Nightwing has been getting himself back into the swing of things out here in Blüdhaven.
He doesn’t have to worry about taking on a legacy, he’s making his own moves, and he’s found himself a relationship and a job. All seems pretty well for our crusader, but someone has been watching him, stalking him, and in the midst of all this, Robin (Damian) is just happens to be in the neighborhood to prove one thing: Who is worthy of taking up the mantle of the Dark Knight.
Who is tailing our Black and Blue clad hero? What do they want from Nightwing? And will Damian finally set the record for who can take on the mantle of Batman? Or get schooled by the former boy wonder?
I’ve peaked here and there on Seely’s Nightwing title, and when I finally sat down to actually read his series, I was very pleased and compelled to finally decide to review this specific issue, and boy what a start! For starters, Seeley really knows how to get into the headspace of Dick Grayson. He understands and reciprocates his voice seamlessly. Grayson has always been unique from Batman and the others that have taken up the Robin mantle. What’s great is seeing Nightwing in his element doing his own thing and standing out different from Batman. In this issue we see Nightwing channel his wise-cracking sense of humor while maintaining wit and seriousness.In many ways, I’d be interested in what he would do if he is to ever get a shot at writing a Spider-Man title for Marvel one day. With that said, it was great to see how well balanced the writing is on this issue. There is a humorous scene where Damian is looking on a Twitter-like site and he’s seeing people chirping about who of the robins would make for a better batman. Seeing his reaction just pissed like a fanboy was hilarious. There are some nice character moments in this issue between Grayson and Damian. They even bring back an old Batmobile that stem back from the glory days when Morrison wrote the Batman and Robin series a few years ago. The plot is solid, and the antagonist doesn’t show up for most of the book. But what can be said about this antagonist is that he finally reveals his name, and man is it an awesome one.
The artwork by Javier Fernandez is visually gorgeous. He knows how to make the characters and environments look fluid, stylish and kinetic with life that really fit with this series. There are nice pages where it’s just Nightwing leaping and gliding from rooftop to rooftop and it gives off some nice 80s flair that I don’t know how else to explain. It gives me some Stuart Immonen and Sara Pichelli (Ultimate Spider-Man) vibes in terms of the overall shimmer and shine of the art in regards to the use of heavy blacks, and use of light and color values, which is nice. The colors by Chris Sotomayor are vibrant and makes the city feel full of life, and Mangual’s lettering serves its purpose with placement of dialogue throughout. Definitely pick this book up, especially if you like Batman, or prefer a break from Batman and want to look at other characters more worthwhile.
Newsdesk