REVIEW: ‘Nightwing #1′ is better than who?!
“Better than Batman” is the title of the first arc of Nightwing for DC’s Rebirth. One would think that this pertains to Nightwing being above his mentor now, and in a way it is. Bruce acknowledges Dick Grayson as now his equal instead of his underling, the Court of Owls changed from recruiting Batman into […]
“Better than Batman” is the title of the first arc of Nightwing for DC’s Rebirth. One would think that this pertains to Nightwing being above his mentor now, and in a way it is. Bruce acknowledges Dick Grayson as now his equal instead of his underling, the Court of Owls changed from recruiting Batman into recruiting Nightwing. But that isn’t it at all.
Nightwing #1 introduces us to Nightwing’s new ‘partner’ that was assigned to him by the Parliament of owls. Raptor establishes himself to Nightwing after beating him, proclaiming that Dick would now have to forget everything Bruce have taught him, meaning Raptor, is better than Batman. Who really is Raptor? How is he better than Batman? It’s intriguing to know this character and how he will affect the story later on.
Despite now working undercover for the Parliament of Owls, it’s great to see that no matter what threats were thrown to him, his moral compass will never sway the other way. Tim Seeley has a good grasp on who and what makes Nightwing motivated. One of the great points of this issue is how Dick’s relationship to other is addressed, and how important they are to them. What makes it better is the fact that we finally get to see Nightwing and Batgirl together and address parts of their relationship, even mentioning Dick’s past with the Titans. Like he said, no matter how far he is, he always swings back. It’s a great metaphor on both being an acrobat and him coming back to his family one way or another.
The art by Javier Fernandez is something to get used to, particularly with Nightwing’s uniform. The blue insignia on his chest is a bit thinner than usual but is still there. It would just throw off the readers a bit as we are used with a bigger blue wings streak across his chest.
All in all, it was nice and promising. You get to see that Nightwing’s morals and ingrained training will be parts of what will challenge him in the future. Though Nightwing comics have always been about Dick Grayson being independent, Nightwing #1 establishes that more and actually takes him out of Batman’s shadows.
Mari Linsangan
