Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Nightwing #1

By Hervé St-Louis
September 24, 2011 - 13:25

Nightwing is no longer Batman and is back being himself. But his stint as Batman has changed him but not totally eradicate all of his fears. Haley Circus, where he grew up is back in town and Dick Grayson is afraid of meeting his old friends who were almost a family to him when he was a boy. Elsewhere a new villain is in town and he wants to kill Dick Grayson. When Nightwing intervenes, the villains reveals to him that Grayson is responsible for many deaths. How will Nightwing react to this odd revelation about himself?

My colleagues at The Bin have already mentioned it several times. DC Comics’ 52 reboot is not uniform as some series drag some of the old stuff around, while others are complexly starting from scratch. Koppy McFad writes that although everything seems new, it has all the trappings of the past. Dan Horn writes that some some series refer to the old continuity and leaves virtually nothing changed, while others have nothing to do with the past. In Nightwing, the hero’s stint as Batman is at the core of his return to being his own persona. However, how much of the old history is still valid, no one knows. I’m also confused about the age of the character. I assume that he was the first and oldest sidekick to come around very early in Batman’s career. We do know that the Red Hood was also a robin and that there will be a Red Robin in Teen Titans. This new universe was supposed to be simple to follow, but it’s already making the same mistake the reboot of 1985 did after the first Crisis. Not everything is rebooting at once. Some stories are allowed to continue, others aren’t. Down the line, this will create problems.

Back tom Nightwing. This issues really focuses on Dick Grayson, although superficially, showing the reader what is different between Nightwing and Batman. Nightwing is urban. He wants to live where the action is, like many people his age. He’s not very ordered, which is a new trait for the character. He always seemed like the perfect studious boy, not another lousy bachelor type with pizza boxes laid out all over the apartment and dirty socks in the sink. I’m willing to give a chance to the writer, if he thinks this is what makes Nightwing different from Batman. I mean it works on a superficial level, but there’s no real compelling reason to read about Nightwing.

A compelling reason to read about Nightwing is what has played this series for decades. Why would a reader choose to read about Batman-light? This is Batman, but not as dark, not as confident and not as good as the real thing. What made him special his youth is hardly a factor anymore now that Batman seems to be much younger than before. At least when there was a Bludhavem, there was a new turf for Nightwing to play with outside of Batman’s overbearing watch. Now I just don’t know. The story was not bad at all. The action with Eddie Barrows who understand the acrobatic nature of Nightwing is impressive enough, although not endearing. However, I have zero reason to recommend this book to anyone unless one is a Nightwing fan. I had wished that some of the newer robins, like Red Robin or the Red Hood had been eliminated completely and that only Damian and Dick Grayson had been kept. However, perhaps it’s Nightwing that should be eliminated from comics. There is nothing about this book than a standard story about a hero underestimating his opponent and being caught off guard in a cliff hanger.

I kinda wish that this series would fail and that we would only get to see Nightwing is other people’s books. But unfortunately that won’t be the case. The character has a huge following and DC Comics probably consider him too important not to invest more in him. I won’t pick up Nightwing #2.

Rating: 6.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12