Cover by Brett Booth
Written by Kyle Higgins
Art by Will Conrad
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Beware of spoilers!
‘Nightwing’ has become a stand out title amongst the various Bat-titles in the DC Comics catalogue. Dick Grayson has long lived in the shadow of Bruce Wayne but in the wake of his mentors death back in late 2008 Grayson took over the mantle of the Bat from a short battle for the cowl.
Launching in to The New 52 Grayson was back in the guise of Nightwing, albeit in a red and black costume rather than blue and black. Initial fears that the costume was recoloured to match the costume worn by Chris O’Donnell in the critical disaster that was ‘Batman & Robin’ were quickly allayed.
Two years later and Dick has been through a lot. Coming out from the ‘Death of the Family’ arc the family were already at odds with Bruce only to be further broken apart by the death of Bruce’s son Damian – the most recent Robin.
The effect of Damian’s death on Dick hasn’t been fully explored in this or any related title as yet which seems like a lost opportunity considering the relationship the two built up whilst working as together as the Bat and Bird.
Currently we find Nightwing in Chicago, a town not fond of costumed heroes, searching for his parents murderer Tony Zucco.
The move outside of Gotham has allowed both Dick and Nightwing to spread their figurative wings and allowed the story to open up beyond the confines of the usual locales.
As a villain Prankster is an omnipresence in this current arc, he doesn’t always appear but he’s never far from our thoughts. There’s almost an air of The Joker from ‘The Dark Knight’ movie in that his actions are escalating as the story progresses but also he can appear from nowhere to cause anarchy.
The stories in the ‘Nightwing’ title have been incredible over recent months. Higgins is captaining this title to massive success with monthly circulations now topping ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Green Arrow’ and reviewers lauding over its every issue.
Much like other critically successful titles of recent months ‘Nightwing’ is juggling more of an ensemble cast of characters and intertwining their respective stories. It adds a layer of complexity to the overall arc which I really welcome in modern comics.
This is almost a reboot beyond that of the initial New 52 issue #1 and what we’re seeing are the initial stages of the creation of a new cast of characters to surround Nightwing. It’s an exciting time to be reading this title.
9/10
