This isn’t really a continuation of the story introduced in the previous volume at all, but rather a tie in with a previous arc, along with some extra small comics. Fear State itself was okay, but I don’t really feel like having to read a ton of other comics to continue one story. I did like the humor in this volume, and the comic with Jason was my favorite.

Nightwing's second Infinite Frontier era trade, Fear State, collecting issues #84-88 and the 2021 Annual, is disappointing given Tom Taylor's fresh start in vol.1. After setting up a bold new direction, a new villain, etc., the Batman offices force him (and Dick) to head back to Gotham to participate in a crossover for HALF the volume, with a different artist no less. While Robbi Rodriguez, and Tormey and HDR on the Annual, are good artists, their use of Redondo's techniques - ghost images of action and baton diagrams - are clunky. And though there are some good moments in Fear State, in particular the use of Nightwing's family (the Bat Family) as a support system, I still can't understand how DC's decided to fast track all the Future State stuff, which is supposed to happen years in the future, so that it all happens NOW. Gotham as a police state could have been ripped from the headlines, but instead feels like Batman's stepped into Robocop. In these three issues and the Annual's team-up with Red Hood, the best parts are those that flash back to earlier in the relationships. Taylor just makes all these relationships - even Dick and Jason as bona fide BROTHERS - work so well. If everyone seems to always be crashing Nightwing's title (the Titans, Superman, etc.), it's because he's FRIENDS with everyone, that's just his CHARACTER. And I love that. Thankfully, the collection ends with a couple issues of our boy back in Blüdhaven dealing with the fallout from his civilian identity's very public announcement before the "break", including an issue that's just one long panel, using Redondo's ability to work with ghost images, and that's what I want from this series. But as a high profile member of the Batman universe, Taylor's gonna have a heck of a time avoiding the pitfalls of crossover madness...

I had pretty low expectations for this Fear State tie in, but it was actually a lot of fun. Great team stories with Nightwing and the crew, plus a little romance with Batgirl!

I love it when multiple Robins work together

While Redondo's art was sorely missed (like, a lot), this was a lot of fun. We see Gotham going through a police state, deepfake moment which, while not particularly interesting, ties back into whatever's happening elsewhere and gives us some nice moments between Dick and Tim. Barbara is also there a lot and gets suited up which is fun. In fact, the plot is mostly Babs' if we're being honest, but I enjoy seeing her on her feet so much that I can overlook her overshadowing Dick.

We get a nice bit involving Jason and his relationship with Dick and finally a Christmas issue which brings us "A Christmas Carol" by way of some extremely potent Fear Toxin. I'm always up for some Batfamily moments and this volume has plenty of those, but doesn't move the overall Nightwing plot along much. I don't mind because it's a nice little collection with some fairly innocuous stakes and has great dialogue with plenty of banter. Highly recommend!

It was a bad decision, after such a good first volume, to tie things up with Fear State. It was obvious that it was an editorial choice, not the author's.
The result is a bland story that entirely lost the momentum Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo had built.

I missed this volume because it’s a tie-in with the Fear State stories and didn’t show up in my library. Got it finally.

The Fear State story was fine but most of it continues from and on in other issues so I just went off context clues. The story wasn’t bad, but I do wish I knew the conclusion. I don’t have the patience to read the entire run though. Not a fan of the art in the two Fear State issues. Not my style and character art wasn’t as clean as I’d like it. One of the issues was so focused on Babs, that I simply don’t understand why Babs doesn’t have more popular headlining series. DC keeps dropping the ball on its female superheroes.

The third issue in the volume is a filler issue featuring Red Hood. It was cute, but I wish we’d had even more of Dick and Jason bonding out together. I think there have been better issues that dig into their brotherly bond—I don’t think it helps that I was just reading the Wayne Family Adventures WEBTOON, and that series is an expansive study of the Bat-family’s domestic life and interpersonal relationships. The issue isn’t bad, I just didn’t feel the emotional and personal beats were as authentic as some other stories I’ve read.

The Christmas annual—I may have read this before. It’s good; art is a lot better. I do feel that the Ghosts of Christmas Past story device is a tired trope at this point, and frankly, the gimmick didn’t land in this story. The holidays are a difficult time for many, and rates of depression and suicidal ideation go up because people have many reasons to not feel the Christmas spirit. So I would have preferred a story that dealt with that, instead of an attempt to guilt trip the happiest guy in the Bat-family into joining the festivities. Maybe I’m asking too much, but I find that too many American creators lean too heavily on only a handful of literary references and that stunts their storytelling. This annual faces that issue.