DC Officially Crowns 'Leaping into the Light' the Greatest Nightwing Comic of All Time

Unlike with icons like Superman or Batman, it can be hard for fans of Nightwing to quantify the character's greatest stories of all time... or even what counts as a 'Nightwing' story.

Dick Grayson first appeared as Robin in 1940, only taking the Nightwing name in 1984 after two decades as a crucial part of the Teen Titans franchise. Indeed, the first Nightwing series was only published in 1996. So if you're a new reader who wants to read the best Nightwing stories, where do you start?

DC just made things a lot easier for new fans, crowning the definitive Nightwing story with a meaningful new edition.

DC Crowns 'Leaping into the Light' the Definitive Nightwing Story

On March 3, DC will release a new edition of Nightwing: Leaping into the Light, from Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. The story is the latest to get a 'DC Compact Comics' edition, sharing the imprint with iconic reads like Watchmen, Y: The Last Man and Batman: The Long Halloween.

DC has been incredibly selective with its DC Compact Comics edition, while still ensuring at least one volume each for lesser-known characters like Supergirl, Static and Catwoman. In those cases, the stories chosen are presented as the definitive tale for each character. As a result, the titles released under the DC Compact Comics imprint are basically a list of DC's best comics of all time.

It's therefore huge that DC has chosen to represent Nightwing with Leaping into the Light - the first volume of Tom Taylor's epic run with the character, which only began in 2021. So far, this is the only comic starring Nightwing to be chosen for the line, though he does appear as a side character in some other stories like DCeased and Batman: Hush.

DC's selection of Leaping into the Light shows immense faith in the story as the very best the character has to offer...

DC's selection of Leaping into the Light shows immense faith in the story as the very best the character has to offer, while also being accessible to a wide readership who may not keep up with monthly comics - the target demographic for the compact imprint.

Tom Taylor's Nightwing Was a Triumph for the Character

Nightwing: Leaping into the Light sees Dick Grayson re-establishing himself in his chosen home of Blüdhaven, following the death of his longtime father figure Alfred Pennyworth.

Collecting issues #78-88 of Nighting Volume 4 (which marked a change in creative team), Taylor establishes a thrilling new status quo for Dick Grayson - he adopts a dog, reconnects with longtime love interest Batgirl, and inherits billions of dollars from Alfred, which he decides to dedicate to uplifting Blüdhaven as both superhero protector and public figure.

Bruno Redondo's art is some of the most stunning ever committed to the page, while Adriano Lucas' color art delivers neon nights and bright, sunlit days that communicate Nightwing's immense optimism and sense of showmanship as a former circus acrobat.

Redondo's page layouts are creative and purposeful, and the series went on to release several stunt issues - one in which the story happens in first person, and one in which the entire issue is a gigantic connected image - the latter collected in this edition. Despite the challenges of such creative layouts, letterer Wes Abbott doesn't drop a stitch.

Taylor's run on Nightwing wasn't without flaw, with some storylines that felt hollow and multiple artist changes that couldn't live up to Redondo at his best. However, that later dip in quality doesn't take away from the near-perfection of Leaping into the Light, which deserves its place among DC's best superhero comics of all time, and - as DC clearly agrees - the crown of the greatest Nightwing story ever told.

Nightwing: Leaping into the Light DC Compact Comic edition is coming March 3 from DC Comics.