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Nightwing writer Tom Taylor teases what readers can expect next in the series while sharing his longtime love for the original Boy Wonder.
Comic writer Tom Taylor has been especially busy as of late in the DC Universe — from having Jon Kent inherit his father’s superhero legacy in the newly launched Superman: Son of Kal-El to providing a dark fantasy vision of the DC Universe in the upcoming series Dark Knights of Steel. Through it all, Taylor and frequent collaborator Bruno Redondo continue to craft new adventures for Dick Grayson on Nightwing, showcasing how the original Boy Wonder’s mission to defend Bludhaven is growing more personal than ever across their series run.
In a roundtable table interview attended by CBR, Taylor teased what fans can expect from upcoming issues of Nightwing, shared his personal connection and inspirations for writing the character, and reflected on his and Andy Kubert’s miniseries Batman: The Detective.
Taylor confirmed that Heartless would go on to play a much bigger role in Nightwing moving forward. The series will include the backstory behind the villain and why they have a grudge against Nightwing. Taylor added that Blockbuster would continue to plague Nightwing in a major way, but remained coy on additional antagonists appearing in the series. Additionally, Taylor confirmed he plans to spotlight Nightwing’s relationship with his fellow Titans in the future as they are so important to Dick Grayson’s life.
Ahead of “Fear State,” Nightwing will cross paths with the Titans and Superman. CBR asked what elements of Nightwing Taylor wanted to revive and celebrate and what he wanted to bring that was new. “I’ve been a fan of Nightwing forever,” he replied. “The Chuck Dixon/Scott McDaniel era was one of my favorite books of all time. I wanted to find that sense again. I wanted to find what I loved about that and push it to the nth degree. I wanted to bring back characters that were a threat to him but this isn’t Batman’s villains, this is Nightwing’s. Finding Heartless was all about Nightwing: you’ve got the heart of the DC Universe and then you’ve got someone who doesn’t have a heart and takes hearts. It’s very simple, this is about Nightwing.”
“It was about taking everything I loved about this character and bringing it all back and not quite reinventing it but just finding a way to make it all work for today and find that sense of fun again and who he is again and remind the world that,” Taylor continued. “This is Batman and Robin. Everybody’s heard of Batman and Robin, it’s the biggest thing in the world, and Robin, since [1940], that’s Dick Grayson. He should be on that pedestal and that was a big part of my pitch. I wanted to put Nightwing back on this pedestal. I said yes to his book very quickly, even though there were offers where people would go, ‘That’s a bigger book!’ And I’d go, ‘Yeah, but it’s not. It’s Nightwing. That’s the biggest book!'”
Taylor turned his focus to Batman: The Detective and explained how a lot of the story elements from that title came from working with Andy Kubert — such as including Gentleman Ghost in the story and making Bruce Wayne noticeably older than his main DCU counterpart. The story was meant to show what makes Batman the character who he is, outside of Gotham City and his usual support system. Taylor concluded that he was keen on focusing on his dynamic with Henri Ducard to underscore those sensibilities.
DC’s Nightwing #83, written by Taylor and with art by Bruno Redondo, is on sale now. Batman: The Detective #5, written by Taylor and with artwork by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope, goes on sale on Sept. 14 from DC Comics.
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