Nightwing: Fear State

I had figured “Get Grayson” was the next volume in writer Tom Taylor’s run on “Nightwing,” until I saw this.  “Fear State” collects the next three issues of his run, the “Nightwing” annual, and a Christmas-themed story from “Batman: Urban Legends” from writer Tini Howard.  So how is it?  Every bit as good as you’d expect reading tie-in issues to a crossover I didn’t bother following in the first place.  “Fear State” saw Gotham taken over by a paramilitary organization known as the Magistrate who were intent on keeping order through fascist and draconian measures.  The Bat-family fought back against them, of course, and if you’ve read one of those kinds of stories, you’ve read them all is the vibe I got from reading these tie-in issues of “Nightwing.”  There are some fun character beats between Dick and Bruce, and Dick and Babs, but you’re still left feeling like Taylor and artist Robbi Rodriguez are going through the motions here.

Better is the story in the annual, “Blood Brothers.”  It opens with Red Hood taking out a man who’s been taken into someone’s protective custody.  The FBI’s as it turns out as the man was an informant whose testimony they needed for an upcoming case.  Now Nightwing has to track down Red Hood to find out what really happened and the result is a pretty solid story about the relationship between two men who both used to be Robin.  Though their methods may differ pretty drastically, Taylor shows us how they can work together as a team and even call themselves brothers after a fashion.  It’s quality work from the writer and the artists Cian Tormey and Daniel HDR.

At the risk of repeating myself for the final story in the collection, “The Bats of Christmas Past” by writer Howard, and artist Christian Duce, if you’ve read one story where a member of the Bat-family has Scarecrow fear-toxin-induced visions of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, you’ve read them all.  I don’t think I’d have been any less inclined to skip through this story had I read it in season.  Yes, the story from the annual was good, but this collection is really only worth picking up if you’re reading Taylor’s “Nightwing” run and can’t stand to see any gaps in it.