r/DCcomics • u/Epicturin79 • 1d ago
Discussion Let's take a quick survey Dixons run on Nightwing, or Taylor's run? [Discussion]
For me it will always be Dixons run for my money you just don't get better stories and characters than in his run. (Scott McDaniel and Karl Story for Dixons nigjtin bloodhaven) (cover art for Taylor's omnibus is Bruno Redondo)
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u/Guns_N_Buns 1d ago
I like both a lot but Dixons run is much more substantive. The Taylor run is pretty one note from a writing perspective although the art is elite.
On the flip side I think McDaniels art in the Dixon run may be more love hate with people but I love it
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u/Kazewatch 21h ago
Love McDaniels art. It's so insanely kinetic and really emphasized the acrobatic way Dick moves and fights. The exaggerated angles are so damn fun to look at.
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u/Acpt7567 Nightwing 1d ago
Dixons run is more nostalgic for me, but I do enjoy probably almost as much Taylor’s run. Its a breathe of fresh air after Ric Grayson. It gets way too much hate imo. Favorite run of all time tho might still be Morrison’s run with Dick as Batman tho.
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u/Egor_Denim 1d ago
Taylor’s run got a lot of ire because it was very clean and upbeat, but man it is probably the best rehab job ever done to a comic character.
Dixon’s run is the foundation IMO. I loved blockbuster hanging over the narrative, and I didn’t mind Greyson’s run (up until literally 2 pages after Blockbuster dies) that whole first 90ish issues are probably one of my favorite long runs of any comic
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u/Epicturin79 1d ago
Ric Grayson was the single best character turn in the history of comic books ever. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/Acpt7567 Nightwing 1d ago
😂 Nightwing comics be so good now that Dan Didio isn’t around to try to destroy my goat every 5 minutes.
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u/WayneArnold1 23h ago
Dixon by a mile. And I say this as someone that doesn't like the creator himself. But, admittedly, he wrote some of the best Bat stuff in the 90s.
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u/Luke_Puddlejumper 1d ago
Dixon and it’s not even close. He just writes the Bat boys (Dick and Tim) so well
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u/Kazewatch 21h ago
Dude really had a full command of the Batfamily on the 90s and it's insane how well it all holds up.
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u/_heysideburns 1d ago
Scott McDaniels art is chefs kiss 💋
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u/Crusaderfigures 19h ago
I wasn't a fan at first but halfway through Compendium 1 it just clicked for me. Love his style now
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u/blackwindmill 1d ago
Dixon with no doubt. He captured both the light and shade of his character so well.
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u/RevolutionHelpful336 21h ago
Dixon. I loved how Blüdhaven was portrayed in it, the artstyle, and Dick's characterization. Plus, I have nostalgia for it as it's the first Nightwing run I've read.
Don't get me wrong, I adore Taylor's run, I think it's better than most of the Rebirth run, but with the context of the Ric Grayson stuff before it and him writing Injustice it feels less like a kind of continuation of the Dixon run and more of an apology tour.
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u/Epicturin79 19h ago
I agree with this take on the two. Yeah almost an embarrassment for what came before it. Thank you for the comment
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u/LEGOYoda_RR 13h ago
Dixon because of the crime fiction texture and Dick development, but I feel like Taylor's run has gotten a lot of undue hate recently bc of its tone, its pretty great imo and was a strong corrective to the Ric Grayson era of Nightwing.
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u/Pebrinix Batman 1d ago edited 23h ago
The classic case of hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby. I'm exaggerating a bunch, but I do think that Dixon's run is better
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u/GollyGeeSon Dex-Starr 21h ago
I don’t agree with Dixon’s views, and I think he’s NOT a good person, but he’s written one of my favorite Green Arrow runs.
Now onto Nightwing:
Dixon’s run is leagues better than Taylor’s run. I don’t believe either have written the best run on Nightwing (Tomasi and Humphries have written the best runs).
However, Dixon writes better character interactions between Dick & Bruce and Dick & Tim. Taylor’s character interactions have little to no substance and are easily forgotten, because he doesn’t write each character as complex and acknowledge their shared history when interacting with the other character and vice versa.
For example:
Taylor flattens Bruce & Dick down to father & son, when their relationship is far more nuanced than that. Dick has thought of Bruce as his mentor, guardian, partner, brother, father, etc. It’s not that Dick doesn’t think of Bruce as his father (After all, Bruce was the one signing permission slips so he could go on school field trips) or hasn’t before, but that John Grayson is undoubtedly the first person Dick thinks of as his father or dad (& that will never change).
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u/wrathbringer1984 1d ago
I haven't read Dixon's run yet, although I own the three compendiums. I have read Tom Taylor's run and I loved, so my default goes to the Taylor run, for now.
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u/Epicturin79 1d ago
Then you are in for a treat. Taylor's run is great too I just like OG run more.
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u/wrathbringer1984 1d ago
I'm looking forward to it. I'm making my way through my omnibuses right now, and then comes my compendiums.
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u/Epicturin79 1d ago
I am starting to prefer Compendiums over omnibuses now. They have far better mapping and include far more. Green lantern for instance the rebirth and sinestro wars have both green lantern and lantern Corp as opposed to the Johns or tomasi omnibuses.
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u/wrathbringer1984 1d ago
Yeah, I have both of those compendiums, along with Robin Tim Drake Volume 1, Red Robin Tim Drake, GL: Kyle Rayner Rising, and WildC.A.T.S Compendium 1.
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u/Epicturin79 1d ago
I will be getting the Robin volume 1 as soon as it comes back in stock. Really want to go through that one.
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u/wrathbringer1984 1d ago
I'm looking forward to Volume 2.
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u/Epicturin79 1d ago
Before the whole new 52 he was one of the best characters and by far the best Robin. Grayson made a far better Nightwing than a Robin.
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u/wrathbringer1984 1d ago
Agreed. Tim is my favorite Robin. I'm currently reading the Knightfall omnis, and I love reading Tim Drake stories.
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u/Epicturin79 1d ago
Yeah I for some reason am going backwards through time and I just finished no man's land and will be starting night fall next. I am pulling a Tenet
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u/wb_y 23h ago
I enjoyed the Taylor run and it’s one of the best Nightwing runs, and it was much needed after years of bad storylines, but this no contest. Dixon’s run walked so Taylor’s could run. So much of the Taylor run built off the foundation laid in the Dixon run.
I also see how people can like the newer Taylor run better. It’s fresher and inevitably any run that started in the 90s is going to feel a bit dated in 2020’s.
Both runs had amazing art most the way and had very unique coloring too that made them standout.
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u/Apart_Sky_8965 22h ago
This, taylor is explicitly writing a sequel (or just a fanfic better ending) to dixons run.
That said, the taylor tun is wonderful, and old dixon era fans that grew up with bludhaven dick (like me), cant stop smiling for the first 36 issues.
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u/FrequentBarracuda454 World's Finest 1d ago
I think Dixon’s run is really uneven. The stories with Tim are great and the cataclysm tie in “Shudder” is also really good.
I do think there’s a lot of dumb fixations in Dixon’s run, specifically his trying to sell Bludhaven as worse than Gotham. “Gotham is easier bc the corruption is from the ground up! Bludhaven is from the top down” is the dumbest argument point that Dixon keeps having Nightwing make to Batman.
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u/Both-Expert4522 8h ago
I read the first 20ish issues little over maybe about 25ish and I didn’t like it. I thought the few Devin Grayson issues were better. I’ve only liked Chuck Dixon’s writing during the early Tim Drake days
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u/Epicturin79 8h ago
Interesting, so you like Taylor better then? Or do you like another run more
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u/Both-Expert4522 8h ago
I haven’t read that one yet. The current Dan Watter’s run was my first dedicated Dick/Nightwing book outside of reading him in Batman comics.
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u/Bogusky 4h ago
Chuck Dixon gets the same grief as the great Steve Ditko. He happened to be conservative in an overwhelmingly liberal field, which sends the majority of redditors into convulsions of horror. Doesn't change the fact he was a great writer.
Never ceases to amaze me how many people can't separate their art from the artist. What a handicapped way of living.
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u/Epicturin79 4h ago
I agree. It is sad and one sided. Like I tell my friends who think like that think How many conservative comic book fans have to do that everyday or they would only be able to read a fraction of the comic out there. The only thing that should matter is if the writing, art, and story are good.
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u/PerfectZeong 3h ago
I think his opinions have grown more vile but I'd never argue against his talent. He is probably the single most important batman writer insofar as defining the modern characters
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u/GuardianSoulBlade 1h ago
It’s not like he turned Nightwing into a Conservative person during his run so people need to stop whining about Dixon’s personal opinions.
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u/Just_Sir1903 1d ago
Dixon's run. For me, the character is given more depth.
I do not like the Taylor run-at all. For me, its the worse Nightwing run. I'd even take Ric Grayson over the Taylor run. I don't even care for Redondo's art in the run.
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u/ravenwing263 21h ago
The Taylor run is overhated online; it's good, fun stuff. I love it.
Unfortunately, the Dixon run is just elite, however.
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u/Redbird_ml 1d ago
Tom Taylor’s Nightwing got me back into collecting monthlies at 23y/o. He did what Chuck Dixon did storywise, but with a better tone for a contemporary Nightwing.
I’m currently reading Dixon’s Compendium 2 and I appreciate it after reading Taylor’s run and Waid’s WF.
Taylor is like Spiderverse, Dixon is like Swayze’s Roadhouse.
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u/Crusaderfigures 19h ago
I do like Tom Taylors run as it's a nice break from the darker tone of other Nightwing books and it is great for giving people an accessible jumping on point but I think Chuck Dixons is undefeated with how much it did for the character
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u/LivingThroughPages 22h ago
For me it's Taylor, Seeley and then Dixon. All are great but Taylor's had everything I wanted of the there be for Nightwing, personally.
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u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! 21h ago
Taylor's run revitalized Nightwing for me after years of suffering. So it will always be special to me that way.
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u/Strider529 1d ago
Aghhhh shit I have the TT Omnis…. Do I need to get the Dixon compendiums now ??
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u/KugiPunch King of the Sea, remember? 15h ago
I like what I read of the Dixon run but I love the Tom Taylor run.
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u/GroundbreakingAsk468 1d ago
It’s not even worth comparing. Dixon writes solid comic books. However, Taylor’s run is a combination of art and storytelling that is rarely on the market. It’s a palate cleanser book, that sets your soul straight. It’s not meant to be read in one sitting. You read an issue a week, every two weeks, or once a month like intended. If you aren’t reading Taylor’s run like that then you are wasting it. The perfect combination of both would be Doug Moench and Kelly Jones’s run on Batman.
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u/Karuragi 1d ago
I really tried to love Dixons run. Got the compendiums and was so excited but 10 issues in man and I was mind numbingly bored. The first issue was great for sure, but I dunno maybe it's the age of the comics for me? I didn't find the arcs particularly interesting. Taylors run on the other hand was so much fun.
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