake. And the main character of this book is overtly not Dick Grayson. He makes that clear every three pages.

To be fair, it's an interesting concept, "Ric" Grayson knows he used to be a superhero but because he doesn't remember it he wants to make a fresh start. But we all know it's just a temporary setback until the status quo resets, and more importantly it doesn't add anything to Dick Grayson, it takes something away from him.

I don't care about "Ric" Grayson and I never will. It's bad enough with DC's constant reboots rewriting the history of all of these characters, now what was left of that is swept away to make room for this brooding, homeless taxi driver that I find entirely uninteresting.

And yet again we're subjected to another hidden personality trait. Last time it was that Dick is a luddite, this time he (and Ric) have always been fearless. What? Since when?

There's a subplot involving police becoming vigilantes, again an interesting concept but not one I want to read about in a book supposedly about "Nightwing".

I should say something nice.... Travis Moore is my second favourite Dick Grayson artist. I wish he'd drawn the whole book, it would have made it slightly more tolerable and earns an extra star all by himself.

I guess Dan DiDio has finally won. Dick Grayson is dead. Someone let me know when I can start reading this book again.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been struggling with the Nightwing titles for a while now and I think that I can safely say that I am done reading them. I am willing to admit that Nightwing, like Harley Quinn, is better on a team and I have to stop reading the solo titles.

[SzaraReadsComics · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't like where the plot went with this volume. I feel like they wanted to make this amnesia plot much more than it should be – I understand that Dick could want to separate himself from people he didn't remember after such a trauma. But it has been said that he still remembers his childhood at the circus and this is where it stops adding up for me: why would he become this "bad boy" who squats in random people's houses if in this moment his whole personality is based on the happy memories from his time at the circus? And this is just the tip of the iceberg. As a huge fan of Dick Grayson and a person who hates Lobdell's writing, reading this volume was a chore. I wanted to give this plot a chance and I did but I still didn't find anything for me in this volume. At least art was gorgeous for the first few issues and this is the only reason why I didn't rate it as 1 star.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just don’t know if this book worked for me. Multiple artists, multiple writers. I really liked Percy’s direction and the switch to Lobdell is a rough transition. In a shocking development, Nightwing has lost his memories and no longer wants the Nightwing persona. However, the handling of the situation is sloppy at best and not my favorite.

[Victoria Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of weeks ago I popped into Forbidden Planet to pick up the first issue of the new Loki series, and Nightwing #62 caught my eye. I’ve never ready any Nightwing before but I’ve wanted to start since his role in Batman: Court of Owls. I wasn’t expecting much and wasn’t aware of the current storyline at all. Little did I know this story was written for me. Why am I telling you this? Well, I’m getting there.
Nightwing: Knight Terrors collects issues #50-56 of Nightwing and the story follows Dick, now calling himself Ric after the events of Batman #55, where he, unfortunately, is shot in the head.

We’ll start off with the plot because it was one of the reasons that I impulse bought this book one weekend. It took me four days after it arrived to pick it because I was nervous it wasn’t going to give me what I wanted. I should never have doubted it because I got more than I was expecting. Dare I say it’s a new favourite? I feel like I have a lot of comic favourites, but it would seem unjust to call it otherwise. This was probably the strongest element of the book and deals with one of my favourite tropes, amnesia. I don’t think that I read enough amnesia-fiction, given how much I freak whenever it’s used. There were also some fun callbacks to pick up on, one of my favourite being the at the cab that Ric drives in number 1940, also the same year that Robin first appeared in comics. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I always appreciate fun little easter eggs like that. The collected issues have a lovely arc, which is well-paced and well written, and really, what more can you ask for?

On the whole, the characterisation was decent. The focus was Ric which made sense because we’re here for his story. I do think the writers could have gone a little further with the symptoms of amnesia. We’re told about mood swings, being one of them and I think it’s a shame we couldn’t have seen more of a struggle. Maybe if I go back a few issues I’ll see it, but it’s not in this book, unfortunately. I also think that Bea is well done given how little she’s on the page, but their chemistry is on point. Unfortunately, the group of Nightwings are a little lacking in substance, but given that this is their intro I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt… for now. Nightwings, I will be watching.

So, we have Ric’s personal storyline, and he struggles with a past he can’t remember and the weight of a blank slate, which would have been compelling enough on its own. We have the group of Nightwings, which was interesting, but is only just getting started, so it’s hard to tell where it’s really going. And— that’s right, there’s more— we have a big bad. I’m not going to say who, but it was the perfect choice given the themes that the book deals with. I also loved that we had that personal connection between the villain and Dick (though not necessarily Ric given the situation) which just added an extra layer of depth. It gave me the same feeling I get when I see the Joker come up against Batman, where you have this history together. What’s impressive is that the writers manage to give that feeling within an issue or two. There’s also a nice steady build to the grand plan that the villain had, which I always appreciate.

But why only fours stars? Well, the answer is simple if a little annoying. Halfway through the book the artist changes and it is noticeable in the way that Ric is drawn. I always say I’m no art critic, so the fact that I noticed it should give you pause for thought. It’s not that the art gets worse, though I personally preferred the first artists, it more that during the latter half of the story arc it just looks off somehow. Maybe it’s because the artist is trying to imitate their predecessor, I don’t know. It’s not bad, and sure, maybe it’s no big deal, but at the end of the day, you are trying to tell a story through a visual medium and the change was jarring. However, I do want to give a big shoutout to the original artists, Mooneyham and Janson, because I love the look of Ric in this book. Some, some of the pages were a little on the confusing side, which wasn’t a big issue, but just a little odd. And before we move on from the art the variant cover for Nightwing #54, one of a selection at the back of the book, by Yasmine Putri is stunning. It hurts me not to be giving it 5 stars, but the sad truth is it could have been better, even just a tad.

Despite a couple of complaints, I adored Nightwing: Knight Terrors and I’m excited to finally be reading some Dick— sorry, Ric Grayson-- stories.

p.s This was going to be a short review. oops.

[Adam Graham · Rating 1 out of 5]

I checked and I've not given any graphic novel/comic collection a one-star rating in fifty-six months. Meet Nightwing: Knight Terrors, the book that broke the streak and might just be the worst mainstream comic collection I've ever read.

This book completely derails the unresolved plotline from the previous volume in favor for some good old fashioned editorially mandated tripe. Dick Grayson, for 77 years, one of the DC Universe's most beloved heroes becomes Ric Grayson, moody navel-gazing cab driver who you don't even care about. All of this because of a bullet to his brain in Volume 8 of Batman. But don't worry Rik Grayson may be done as a superhero (because he's too whiny for that) but there's a whole team of police officers who decided to play vigilantes because of a stockpile of weapons and equipment Nightwing left around for funzies.

The Nightwings are indistinct and dull, so I found it impossile to be invested them. Scott Lobdell does such a bad job with characterization that in one of the last issues he has to tell you who the wreckless one is and who the cautious one is because if you didn't have him tell you, you wouldn't know from reading the story. Scarecrow is in this and he's doing typical Scarecrow things only in a badly written manner.

The art isn't the worst of all time, but its bad, and bad art in a stupid story makes this a simply dreadful book that makes this one of the worst examples of a company destroying a character since One More Day.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into this with some major bias. Several customers in our store have dropped Nightwing during this season, and given me a variety of very solid reasons why they didn't like the series. But with a couple of exceptions, most of the people who complained hate change.

I like change. Dick Grayson's graduation from Robin to Nightwing, allowing for younger Robins to enter the picture was handled well. Nightwing's ascension to Batman was the best part of the post RIP Batman, particularly his relationship with Damian Wayne. I even enjoyed his brief stint as Grayson, Agent of Spyral. But the change to spoiled sort-of-amnesiac-but-probably-just-being-callous became tiresome really quickly. I neither cared about Dick's journey, nor the new Nightwings stepping in for him.

It isn't a terrible book. But it's overwritten and even more melodramatic than the average 1980s Batman story. But I guess it's on-par with your Scott Lobdell/Fabien Nicieza superhero comics. Not challenging. Not very deep characterization. Plot points telegraphed pages in advance. It's just....readable.

I recommend it for people who, like Dick Grayson, have recently been shot in the head, and are looking to make reading comics one of their regrettable post-shot-in-the-head decisions.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
Still leaving plotlines unresolved from the previous Volume, Dick Grayson (now Ric Grayson) is recovering from his head shot by KGBeast (See Batman Vol 8 Review) and is living his life in Bludhaven. He feels like a completely new person, and as a sign of that, he sets fire to his 'Nightwing Cave', destroying all but his suits. He wants to leave the past behind, but his body and mind keep revealing skills he has forgotten he had.
As Scarecrow (who is also Ric's therapist, unbeknownst to him) plans to take over Bludhaven by releasing everyone from their fears, 4 public servants (two detectives, a cop, and a firefighter) grab up the 4 undestroyed Nightwing suits and begin to moonlight as vigilantes. At the very end, Ric joins them and the plot is thwarted.

I don't know where DC is taking this character. It seems like a reasonable idea to shake things up after the injury he suffered, but not having one person at the helm makes the overall story feel unstable to me. Yet with everything going on in the comic world, is this just the time for Dick to take a backseat for a while?
Kind of recommend. Not sure how vital to the overall story this is.

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was...bizarre. The concept is really interesting. Grayson gets shot, doesn't remember anything, changes his life. Cool! But...then the rules break down. He doesn't remember a lot of his life? But he knows he was NightWing (he burns up his stuff), but then is shocked that he knows things like martial arts and acrobatics and just chalks that up to his circus time? Then the other people in his life kinda come and go with a 'We hope you get better...BYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEE' which would just never happen based on the characters. The worst moment though, by far, was his standing in front of that pool table with his jacket unzipped in a terrible pose.

Honestly, I do not understand where they are going with this and I hope it's all some massive reveal setup because otherwise, it's just sloppy.

[alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m honestly being generous giving this book 2 stars. I wanted to read about Dick Grayson- Nightwing- not some angsty amnesic cab driver. I don’t care about “Ric” Grayson and I definitely don’t care about some rogue police men or his relationship with a random bartender. I just- ugh. Bring Dick back, please.

[Wing Kee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, I finally got around to finishing this and it's still as bad as I remembered.

World: The art is a bit all over the place with the tone jumping from serious to cartoony in a single issue. The world building is pretty choppy and illogical at the same time. I don't mind status quo changes, I know in the world of comic books, thing will get back to basics and the core eventually and a new writer playing with the characters and the world can be fun. That being said when you alter the core of the character then this is no longer that character but rather a new one and that's the case here. I'll get into it more in the character section but the choices and new pieces here while on paper sounds nice was not really well thought out or warranted. There is some play with old pieces like Scarecrow which is really poorly used and very derivative.

Story: The story is pretty ridiculous. I know there is always a suspension of belief for comic books but this one takes it a bit too far. I can't believe this is the same Lobdell that finally did a decent run with Red Hood and the Outlaws. Sure, there is little to no sexist and racist stuff here and that's a good thing but wow this story is choppy and just not a good direction. The use of Scarecrow is very bland and forgettable and changing the core of what Dick is pretty much makes this not a Dick book. If you take out the Grayson then this book is a pretty bad comic book to boot. Pacing is choppy and overly long, relationships are on the surface and basic. The action is also rather bland and uninspired. This new status quo was not that interesting and that's why this book fails.

Characters: Dick is not Dick and I know that's the point but when you take the core out of the character and make it into something new readers should mourn and feel interested and sad at the same time to see the direction that their beloved hero is going. I don't mind mixing things up, I would have wanted something interesting with Dick cause I know in comic, especially superhero books, we will get back to basic Dick eventually. However the choices that Lobdell has made for this new Nightwing is pretty boring and bland and uninspired. Oh wow, he does not care anymore, oh so interesting...zzz. It's lazy it's boring and just not that fun to read. The Nightwings are also paper thin and boring and offer little to no description of who they are other than a fireman will always carry an axe....yes....this is happening...This sucks.

Wow this new direction is so boring and bland.

Onward to the next book!

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC doesn't quite know what to do with Nightwing, so far in Rebirth they wiped out all his history in Bludhave and had him start at the beginning. In the New 52, they turned him into a spy and before that he was Batman. The last one worked but only when Morrison was writing it. He's been around since 1940, you'd think DC would know what to do with him by now! 

In this adventure he's now Ric Grayson, after being shot in the head and losing a chunk of his memory. Out of all his retcons this makes the most sense to me, Dick is a stupid name. Sure it worked way back when but now the meaning has changed, heck I can't even say his name without making fun of it. Did they need to shoot him in the head to do it? Probably not but you get an intriguing story of self discovery with it. He's finally flying solo without, Batman lingering over him. Scarecrow was the right choice as he doesn't take too much time away from Ric and can do his own thing without too much set up. 

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Broody, angsty garbage.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nightwing: Knight Terrors picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next seven issues (Nightwing #50–56) of the 2016 on-going series and collects one story line: "Knight Terrors".

"Knight Terrors" is a seven-issue storyline (Nightwing #50–56), which follows the repercussions of Dick Grayson, now called Ric Grayson, being shot in the head (Batman #55). Having selected amnesia, Grayson gave up the mantle of Nightwing. Meanwhile, Alphonse Sapienza, a detective, found Nightwing base and decided to recruit his friends Malcolm Hutch, Colleen Edwards, and Zak Edwards to form a team of Nightwings. Jonathan Crane as The Scarecrow would be their first major villain and Ric Grayson gets into the fray, while his mind has forgotten about Nightwing, his body hasn't.

With the exception of one issue (Nightwing #50), which was written by Benjamin Percy, the rest of the trade paperback was written by the team of Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza. For the most part, it is written rather well, despite my hating the direction of the series. While I don’t mind starting another direction for the character, I just wished they finished the previous direction, which was started by Percy, but now left abandoned. While I am reticent about these new Nightwings, I am willing to give them a chance and hopefully they would be represented rather well.

Chris Mooneyham (Nightwing #50, 52, and 55), Travis Moore (Nightwing #50–51), Garry Brown (Nightwing #51 and 54), Klaus Janson, Patrick Zircher, Will Conrad, Garry Brown, and Davide Gianfelice (Nightwing #50, 53–56 respectively) are the pencilers for the trade paperback. For the most part, their penciling styles are very distinct and different from each other giving the trade paperback an uneven artistic flow. Of the various pencilers, I rather enjoyed Travis Moore's penciling the most and hopefully he would show up more in the series.

All in all, Nightwing: Knight Terrors is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series. However, I am not thrilled to say the least in the direction of the series and hope it is just a tiny stint in the overall series.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who is Richard Grayson? Not this, that’s for sure. I think you’re supposed to come away from this thinking that he still has the compassion that is at the heart of the character, which motivates him to be a hero in or out of the costume. However… that is at odds with who he is for the entire rest of the story. This is the least empathetic the character has ever been. I’m not understanding his whole “the people who cared about me, they don’t care about ME” thing. It’s asking people like Barbara, Alfred and Bruce a lot to respect his feelings while having no concerns for theirs. How come he is so offended by the strangers he knows, then spends the entire rest of the book making friends with strangers? I get it’s a lot, to know they have all these memories of you that you don’t share. But to insist they don’t actually care is a little cruel. He’s an asshole to everyone, something Dick Grayson rarely is, and then can’t comprehend how that could be upsetting to people who loved him before he was shot in the head.

Then there’s the four cop/firefighter “Nightwings”. Nothing compelling or interesting about them, either. The main guy, “Detective Alphonse Sapienza”, isn’t very memorable, and has to constantly reintroduce himself to the audience in every issue using his full name and title like a cartoon supervillain. I’m sure this served a good purpose to readers who would pick up a monthly issue and be like “who the hell is this guy, that’s not Dick Grayson”, but in the collected graphic novel format it’s just annoying as hell. Malcolm Hutch has potential, and the dynamic between Colleen and Zak Edwards as a brother-sister superhero duo could be engaging, but the group altogether is pretty incompetent. The whole time they’re on the page, I’m bored.

I’m left wondering what readers were meant to enjoy about this book. Bea, I guess? We don’t learn all that much about her here, so it’s not really enough of a draw. Travis Moore’s gorgeous art that we only get for a couple issues? Wasted on this story. What a thing to do with the most naturally charismatic character in the DC universe. If I wasn’t committed to reading through this whole series, I probably would stop here, as I’m sure many readers have and will continue to in the future.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Nightwing fan I heard about this story when it was published & actively chose not to read it. I'm only reading my way through it now to get to Joker War.
I'm trying not to take it personally. :-/


The volume opens with issue #50 written by Benjamin Percy before he handed the title over to Scott Lobdell. There are some weird and out-of-character Batman & Robin flashbacks with the Scarecrow.
I thought the dialogue was weak & the Scarecrow was drawn like a silly caricature.

Batman: "Stop showing off, Robin."
Robin: "I'm not showing off. This is what having fun looks like."

Batman: "No one is going to be afraid of you."
Robin: "I don't want them to be."
Batman: "Put on your gas mask."
Robin: "I'm literally putting it on right now, Batman, and yet you still can't resist telling me what to do. Let me be my own man."

Robin's a childish dick here. (Also, Batman is weird, because Robin being scary was never a thing.)
Then Batman exposes Scarecrow to his own toxin and he's freaking the F out (duh), but Robin steps in because "if you're trafficking in fear...you're no different than him." Hmm.

Fast-forward to 2019. In Batman, Dick got shot in the back of the head by KGBeast. It was super traumatic and emotional. Really messed up Batman. Ric (Dick, "call me Ric now",) doesn't have any memories past childhood (no Batman & Robin memories) and isn't interested in them. He's actively ignoring Babs, Alfred, Bruce, everyone, and only interested in "figuring out the future".
The new Ric Grayson turns out to be a homeless, vagrant, day drinker who breaks into houses. Yet, he's totally "figuring out the future", right? *sarcasm*

:(

Ric gets a job as a cab driver (though he doesn't quit day drinking) and I still don't see why this was a character choice by DC & Lobdell.
In issue #51 Ric says to Alfred: "Being a blank slate means you get to write whatever you want on the board."
This? This is what Ric wants to be?

Ric sets his Nightwing Subway bunker on fire because that's the good decision-making choice of a homeless day drinker. When the BPD & Fire Dept. show up (because he set a frikkin fire in the subway!) a detective discovers the charred bunker and undamaged Nightwing costume. Now, I really didn't mind this plot device. The detective decides to mask up, and he gives the extra Nightwing costumes to two other detectives and one firefighter. And for the first time, we see Nightwing with a gun and a badge and it's a nice throwback to Chuck Dixon's run when Dick was a cop and not a personal trainer or a cab driver...(not that he ever wore a gun as Nightwing, god forbid!).
My thinking: If Dick Grayson isn't going to be Nightwing somebody else might as well be, because Ric is just as much of a stranger to me as Alphonse Sapienza, Malcom Hutch, Colleen Edwards, and Zak Edwards.

After Ric gets involved (of course he does) in a gang thing rescuing a fellow cabbie, the volume brings us back to Scarecrow, who is crazy obsessed with Nightwing and how he was the boy (Robin) without fear. He's of course settled himself in Bludhaven, terrorizing patients as a therapist (who is also working with Ric, of course). He weirdly changes his fear toxin to "non-fear" toxin, where it makes everyone attack/kill strangers in a rabid attack of "non-fear". I can't even explain it, it makes no sense, but they scream "I'm not scared of you" as they attack and kill you, so that's the best I got. Scarecrow explains that he's helping the people by making them stronger. Helping them overcome their fear... Fear was his whole thing up until now, so I'm not sure why he'd want that...
Scarecrow: "I knew a boy once, so fearless it...well, it terrified me. And I have sought to capture that boy, now a young man, as a means of freeing myself. I wish to be free of my fear as I have freed Bludhaven."
Scarecrow: "I am here to lift the gossamer veil of civilization from their eyes. For only fear empowers! Only fear inspires us to rage against the dying of the light! Only fear will set us free!"
But I thought he wanted to set everyone free from their fear?? I'm so confused!

Of course, Ric gets involved after one of the Nightwings (Zak) is shot. The Nightwings & Ric take out Scarecrow, and the volume ends with Ric goofily suggesting that they are a team now. It was super cringe. :(


Art was all over the place in this volume. Some very pretty art, some scratchy and fugly art. No middle.
Characterization was so weird. I still don't get what Scarecrow wanted.
I didn't mind the Nightwings but really dislike Ric. Don't know how Dick Grayson comes back from this. :(
2 stars.

[Abby Lattanzio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a big fan of the artwork or storyline. Not sure why they decided to take Nightwing in this direction.

[Cam · Rating 1 out of 5]

someone please shot me in the head so i don’t have to remember ever reading this

[Matthew Wayne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful

An atrocious story, terribly told, with massive mischaracterisation.

May God forgive everyone who worked on this because I never will.

[Batgirl_ALT_21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when the world-renowned Nightwing takes a bullet to the brain? Oh, he becomes an irresponsible, gambling, alcoholic, gambling fiend 😅.

Not exactly the Nightwing/Dick...Ahem, "Ric" Grayson, I was expecting, but I'm honestly okay with the direction Scott Lobdell went with Nightwing.

Main Plot-Points Summary:

We begin with Ric frequenting a local dinner after a long night of gambling when an unannounced sketchy man walks in to hold the establishment up for ransom. Ric steps in to protect the older woman, who is the only present waitress, and offers his wallet up for grabs. What happens next is a mix of street smarts/swift action, leaving the criminal on the floor and Ric out the door.

There is then a quick cut scene to the past while Ric Grayson contemplates his life and the memories he can't remember (yes, this is a recurring thing). We begin with your run-of-the-mill Batman takedown of the Scarecrow, who is holding professors at a college as hostages, forcing them to take in his fear toxins. What follows is a swift takedown by Batman with Robin (Dick) reminding him to go easy on the criminals while simultaneously insulting Scarecrow, leaving a lasting impression on Jonathan Crane (who is actively breathing in his own toxins, making Robin appear as a giant bird).  This arc continues with Scarecrow, later seen serving his sentence in Arkham when he fakes suicide, allowing him to kill the guard and granting him his escape. Johnathan then flees Gotham and heads to Blüdhaven Later on, cut back to Scarecrow confronting Robin in an ambush while on patrol to discover his true fears when it's revealed that Dick isn't scared of anything (well, at least not tangible 🤨).

In the present, we follow Ric Grayson, who is on his way to a bar named Prodigal, where he spends many of his nights drinking, gambling, and overall being a delinquent. Along the way to the bar, he runs into Barbara, who has been keeping tabs on Ric as she tries desperately to remind him of his past life as Dick Grayson. Ric is diametrically opposed to this concept and claims to want no part with whoever Dick Grayson was claiming "It's my life" (Ric is acting a lot like Jason Todd here...I'll explain more below).

Barbara then returns to the cave as Batgirl to tell Batman and Alfred about Dick's progress since the attack or lack there off. Batman is actually surprisingly more willing to let Dick go and be who he wants to be with no strings attached, while Alfred is about halfway between Barbara & Bruce's opinions on Dick's journey.

The next day, Ric applied for a job as a taxi driver and found a new temporary living situation with an okay income. While he is in the middle of traffic cussing out the other drivers, we cut to Detective Svoboda, who is investigating a potential homicide with a man lying dead in his bed but supposedly died while in a state of extreme fear and drowning.

That night, we see Ric in one of his sewer safe houses in Blüdhaven, adorned with his various suits over the decades as he says his final goodbye to the past by walking away from his responsibilities in a blaze of glory as he lights the base on Fire. Naturally, this leads to the fire department being deployed, and a detective/off-duty cop named Sapienza arrives to check it out. Where he uncovers the safe house, which is damaged, but the suits remain intact as he leaves his thoughts on Nightwing's disappearance, which has lasted 4 months present time. Detective Sapienza wants to make a significant change and improve the streets of Blüdhaven, and now he knows just how to do that.

We cut back to Ric who is passed out on a bar stool at Prodigal with images of his past life as Nightwing dancing around in his dreams when he suddenly wakes up from what seems to be an ongoing nightmare. It's then revealed that Alfred Pennyworth stopped in to check on Dick and see how he's holding up. Ric is all nonchalant about the entire thing, and the bartender, Bea, cuts him off before he can even start drinking so he can work his shift as a cab driver. Alfred is gracious enough to pay off Dick's bar tab, then leaves with Ric into the night open air to the car, where he offers to give the young man a ride. Ric lists off a bunch of details about the car then write it off as a cool skill to add to the multiple talents that Dick Grayson possesses before walking to his cab to start his next shift while a longing but respectful Alfred observes.

In the following scenes, we see Johnathan Crane set up a new practice in Blüdhaven as a psychiatrist where he's counseling a woman named Wendy and ominously discussing how he can aid in liberating her of her fears. We then swiftly direct our attention back to Ric, who has the night off and is allowed to take the car while the owner, Burl, is on duty. Ric takes a long drive before stopping at a jewelry store where he sees a bracelet that looks much like the one his mother owned before being held at gunpoint by a scruffy kid. Ric's instincts kick in, and he quickly takes down the criminal, then calls in an anonymous attack to get help. This leads to a bit of a montage where Ric rediscover his skills as NW.

We then cut to Detective Sapienza who is now adorned in the discovered Nightwing uniform and ready to kick butt. Meanwhile Ric discovers more about his newfound innate acrobatics/vigilante abilities...which ends with him falling on his cab. Across town, we re-direct our attention to Detective Svoboda, who is in the middle of an autopsy with the homicide victim. When she gets a call that the Victim's wife, Wendy, is seeing a new therapist, the room becomes clouded in fear toxins. The cops and doctor go crazy, resulting in Detective Svoboda being forced to shoot the physician in defense.

The next day, we find Ric Grayson awakened by yet another nightmare in an elderly lady's place. Ric reveals that this was all arranged as long as he fed the cats and that the woman is set to return later that night from the hospital.

At the Laney Point shooting range, Detective Sapienza gathers his friends Malcolm Hutch from the fire department, Zak Edward from the 10th precinct, & his sister Colleen Edward from the 14th precinct to take part in his plan to become Blüdhaven's new Nightwing taskforce.

Later that night, as Ric is finishing up his shift, he gets a distressing call from Burl, which causes him to rush over to the opposite side of town to help his friend/employer. Once Ric arrives and finds the car completely empty with noticeable blood left on the steering wheel before prepping to lunge into action when Nightwing arrives. Detective Nightwing tries to convince Ric to leave this to the professionals, and when he refuses, he is handcuffed to the cab, but Dick Grayson has some tricks up his sleeves and escapes. Detective Nightwing crashes through the window of a two-person human trafficking ring, keeping Burl hostage when Ric comes crashing through the front entry. After a swift fight with Detective Nightwing taking on the brunt of the fight and Ric & Burl out of the picture the two crooks are apprehended. Sapienza then manages to locate Hutch's apartment to be patched up as the news plays in the background that Nightwing is back in action. Ric brings Burl to the hospital and then takes off.

The next night, Ric returns to the Prodigal bar to meet up and have a drink but runs into a regular, a larger man named Tiny, who is ashamed of failing on his sobriety.  Ric provides some encouraging words before entering. In the Bar, Ric tries to smoose Bea, who agrees to have breakfast with Ric the next morning. The two grab tacos and talk about the gravity of making your own choices in life. Bea invited Ric to meet her at the food pantry where she volunteers and he tentatively agrees.

At Avalon Heights Rehab Center, we are directed to Tiny, who admits his failure in his sobriety but is willing to make a mend. It's here where we learn that Johnathan Crane is hosting their addiction meeting before going on a tangent about how fear needs to be cleansed in Blüdhaven and how he will deliver them before releasing his toxins.

Fast forward to Zak Edward, who feels so ill-equipped with what to do as a Nightwing protector and questions his role until Colleen gives him a stern response that they are doing all they can to save the city. In the next scene, Ric attends a therapy session (Court ordered) with Johnathan Crane, where he discusses how disconnected he feels from Dick Grayson and how others (the Bat-fam) expect him, to be like his old self. Johnathan provides some insight and claims to admire Ric's live-in-the-present attitude. On the way out, there is a brief mention of the fear gas attack from another room, with Ric claiming to be the luckiest guy to have missed it.

Meanwhile, the band of Nightwing cops struggle to stay on a decent rotation with crime now in full force, with the Nightwings back in action. Detective Sapienza Nightwing is captured by the news with a clear image on the first page but his secret is still safe. The next morning, Ric meets Bea at the food pantry, where she is touched to see he remembered before putting him to work.

The next night Ric finishes his last session with Johnathan Crane, who gives him a clean bill of mental, health, presents him, with a cupcake in celebration, and claims him to be the man with no fear, much like the boy he once knew who had no fear (a reference to Dick having been Robin). Bea meets Ric outside to support him after his last session, and the  t wo share a passionate kiss.

In our third and final act!! Ric is once again at the Prodigal bar with Bea who goes to take out the trash when she is ambushed by a herd of men claiming to not be afraid. Ric jumps into action getting her to safety before going to forth to help his city but he still isn't sure on the whole Nightwing thing. We then cut back to Avalon Heights where Johnathan Crane is seen leaving his apartment when Detective Svoboda confronts him. The jig is up and Johnathan, reveals that it was he who started the fear revolution as he reveals that he left Wendy to suffer at the hands of his toxins. When Svoboda tries to defend her self she is sprayed with gas and Scarecrow emerges taking off towards Gotham.

In the streets the riots break out with Scarecrow on top of a horse spreading mayhem. The Nightwings then gather and try to fight off the madman and mob of people, but this results in Zak being shot to the chest. The teama  tries to rally and help him and Ric step,s u,p as a concerned citizen with a mask, rope, and decked out car heading right towards the mayhem. After securing Zak and stopping the mob due to the burning gass closing their lungs reducing the fear toxins effects...Ric goes off to locate Scarecrow. Ric traces Scarecrow to being behind taco truck when he is ambushed by fear toxins but this doesn't affect him as he delivers the final blow with Detective Sapienza Nightwing. We end with Detective Svoboda arriving to the scene to arrest Scarecrow as she warns the team to say out her way/shape up to be more like the real Nightwing.

Overall, I honestly enjoyed this arc for Nightwing/Dick Grayson 😁🙌. I understand that this is not your typical arc for Nightwing and that at times he feels so out of character by not wanting to take up the mantle or be there for his loved ones. However, I'd argue that Dick/Ric is behaving a lot like how a true TBI trauma victim may behave after such a life altering event. Ric choosing push away his past identity because he can't relate to that person/life is a very normal response to someone who has endured much. I also appreciate the different opinions of the family with Barbara being an implementation part of Dick's recovery and wanting to be supportive of his return as Dick. Whereas Bruce is willing to let go and give his oldest the gift of not being burdened by this life. Finally, Alfred who is a healthy mix of both Bruce and Barbara with his longing to have Dick return to who he was but is also willing to let go. Now that being said, there are many problems with the overall flow to the story with too many cut scenes present in this arc. Beyond that I surprisingly enjoyed it and can't wait to read vol 2 😏👍🌟💙.  8.5/10 🌟 for an interesting Nightwing read and new spin on our classic Dick/Ric Grayson 😉👍.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This got off to a rocky start, with issue 50 basically cutting off the previous story, unfinished. The transition to this new story was pretty messy, with no real setup, and a new writing team (Lobdell and Nicieza) starting in issue 51. This story didn't really have a steady art team on it, so that didn't help. I really wish the art and coloring had been more consistent. "Ric" really isn't drawn consistently through this story, changing skin tone, hair length, and facial features, depending on which artist was drawing which issue. And he never really looks like Dick Grayson (with a shaved head), which is of course what he should look like.

But it's actually not a bad story, for all that. I like the arc Ric goes through here, or at least starts to go through. And I like the new characters who take on the Nightwing identity, though we don't get nearly enough character depth on any of them. I still don't think this reboot needed to be done, or should have been done, but I'm giving it a chance.

[John Yelverton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not think that DC Comics could sink any lower in betraying the fans and the bare essence of a classic superhero character than the truly awful "Electric Superman" book of the late 1990's. This is a new low, and a complete and utter betrayal of the character and the fans who love him. I'd give this book zero stars is Goodreads would let me.

[May · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is one of the dumbest things i have ever read in my life. are you telling me that if Dick - oh, no, i'm sorry, Ric - lost his memories he would become... this??? and that everybody would make some half-as*** attempts to talk to him and then just let him live the life of a home invading jerk? Yeah, no.

[Joe Bogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read the solicitations for these issues, I was really skeptical. Grayson, one of my favorite characters, going by Ric? A group of other people taking up his mantle and becoming Nightwings? It just sounded lame, and like a major downgrade for a character who has to be one of DC's most interesting, well versed, and most uniquely used. It almost felt like the publisher was out of ideas for where to take the character. However, I should have known that the creative teams associated with this title wouldn't let me down. Man, was this an exciting arc. It's also probably my favorite story featuring Scarecrow. Very excited to get to read the trade paperback of the next collection of issues.