WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Nightwing #84, on sale now from DC Comics.

While Dick Grayson has been the protector of Bludhaven for some time now, he is the closest he has ever been to saving the city, both in his civilian guise and his superhero mantle as Nightwing. Taking a role as Bludhaven's most prominent philanthropist while battling the city's most notorious supervillains, Dick is perhaps more effective than Batman in terms of saving a city on virtually every municipal level. And as the crossover event "Fear State" ramps up in Gotham City, it's quickly becoming clear that Dick's approach to his own superhero mission may be better suited for Bludhaven than his old stomping grounds in Gotham as Nightwing finds himself out of his element when he makes his return to Gotham.

In addition to launching a philanthropic foundation in the late Alfred Pennyworth's honor to donate his recently acquired billions towards the overall betterment of Bludhaven, including funding low income housing and improving the city's infrastructure, Dick has actively been combatting the supervillains Blockbuster and Heartless and stop their respective terrifying holds on the local populace. Dick puts a pause on this campaign when he receives an automated distress signal from Oracle to return to Gotham and rendezvous with the rest of the Bat Family at Park Row, better known as the infamous Crime Alley. And as Dick answers the call in Nightwing #84 -- by Tom Taylor, Robbi Rodriguez, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott -- he quickly discovers just how far in over his head he's at back in Gotham.

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After dropping off his new dog Haley with his old flame Bridget Clancy, Nightwing races off to Gotham but finds that the automated distress signal was sent by Scarecrow specifically to lure out members of the Bat Family into an ambush in Crime Alley. Out of his element, Nightwing barely eludes a legion of heavily armed troopers working in service to Scarecrow as the supervillain tightens his grip on the city and keeps the Bat Family on the defensive. Reuniting with Barbara Gordon as she reclaims her superhero mantle of Batgirl, Nightwing moves to help his friends take back the city but is still at a clear disadvantage against Scarecrow and his forces.

Nightwing in Leather Jacket

This disparity underscores how much more difficult Batman's crimefighting crusade has become since last year's crossover event "Joker War" while Nightwing is closer than ever to enacting real, lasting change for the better with Bludhaven. Bludhaven is still far from perfect but, compared to the rampant amount of corruption and graft that was festering on virtually every municipal level when Nightwing first arrived in the city years ago, Dick Grayson appears to be much farther along in saving Bludhaven than Batman appears to be in saving Gotham City, especially as Scarecrow's rampage intensifies.

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Dick Grayson was always a hero that was moving towards moving out of the shadow of the bat to become his own man and superhero. Judging by recent actions and progress in Bludhaven, Dick appears to be well on his way towards inspiring and significantly improving the city and taking down its two greatest supervillains. And despite getting his superhero start in Gotham, Dick is quickly discovering that he may be a bit out of step with how things are done in Gotham these days, nearly falling prey to Scarecrow. Nightwing is about to lend some valuable support to the Bat Family in "Fear State" but this return to Gotham could serve as a wakeup call where Dick's real home is now.

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