Trade Marks: Nightwing - A Knight in Bludhaven

I had always heard great things about this series, but could never find cheap copies of the early issues (stupid speculators!). A few years back, I got my hands on this trade as part of a large TPB lot on eBay. I was thrilled to dive right in, and I have read it a second time since then. Conceptually, it's brilliant. Nightwing has always been a great character looking for a quest, and the creation of Bludhaven as his own personal stomping ground was pure genius. He can stay connected to the whole Bat family, while truly moving out on his own. Story wise, it is quite solid as Dixon knows how to blend the action and mystery elements in with some decent characterization. My only hang up was that his hoods were a bit generic and I felt that Dick's relationship with his landlady, Clancy, was handled awkwardly. I know that Scott McDaniel has his fans, but his highly stylized artwork is pretty hit and miss for me. Strangely, I fit that he is at his best in the quieter moments, but things gets a bit tough to decipher during the fights. He needs to improve the way he establishes the geography of a fight, so that the action can be more easily followed. Overall, it was very good but falls short of greatness. Trade Mark: B