The return of Dick Grayson! A bullet from KGBeast robbed Nightwing of his memories and shattered the identity of Dick Grayson. Now he has found himself living as Ric Grayson, free from the influence of Batman and all that comes with him. But when the Joker comes to town, armed with a mind-controlling crystal and a taste for mayhem, Ric finds his identity in question once again. Is he Nightwing, wisecracking hero fighting for what's right? Is he Ric, masked vigilante attempting to carve out a new life? Or is he Dicky-Boy, son of the Joker, sinister foot soldier in his father's deadly war against Batman? To find the anser, and to rightfully take his mantle as Nightwing again, Ric will need to delve deep into his own subconscious. But how will he be able to do that whenthe Joker War rages all around him? Comics legend Dan Jurgens (The Death of Superman, Batman Beyond), along with artists Ronan Cliquet (Green Lanterns), Ryan Benjamin (The Immortal Men), and Travis Moore (Batman), brings the Ric Grayson saga to an epic and heartbreaking conclusion in Nightwing: The Joker War. Collects Nightwing Annual #3, Nightwing #70-77.
3.5 rating, bumped to a 4 because I liked reading the moments Nightwing had with his bat family.
I've read most of the currect Nightwing stuff but I stopped reading during the Ric arc, so I don't know much about about Grayson being Ric. It was easy enough to fill in the gaps, but I have no personal investment in the new people he's surrounded himself with, especially Bea. So, I can't really say if I hated or liked how these were concluded.
This book shows the conclusion of the Ric arc and Grayson is back to being normal with his memories returned. It's also ties into the bigger arc of "Joker's War" but can still be read without reading Joker's War.
This volume had some dark times in here for Grayson but I enjoyed that it ended on a happy note at the end, with a little Christmas Holiday thrown in. It was nice to end with them having a happy moment as a Bat family.
The art was great and I can't wait to see what happens next with Nightwing.
