Whether you want to see him as a sidekick or his own hero, if you've never read a Robin
or a Nightwing book before then this is the video for you! WOOF WOOF! Hey guys, it's me,
Marcus AKA the Maddogg and we're back with another video! As is kind of tradition would be where to
start series the first book that you ever read for this character was a little trade paperback
that was called Nightwing the hunt for Oracle and little did I know at that time that I was jumping
head first into the seminal Nightwing run that was done by Chuck Dixon the original trade paperbacks
of this were never numbered that well and I don't even think they were complete but for 70 or so
issues Dixon solidified that nightwingers who Dick Grayson should have always been and he's also the
hero that bloodhaven deserves and looking back on the history of it now it felt like this was the
first time that he was ever really allowed to be his own hero and really step outside of the shadow
of Batman but the action is dynamic and keeps it interesting he places Grayson in a new location
and it did go on for many issues after Dixon left but I definitely feel like he was the picadess
series so whether you start with a four issue Mini or a random Mark that took place throughout
the series this is fun easy to enjoy goes on for a while and even had a recap of his origin story
part way through but we're gonna touch on that later next up if you wanted a similar pick but
for Tim Drake I'm gonna go with Robin by Chuck Dixon admittedly doing a where to start on any
member of the bat family and recommending Chuck Dixon is quite an easy and cliche pick but with
good reason it's quite similar to what I just said about the Nightwing run but for 100 issues Dixon
solidified that Tim Drake is his own character and not just somebody who's Batman's sidekick but
this one will give you views with this character where he is going off on his own Adventures he
is finding his feet as a vigilante because he was still quite a young character in the grand scheme
of things at this point admittedly it spiraled out a Nightfall so you might need to know a bit about
that but if you can get over that initial hurdle at the very beginning then you pretty much greeted
with a fresh start and even though the 90s gets a bad rap when it comes to Comics this series finds
itself in that perfect midpoint where each story arc takes place over a couple of issues so it's
not like you read one issue and you feel like you're done but if you don't read all 70 won't
feel like you're being penalized and if you did decide to follow the full run even when Dixon left
the title you've got writers like Bill William and Adam Beachin taking over so you can have over a
decade with this character in terms of publishing I don't know I'll slow you read yeah it is a bit
of a task if you do want to read the full thing because the trade paperbacks aren't that easy to
complete and the quality does dip a bit here and there but if you wanted to see Tim's full Journey
this is pretty much the best place that you can go to for my next recommendation I'm going with
under the Red Hood now there's not a lot of Jason Todd titles that I can recommend you don't really
hear Too Many people saying that Jason Todd is a favorite Robin I bet there's going to be somebody
who's offended by that but for Red Hood I still feel like his best story was his introduction
under the Red Hood is one of those titles that was originally trying to be a bit of a mystery
but it's one that's now being solved and well known it's still a great story giving you a
recap on who this character is showing you just how much he's changed and also establishing who
Jason wants to be now there's a ton of emotion great development for Batman and Deals more with
the mafia street level type crime along with the unfinished business with the joker I also really
like that art there's some great big vibrant fights that are going on throughout this it
was a tough task to bring Jason Todd back into the DC Universe especially after his death was
decided on a vote but somehow this story managed to find a way to do it in a way that felt natural
but also made you excited for what could come for this character next from here you could
pretty much jump into any Red Hood series or you could even go straight into three Jokers but for
a refresher course on the trauma of Jason Todd a springboard for where he could go and also just
the most exciting story that this character's probably ever had I can't recommend better than
this and also it comes at a great time because they have recently announced that there's going
to be a deluxe edition later on this year which you can already audit with the discount codes that
we've got with the channel sponsor organic Price Books they've got great packaging fast shipping
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you like after that I'm going with the new Teen Titans now when it comes to DC characters I try
to avoid recommending stories that came came out before crisis on infinite Earths although they've
got some Mary I often find they're just difficult to get into they don't have a lot of relevance to
what's going on today and they're just so weirdly but the biggest exception to that rule is new Teen
Titans it was kicked off by Marvel and George Perez so you've got top-tier talent that started
this and they put Dick Grayson at the Forefront of this and I feel like I've said this sentence a few
times but this was kind of the first opportunity he got to stand outside of the shadow of the Dark
Knight and I spoke a little bit about the history of this I mean George Perez top five notable works
but they brought together a team of great younger characters such as Beast Boy Raven Starfire Cyborg
and countless others to give us one of those titles where each issue feels like it's its
own complete story but at the same time it feels like it's contributing to something big over the
course of this series you do get to see how Dick Grayson steps into this leadership role in the
struggles that he has and also how that reflects on his own relationship with Batman and sure the
longer the series goes on you do get some more overarching plots but you also think that they
are some of the clear highlights of this entire run there were a few relaunches throughout the run
but I'd recommend just jumping in at the beginning and enjoying the ride and if you wanted to see how
Robin became Nightwing then this is the run for you because you can see that entire translation
I'd also recommend Jeff Johnson's run on Teen Titans yeah it wasn't Dick Grayson but you've
still got Robin in the picture and this is newer than the new Teen Titans but it's also not the
newest Teen Titans so yeah he is Tim Drake and it's mostly a different roster but still hits
a criteria to be great for new Robin readers and that could also be a platform so that you could
read that if it was that you know about some of the other characters and then you could jump into
something like Chuck Dixon's run okay I might need to justify this next one a bit but I'm gonna go
with lonely place a dying it's a bit of continuity that you'd need to know to be able to enjoy this
yeah but is this a perfect introduction if you want to read Tim Drake obviously because it's the
first time that he became Robbie but it's great because it's Tim Drake showcasing all of his great
attributes and why Batman needs another Robin after he pretty much swore offy after Jason Todd
died spoilers his smart charismatic and what he lacks in combat experience he makes up for in just
not being Jason Todd there's also just a really wholesome feeling with this especially if you've
already read the death in the family and it's pretty short if you did just want something to do
with Tim Drake without needing one of these longer runs I'm also going to recommend the Nightwing New
52 run yeah this should come as a surprise that nobody who's watched this channel before because
the new 52 Is My Jam but the Dick Grayson New 52 Weaver is a weird time because he changed his
costume or mostly just the color and it didn't dislike it but I didn't prefer it over the
original but the story he is an interesting one to follow because he did focus more on his origin as
a circus performing he was also written by Kyle Higgins who then went on to do the boom Studios
mmpr series and gave his Lord draken so yeah it might just be biased here but there's definitely
quality that was working on this title but even then it still remained decent once he left and
Tim Seeley took over he also gave us some more Great Moments between Nightwing and Batman and
he also just feels like there's a complete story here after the 30 issues are done this also set
up a way more interesting and dynamic storyline that followed speaking of which Grayson yep if
you watch my underrated New 52 runs you shouldn't be surprised that this is included here you might
be one of those people that doesn't want to read an overly superhero story although it mainly map
shows the worst medium for that but when it comes to Dick Grayson there's a perfect story if you're
in that scenario having been presumed dead the former Nightwing becomes a secret agent and he's
able to use his tactical cunning that you learned from the years Batman in his clever disguises to
infiltrate places that a superhero just wouldn't I can't lie there's not much overlap here if you
wanted to use this to be able to get into more series that involved it Grayson but you know what
it's fun and it mostly stays true to the dick racing character whilst just giving you this
exciting spy Thriller the Omnibus also recently got reprinted which again you can pick up from
organic prize books I mentioned the discount codes before and hopefully you are watching don't make
me play that advert again Batman Dark Victory yeah I know it's kind of ironic that I'm recommending
a sequel is a great place for beginners but Dark Victory weeks great is an origin story for Dick
Grayson without needing to tie into any of the main continuity and Beyond just that the whole
load sale collection of Batman stories works great regardless of how much you know about the Batman
or Robbie mythology so on top of a story that introduces you into Grayson you also just get one
of the best Batman stories in a self-contained 14 issue series and if I'm being honest this
might be a controversial take but when I reviewed this early on when I started doing this channel
I remember enjoying Dark Victory more than it did along Halloween and I think because I really like
that connection that Bruce and Grayson had and how they developed it and how it felt like a natural
progression so this has got great abstract art it's a complete story and it's just an all-around
good time regardless of if you wanted to read more Robin or Nightwing after this next up I'm going
Batman and Robin by tomasi and Gleason another one that I reviewed on this channel so if you've
got the time please go and watch that because I need the views but this Omnibus is great because
it took place across multiple continuities it started as a continuation of Grant Morrison's
run on Batman and Robin then continued when the universe shifted into the new 52 and this was just
a really fun wacky adventure story that featured Bruce and Damien although fair warning it does get
a bit depressing in the middle and the best part about this run is exploring the dynamic between
the two because they are actually Father and Son which does make it different from any of the
other connections that he had with the previous Robins you've also got Bruce trying to morph
into this more naturing role which is difficult for him because you know he's a bit emotionally
unavailable but he knows he needs to do it because of all those tendencies that is still in Damien's
head because of his experience with the league shadows and in a way it's just nice having these
few moments where you really get to see Bruce be happy again ensure the series is great from the
start when Dick Grayson was a dark knight but that also requires you to have read everything
that Morrison's done for the character which I'm reluctant to say is new reader friendly so instead
I'm gonna recommend the middle part but if you did want a Batman and Robin title that features Damien
and sees him interacting with a wide range of the DC Universe then this will probably be the best
starting point for you super Suns and yeah we're looking at Damien again but this time he's teaming
up with the son of Superman John you get to see this Duo work together as you learn about their
abilities and responsibilities whilst at the same time teaming up with people like Lex Luthor so
that they can save the Justice League go through trials to see if they can join the Teen Titans
and also travel through space and time especially if you try and get a younger reader into comics
and you think that Robbie might be that character that's going to be the Gateway for them you know
just in case they're at the age where Bruce might actually try and recruit them in real life then
this would be a great recommendation because you get to see Damien's brutal rough and unforgiving
demeanor complimented nicely with John's Hope and optimism and also the Omnibus is getting reprinted
this year so this is going to be something that's very easy to get your hands on this one might be
a controversial pick but I'm gonna go with Batman Black Mirror yeah I know this is a Nightwing slash
Robin list but it's Dick Grayson that's under the cowl so I'm gonna count it and also just because
this is one of the best stories that you can read for Dick Grayson and you might think that this
wouldn't help you tremendously in branching into a Nightwing or robbing story but what Scott Snyder
did well was highlight the subtle differences between Bruce and dick just for the way that
the operators Batman this is also a darker more serious crime Thriller mystery investigation type
story if that's the type that you were looking for and this is also just a great Jim Gordon story
because spoiler alert I'm probably not going to do a where to start on his character he'd be nice to
but I don't think that'd get very many views also there's just fantastic artwork that's done by jock
which is why I had to pick this up in the absolute Edition and this is just a phenomenal book whether
you know a little bit about Batman Dick Grayson or you know absolutely nothing about them I'm just
gonna stick with the ones that I think might prove to be controversial because next up I'm going with
detect active Comics by James Tenney but if you wanted a more recent Tim Drake storyline
that also involves Stephanie Brown who is also a robin at one point so it's kind of like two for
the price of one then this is a great longer run that you can really get stuck into I did a review
with this early last year and when I started it I wasn't really sure if this was going to be a book
that I'd enjoy but around the halfway mark this just goes absolutely batshit crazy and I loved it
so if you did start reading this one especially in those first couple of issues it might not be
obvious why I've recommended it on this list but stick with it and you will pretty much get the
equivalent of a Terminator movie that features Tim Drake Y8 might not be a pure Robin storyline
but Tim gets a lot of the spotlight in this and I really think that this highlighted why he was
the best sidekick that Batman ever had yeah I said it another pick where you're gonna get to
for the price of one but I'm gonna go robbing you one in Nightwing year one but when it comes to DC
Comics the phrase U1 is pretty much the equivalent of the bat signal for new readers and it's sitting
over my shoulders so I kind of had to put this in the list both of these were written by Chuck Dixon
so you know you're in great hands with a writer that it's done a lot for these characters in the
past but it's also just a great Standalone story if you didn't want the full origin of him but you
wanted to see his early days as a crime fighter and Robin you one actually takes place after Dark
Victory but it's still a great Standalone jumping on point so yeah it is great if you already knew
the very Basics like him being a circus performer and him being adopted by Bruce Wayne or the fact
that he did Splinter away from him and you want to know pretty much what happened after that read
together you do get to see the early days and the hope and the optimism that they had for the
dynamic duo which then led to their disbanding and him having to go off on his own and try to
find his feet and understand why it meant to be his own hero regardless of these being set early
on in his career I still think that they're just great stories to read so whether you wanted to
refresh it or you wanted to feel like you were starting at the beginning you can't really go
wrong if it's got you one in the title we've spoke about Damien a few times now but if you wanted a
shorter story that can introduce you into who he is without all the continuity bugging it down then
I'd recommend Damien Son of Batman but he isn't just relying on the duo of Batman and Robin all
the time it is him going out on his own doing in investigations trying to get into the detective
mode and almost following in the footsteps of his father at the same time despite this only being
four issues it's going to give you a great insight into what the League of Shadows means to him and
it's written and illustrated by Andy kubert so you know you're in great hands and you can pretty much
read through this in one setting but for now if you did want something shorter to read Son
of Batman would definitely be my recommendation and how could it do a where to start on Nightwing
slash Robin without recommending the phenomenal run that's currently ongoing by top Taylor yeah
it's fortunate that the current one for Dick Grayson is great if you've never read anything for
this character before sure it's not going to hold your hand and go for the history of he and Batman
but what it will do is just throw you into the middle of it and give you a great story where you
can learn about Nightwing his relationships and just the way he perceives his role as a vigilante
I also feel like this is one of the more humorous Nightwing stories it's a bit more light-hearted
even though it does have its darker moments but to me dick Grayson's always been the type
of character that's more likely to crack a joke he is pretty much the opposite of the personality of
Batman and I feel like this one remembers that and it's the reason why there's so much energy
and excitement and every single issue and yeah it is still ongoing I've had to collect this in the
standard size haul covers so it could very well be the case that this completely drives off a cliff
and it really does not end well and I'll end up regretting putting this on the list and this is
one of the best titles that's coming out lately regardless of the fact that it's about Nightwing
so there was no way that I was going to leave it off this list any final recommendation is pretty
much any Nightwing Robin red hood or Red Robin story that's gonna get you into this character
I have not read everything and you might end up reading the New 52 Red Hood in the Outlaws run or
Josh Williamson's run on Robin and that might be a title that you really gravitate towards and enjoy
so just because it's not on this list it doesn't mean that it's not the perfect jumping on point
for you so just have a look what's out there see what takes your interest and more than anything
just enjoy the comics that you end up reading so that's going to be the video in the comment
section below let me know what character you want to see me do or where to start on next but until
next time just make sure that you stay safe and stay mad all you dogs with roof see the next video