Nightwing #2 Review
- Details
- Published on Friday, 21 October 2011 03:48
- Written by Kevin
Kyle Higgins impressed me with Nightwing #1. The issue kicked things off right as he displayed a nice handle on Dick Grayson’s character post-Batman. It should be interesting to see where Higgins takes the character now that Haly’s Circus has come back into his world just as he was establishing Gotham City as his home again. Let’s find out how Dick Grayson is able to handle this blast from the past with Nightwing #2.
Creative Team
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Eddy Barrows
Inkers: JP Mayer and Paulo Siqueira
Colorist: Rod Reis
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: After being stunned by Saiko, Nightwing is able to turn the fight around with his suit’s taser. Nightwing easily counter everything Saiko throws at him, making quips in the middle of the fight. Saiko resorts to throwing a bomb into the city streets. Nightwing saves all the people caught in the explosion, giving Saiko the opportunity to escape in the process.
Later that night, Dick Grayson is woken up by a knock at his door. He answers to see it is his friend from the circus, Raya, at his door. She tells Dick that she needs a ride to Atlantic City. Dick agrees and takes her on the Wayne jet.
On the flight over, Dick ask Raya what is wrong and she says that Mr. Haly wants to see Dick before he dies.
Arriving at a warehouse outside of Atlantic City, Dick finally gets to see Mr. Haly again after many years. Mr. Haly tells Dick that his biggest regret was letting Dick get away and find another job. Mr. Haly says he knows about Dick’s secret since he knew him since he was born. He then explains that he is leaving the circus to Dick because it is where Dick is supposed to be.
On the flight back, Dick contemplates what Mr. Haly told him. Raya comes in and talks to him about what happened. As the conversation gets more emotional they give into their urges and have sex.
Afterwards, the pilot wakes Dick up to give him a phone. On the other end, is Saiko who says he knows Dick secret now. This causes Dick to turn the plane around.
Back at the warehouse, Nightwing begins round two of his fight with Saiko. Nightwing does not play around and easily dominates the entire fight. Saiko creates a fire to burn the warehouse down. Letting the villain escape Nightwing takes a dying Mr. Haly out of the warehouse.
Mr. Haly and Dick watch the warehouse burn down. With his final breath, Mr. Haly tells Nightwing that someone is trying to kill them for their secret that lies in their heart. End of issue.
Commentary
The Good: Just as Kyle Higgins impressed me with the first issue he takes things to another level with Nightwing #2. Higgins shows us a Nightwing that continues his evolution after being Batman for year while also going into the character's origin without having rely on flashbacks.
In the first issue, Higgins made it his mission to establish Nightwing as a character that has never been more confident. He showed both new and old readers that this is not the same old Dick Grayson. He has become better than he has ever been. With this issue Higgins firmly establishes the characters history by expanding on his time in Haly’s Circus.
What is impressive about this is that Higgins never relies on the flashbacks to retell the characters origins. Instead, he gives us the characters history within the story’s context during the conversation Dick has with Mr. Haly. This is a refreshing change of pace because it allows new readers to get the characters backstory but does not lose focus on the story.
Higgins does a good job presenting the character with this new conflict, because after finally deciding to establish his roots in Gotham City again he is given something that may drive him out. This is an interesting decision for Dick to make because on one hand he finally has a home to call his own and in another he has his past that he wants to protect. Having Mr. Haly give the circus to Dick makes it understandable that this is going to be a tough choice for the character to make.
I also like how Higgins works in the new villain to Nightwing’s Rogues Gallery into the story. We still don’t know about the death that Saiko is talking about but it’ll be fun to find out what death he blames Nightwing for. The character did show of some good fighting skills. What is even more interesting is the fact that Mr. Haly says that Saiko is part of a larger organization that is after the circus. With the mysterious Owl organization over in Snyder’s Batman book I wonder if Saiko is connected to that same villain organization.
The two fights with Saiko also showed us two different sides of Nightwing’s character. In the first fight we saw the Nightwing that has fun being a superhero. For Nightwing, he does not just see being a superhero as job but it is something he finds thrilling. At the same time, Nightwing will not hesitate going Dark Knight on villains as he quickly flips the switch in the second fight into a serious fighter who is not messing around. It is stuff like this that shows that Higgins not only understands how to write Nightwing but that he is also a fan of the character.
Unlike the previous issue where there were some inconsistency problems, Eddy Barrows knocks this issue out of the park. Barrows artwork looked great everything flows off the pages. All of the action sequences he is given to draw flows well together. He also does an equally great job with all of the characters facial reactions during the talking head moments.
The Bad: The only problem I have with this issue is with the character Raya. Higgins does a good job making the character likable, but the one thing that worries me is that he will have her be a plot device. The character's emotions were all over the place and hopefully Higgins is not leading the character to become a traitor because that is the feeling I am getting right now. Hopefully, future issues will allow her character to be fleshed out more so she is not just the love interest of the week for Dick Grayson.
Overall: Nightwing #2 was a great mix of character work and action. From top to bottom, Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows delivered a comic that is easily one of my favorite comics from the new DC Comics 52.
This new story involving Haly’s Circus has a lot of potential as Higgins established some great history and a reason for Dick Grayson to continue to be involved with his old life. With a mysterious threat also attacking him personally it will be fun to see where the story goes moving forward.
If you have not given Nightwing a chance yet then I recommend that you do so. Nightwing is one of books that you will want to read. Especially, if you are a Batman fan.
Nightwing