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Nightwing: One-Shots
Nightwing: The Target #1
Dick Grayson is framed for murder! Forced by Batman to give up his Nightwing persona, Dick adopts a new heroic identity as The Target in order to clear his name.
48 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2001
93 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Dixon
3,426 books1,031 followersCharles "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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 31, 2022
(A-) 80% | Very Good
Notes: A step-by-step detection, heavy, harsh, but optimistic, it's more mature, and raw for sure: boldly drawn and realistic.
Notes: A step-by-step detection, heavy, harsh, but optimistic, it's more mature, and raw for sure: boldly drawn and realistic.
October 11, 2022
"Batman's right - I have to clear myself. Only I can't nose around the case as Dick Grayson. And it's a closed case as far as Bludhaven P.D. is concerned. Nightwing can't be connected with this, either. So a new masked man comes to 'the 'Haven.'" -- Dick Grayson, in his introductory scene as 'The Target'
Agile graphic novella featuring Batman's inaugural disciple Dick Grayson - the original teen Robin, but as an adult now known as the vigilante Nightwing - temporarily suspending his costumed alter ego due to interference with his 'day job' as an honorable beat cop in the troubled metropolis of Bludhaven. Officer Grayson - attempting to stop of quartet of deeply corrupt officers who are beating two suspects - is assaulted to the point of losing consciousness and framed for a murder. He briefly assumes a new masked persona called the 'The Target' - rocking a no-nonsense and badass-looking outfit as well - to locate / protect two witnesses and then bring said guilty parties to justice. It's a pretty good short crime story, but arguably would have worked better as a full-length book.
Agile graphic novella featuring Batman's inaugural disciple Dick Grayson - the original teen Robin, but as an adult now known as the vigilante Nightwing - temporarily suspending his costumed alter ego due to interference with his 'day job' as an honorable beat cop in the troubled metropolis of Bludhaven. Officer Grayson - attempting to stop of quartet of deeply corrupt officers who are beating two suspects - is assaulted to the point of losing consciousness and framed for a murder. He briefly assumes a new masked persona called the 'The Target' - rocking a no-nonsense and badass-looking outfit as well - to locate / protect two witnesses and then bring said guilty parties to justice. It's a pretty good short crime story, but arguably would have worked better as a full-length book.
April 18, 2023
A well put together one-shot story about morals and justice. It’s powerful when it needs to be whilst also allowing for very typical superhero action sequences to break up the heavy content. Seeing Dick don a new mantle is interesting, and even though there is no mystery for the reader, it is still fun to watch the truth unravel for the in-world characters. Short, yet solid, this is a good one to pick up and finish in one go.
March 7, 2020
Nightwing: The Target is a one-shot special written by Chuck Dixon and illustrated by Scott McDaniel. It centers on Dick Grayson – an officer in the Blüdhaven Police Department, who was framed for a crime he didn't commit and is forced to put on a new persona: The Target to clear his name.
Officer Dick Grayson was framed for murder that he didn't commit and Inspector Mac Arnot – Blüdhaven Police Department's Fixer has explicitly told Grayson to do his time in prison and when he got out he would be rewarded. When he got home Bruce Wayne as Batman was there and told Grayson that he couldn't investigate this as Nightwing, just in case someone deduced Nightwing and Dick Grayson was one and the same. So Grayson made a new uniform and was christened as the Target.
With the help of his partner, Amy Rohrbach, they find a witness to the crime in questioned and eventually cleared his name. However, despite his innocence, Grayson was still a marked man – a target. My only complaint is that this one-shot was far too short.
Nightwing: The Target. is written and constructed rather well. Dixon has written a compelling story about the corruption within the Blüdhaven Police Department. The only criticism is that clearing Dick Grayson's name was done rather quickly – mainly because of the page limit, but as a special one-shot it should have or could have been longer. While dated, McDaniel's penciling was done rather well and depicted the narrative rather well.
All in all, Nightwing: The Target is an interesting insight of the corruption within the Blüdhaven Police Department and the civilian life of Dick Grayson of an officer who is trying to expose the corruption from within.
Officer Dick Grayson was framed for murder that he didn't commit and Inspector Mac Arnot – Blüdhaven Police Department's Fixer has explicitly told Grayson to do his time in prison and when he got out he would be rewarded. When he got home Bruce Wayne as Batman was there and told Grayson that he couldn't investigate this as Nightwing, just in case someone deduced Nightwing and Dick Grayson was one and the same. So Grayson made a new uniform and was christened as the Target.
With the help of his partner, Amy Rohrbach, they find a witness to the crime in questioned and eventually cleared his name. However, despite his innocence, Grayson was still a marked man – a target. My only complaint is that this one-shot was far too short.
Nightwing: The Target. is written and constructed rather well. Dixon has written a compelling story about the corruption within the Blüdhaven Police Department. The only criticism is that clearing Dick Grayson's name was done rather quickly – mainly because of the page limit, but as a special one-shot it should have or could have been longer. While dated, McDaniel's penciling was done rather well and depicted the narrative rather well.
All in all, Nightwing: The Target is an interesting insight of the corruption within the Blüdhaven Police Department and the civilian life of Dick Grayson of an officer who is trying to expose the corruption from within.
July 2, 2012
More wonderful tales of Nightwing from the brilliant mind of Chuck Dixon.
April 5, 2019
Nightwing becomes a target as he is framed for murder and has to adopt a new hero persona.
October 1, 2023
Some of you might not know this but after Dick Grayson went off to Blüdhaven to make his way as Nightwing, the former ward of Bruce Wayne attended the police academy and became a cop. It turns out that Blüdhaven's police department is more corrupt than Gotham's thin blue line has ever been. Fighting both petty and organized crime overlooked by dirty cops at night as Nightwing and pursuing justice during the day in uniform, Dick Grayson is on a mission to clean up his new home town.
Dick's firm boundaries of right from wrong has put Officer Grayson in the crosshairs of the Blüdhaven brotherhood in blue. On his first night on solo patrol, Grayson assists in a pursuit of a pair of thugs with know gang ties. When Officer Grayson witnesses police brutality first hand against two wrongly accused suspects, he takes action. Only the numbers are way wrong and Dick is savagely forced to accept a beating, less someone suspect him of being stronger than he really is.
Grayson awakens in a hospital room, handcuffed to the bed. His fellow boys in blue have seen to it that neither of those brutalized suspects will ever testify against their misconduct. Not only that, Dick Grayson has been accused as the perpetrator of the violent assaults. With Officer Grayson now under the microscope of Blüdhaven's Internal Affairs Unit, not only does Dick face the rest of his life behind bars, but the entire Batman family is at risk of being unmasked to the general public.
Shelving his Nightwing costume, Dick Grayson dons a new vigilante persona called the Target. Finally free to explore his playful side that came about as a former circus performer, as the Target, Dick Grayson is like a much safer, righteous version of the Joker and I love it!
Over the span of Dick Grayson's 75 year plus career, he's taken on a number of secret identities. Not counting his time as Robin, the Target is my favorite of them all because of how loose and mischievous Dick becomes. He never crosses the line, but since the Target is an unknown player in Blüdhaven, Grayson is able to do things his own way instead of in the shadow of the Batman.
I'm rather disappointed to research that this prestige format comic book is the only time Dick Grayson becomes the Target. I would be all over a continuation of this persona. If it was an older storyline, I'd be adding those back issues to my wish list. If DC ever decided to rebrand Dick Grayson once more as the Target in an all-new series, I'd add it to my subscription pull over at my favorite LCS right now!
A great era of Dick Grayson that was over way too soon and obviously all but forgotten. I'm adding this unsure keeper to my permanent collection. But I want more!
Dick's firm boundaries of right from wrong has put Officer Grayson in the crosshairs of the Blüdhaven brotherhood in blue. On his first night on solo patrol, Grayson assists in a pursuit of a pair of thugs with know gang ties. When Officer Grayson witnesses police brutality first hand against two wrongly accused suspects, he takes action. Only the numbers are way wrong and Dick is savagely forced to accept a beating, less someone suspect him of being stronger than he really is.
Grayson awakens in a hospital room, handcuffed to the bed. His fellow boys in blue have seen to it that neither of those brutalized suspects will ever testify against their misconduct. Not only that, Dick Grayson has been accused as the perpetrator of the violent assaults. With Officer Grayson now under the microscope of Blüdhaven's Internal Affairs Unit, not only does Dick face the rest of his life behind bars, but the entire Batman family is at risk of being unmasked to the general public.
Shelving his Nightwing costume, Dick Grayson dons a new vigilante persona called the Target. Finally free to explore his playful side that came about as a former circus performer, as the Target, Dick Grayson is like a much safer, righteous version of the Joker and I love it!
Over the span of Dick Grayson's 75 year plus career, he's taken on a number of secret identities. Not counting his time as Robin, the Target is my favorite of them all because of how loose and mischievous Dick becomes. He never crosses the line, but since the Target is an unknown player in Blüdhaven, Grayson is able to do things his own way instead of in the shadow of the Batman.
I'm rather disappointed to research that this prestige format comic book is the only time Dick Grayson becomes the Target. I would be all over a continuation of this persona. If it was an older storyline, I'd be adding those back issues to my wish list. If DC ever decided to rebrand Dick Grayson once more as the Target in an all-new series, I'd add it to my subscription pull over at my favorite LCS right now!
A great era of Dick Grayson that was over way too soon and obviously all but forgotten. I'm adding this unsure keeper to my permanent collection. But I want more!
August 24, 2017
Another quick and easy read from Dixon in his Nightwing run. These make a nice break from more serious titles, something akin to taking a break from serious cinema to enjoy an action thriller.
April 24, 2020
This was a great little one shot tpb. Solid. My only criticism is that it's too short. Would have liked to see it expanded a bit more. But still pretty good. 3.5/5
April 24, 2020
Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel make the best Nightwing together.
October 3, 2025
1,5 Asa Noturna - O Alvo (Abril)
December 29, 2025
The story is straightforward but the context into which it is forced lessens both the impact and interest.
November 20, 2009
Enjoyable, but kind of short. It was over before you could really get into it, or before all the pieces could really get resolved.
October 24, 2012
A very typical Nightwing story. Even with the introduction of a new "disposable" costume. solid writing and good artwork. It is an enjoyable read.
July 11, 2013
Dick is framed for murder while he is in cop mode, and he needs to clear his name. A simple, short story that focuses on why Dick is a cop. A good read.
February 27, 2020
3 1/2 stars
Another great Nightwing story.
Another great Nightwing story.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews