Review by Ian Keogh

What characterises Tom Taylor’s run on Nightwing is the sheer unpredictability. Yes, it remains an action thriller with drama generated by Dick Grayson’s private life, but within that Taylor continually manages to surprise. The novelty is there in the title story, which is 22 continuous pages of the same connected image with Nightwing superimposed around a dozen times a spread. The daring concept originated with Taylor, but it’s Bruno Redondo doing the heavy lifting, choreographing the action to connect a chase through the entire city of Blüdhaven, and it pays off spectacularly well.

Not every artist would have been up to the task, and some of those who are wouldn’t have put in the effort Redondo does, perhaps drawing sketchier backgrounds, or only including Nightwing once per spread, but this is a visual stunner.

Otherwise, let’s forget about the compromised disappointment of Nightwing: Fear State and concentrate on why this and not that has a volume number following on from Leaping Into the Light. Dick Grayson has decided the vast fortune he’s inherited should be funnelled into improving Blüdhaven, and that doesn’t sit well with criminal interests, who filter all the way up to Blockbuster. His solution is to assassinate Dick before he can begin his projects.

For all the concentration on Blüdhaven, Taylor uses these stories to re-establish Dick as being part of the wider DC universe, with plenty of guest stars both Bat-related and otherwise. Better still, they’re not just window dressing. Each has a viable role. The most significant guest star is Superman, a crossover with another series written by Taylor, and for anyone who doesn’t read that it’ll result in the weakest inclusion here because it’s very dependent on what goes on in Jonathan Kent’s life and who he’s surrounding himself with. Anyone who does follow both series will pick up on the nuances. Among the fine moments are Nightwing as the elder hero giving the pep talk to an uncertain Superman, but it’s incomplete, with what follows playing out in Superman: Son of Kal-El – The Rising, so has the unwelcome stench of marketing ploy.

The art switches between Redondo and Geraldo Borges, and while Redondo is spectacular, Borges is merely good. He tells the story well and were he not in the same collection as Redondo there would be no comment, but in Nightwing the artistic benchmark is set extremely high.

This is another thoroughly enjoyable collection, and the thrills are raised still further in The Battle for Blüdhaven’s Heart.