#sorry this got so long its just dhhdndnndhdbhdh i could go on and on and on

[rchardgrayson]

This isn't like a dig at the anon who said the Ric arc was worse than Taylor or anything but I'd just like to expand a tiny bit,

There are some absolute balls-to-the-walls nuts things in the Ric arc that are, imo, mostly bad. (Spoilers ahead if you have not read) but whilst Dick/Ric is adamtly refusing to go back to his previous life (and you definitely sympathise with him) there's a bunch of cops (plus one firefighter I think?) who all put on Nightwing suits and try to fight crime and Ric sorta helps them out/joins them so they don't get themselves killed which I'm not even a huge fan of but there's character motivation and conflict going on there that is interesting. I really like Bea, who's introduced as a civilian love interest which surprised me because I really did not like Shawn when I first read her (though maybe I'd like her more if I did a reread) because she's a genuinely kind and interesting character with goals and motivations. There's also wild shit involving the court of owls which underpins the whole amnesia thing in general (they like stole his memories and kept them bla bla) which was a bit bleh - could've been done better and then the Joker thing which was unspeakable sjhdjdjjdjd but like all in all when I read it through a second time I was like okay? I can pick out the good from bad y'know?

Then it gets worse (imo) when Dick gets his memories back, he literally says he still likes/loves Bea and wants to see it work and then literally next issue that plan is instantly changed and he tells Bea the feelings didn't remain and she gets dropped from existence. It's such an obvious shift that was done to make way for Taylors run because Taylor very clearly wanted nothing to do with her. Another obvious shift is how, post-memory return, Dick initially says he's not ready to be Nightwing again yet and then next second Bruce has forced his hand and he is. This is all to bring it in line with where Taylor wants the comic to go but it's done so quickly I feel like I've got whiplash.

Queue Taylor and his run instantly feels so disconnected with where it was before. I understand each writer wants to bring something new and may struggle picking up from whatever place the previous writer left off but it feels so disjointed that it's jarring. And not in a good way. There's less 'wild' shit that goes on in Taylors run which should be a good thing right? Except...it more feels like there's no wild stuff because there's just...nothing happening at all sjhdjdjjd. Melinda Zucco being his secret sister is so dumb because imo she's already a compelling character as a daughter of Zucco who's mayor and seemingly under Blockbusters thumb but actually good...like there's plenty of conflict there without the dumb 'actually John Grayson is her dad' shit...like watch her be forgotten by not only Taylor but by DC in general.

And speaking of Taylor and forgetting things, there's so little movement in each issue that I, as a reader, have forgotten what the current plot even is. All I remember is the dumb billionaire plotline which is just one of Taylors liberal faux-progressive takes that reads 'actually good billionaires are fine'🙄. I'm aware he's not the one who brought Dick back to Blüdhaven or reintroduced Blockbuster but Taylors writing reads like Chuck Dixon + Devin Grayson fanfic. He's that meme from into the spiderverse where Miles looks up at Peter B like his teacher. He said himself he's inspired by Devin's era but his stuff doesn't just read as inspiration...it's literally copy+paste and idek how they're gonna work around preboot being declared canon again with Blockbuster alive and right there if they're even gonna address it at all.

Listen, Taylor is no Morrison, or Miller, he's not so wildly bad in those ways which is why he's largely slipping away with it but his writing is mediocre, lackluster and reads like he copied Chuck Dixon's homework in class. His portrayal of Babs is just downright offensive (and the art too) which he does have some control over unlike how some people claim he's powerless because the team on the Batgirls book have literally spoken about how they've fought for the meagre representation that they have. His d/ckb@bs writing is a disservice to both their characters and with each issue it becomes increasingly clear that he doesn't even want to portray Dick (the literal main character) as a capable character whatsoever and just continuously has everyone else fix his problems for him while he writes him like an unassuming idiot (I can sure see the Devin influence here jshdhdh)

So yeah, years down the line, Taylors Nightwing run probably isn't going to jump out compared to some others as the worst (so far any way) but it for sure isn't because it's good but because it's lazy. Also it's made a lot worse by problems in his other comics (being totally ignorant concerning school shootings in his superman run) and how he sucks his own cock on twitter and expects everyone to praise him like he just wrote the most progressive™️ thing yet