REVIEW: There’s a lot of Dick in ‘Nightwing: Rebirth #1′

Now done with his stint as a Super Spy, Richard Grayson is finally back in Gotham in the now DC Rebirth with NIGHTWING: REBIRTH #1. Though a lot of fans had loved him being Agent 37 from Spyral in New 52, fans cheered when it was revealed that he’s back into his iconic blue and black suit. With now a clean slate to go back to his original name after the fiasco of Dick Grayson being outed as Nightwing forcing him to fake his death, he is now back to reclaim that legacy.

This issue starts with Dick Grayson recounting how he obtained the name Nightwing, showing the fans how important the legacy was to him.  It is followed cute scene where Dick and Damian bond once again as brothers in an arcade as they talk about how he managed to tie up loose ends with Spyral now that it’s no longer in the hands of the wrong people, a brief but fun interaction/banter with Midnighter and a not so good farewell with Helena (who we now see in her DC Rebirth Huntress costume), all done three days before he came back to Gotham.

The comics also introduce what Nightwing would be facing in this series. The Parliament of Owls, which is the organization The Court of Owls was a part of, is back as they try to control Nightwing from the left over bombs in Damian from the Robin War, forcing him to be one of them. Nightwing talks with Batman on using this chance to infiltrate and maybe finally take the court down once and for all. This would probably give us readers a chance to see a combination of Dick Grayson’s skill as a Spy and as a Vigilante. It was nice to see that Bruce and Dick’s interaction was quite warm in Bruce’s standards. He obviously worried over his ward and actually ask him if infiltrating the Parliament of Owls was truly what he wants to do. The relationship between the Batfamily is quite reaffirmed in this comics and makes us hope for more in the future.

Overall, Nightwing: Rebirth #1 is a great opening for the Nightwing’s new series. Tim Seeley tied up loose end quite neatly if not a bit too fast, and also managed to throw us some useful background information that fans have been clamouring for since The New 52 started. They gave us enough to be hooked but not enough to be satisfied with just this one-shot. It didn’t hurt that Yanick Paquette’s art fits so well to the story. Whether the setting was simple or a bit complicated, the art just really takes you in it, and in all honestly makes me sad that he’ll only be drawing for this one-shot. One would wish that he would pen more Nightwing comics as Dick Grayson really shines in his work.