Nightwing, Volume 3: Death of the Family

I received this copy from First Reads and DC Comics for an honest review.

This graphic novel reprints The Death of the Family storyline featured in Nightwing #13-18, Batman #17 and a Nightwing story first printed in Young Romance #1.

The story follows Dick Grayson, the first Robin now Nightwing, through the events of the Joker's reappearance in Gotham. The Joker is capturing the Bat Family and is now after Nightwing. I found the story smart and fast paced. The artists that contributed to this volume know how to tell a story with minimal text and gives the visuals of the Joker just the right “creep” factor.

The climax to the story reprinted from Batman #17 had me on the edge of my seat and wondering to myself if the Joker really did what it looks like he did. Add a very good Batman/Joker confrontation that only these two characters could have makes for an excellent tale.

There are also two aftermath stories that were a nice touch and really makes me want to read the other Death of the Family volumes.

The only downside to this volume is the story reprinted from Young Romance #1. It has nothing to do with the main story and seems to be a “filler” story for page count. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice story, but for me, detracted from the rest of the book.