Nightwing #1

Series: Nightwing
Words: Kyle Higgins
Images: Eddy Barrows, J.P. Mayer
Issue Number: 1
Release Date: In reality September but our cover reads November 2011
Format: Comic

After the crushing disappointment of Birds of Prey. I decided to opt out of reading Wonder Woman (one of my favourite female super heroes) to read Nightwing. I'm less invested in Nightwing and I'm less likely to freak out over issues of representation and regressions of female characters (hopefully). Now that I have said that I am going to curl up on the sofa with a tasty drink and devour Nightwing.

And oh my goodness my pallet has been cleansed.

Once again Gotham is all shaded details and harsh lines. It is a very good look on Gotham.

In the first issue of Nightwing we get to see Dick Grayson faced with his old troupe coming back to town. You find out enough back details about his family, his parent's death, his time in the circus and his later adoption by Bruce Wayne / Batman to discover enough of his back story that a new comer would not feel totally lost.

There are small details I noticed that were great. Grayson's apartment? Had weights in it. Like he magically wasn't cut the way he was. I liked that attention to detail and that practical reality put into the background of a comic.

Unlike Birds of Prey the nod to Babs made me smirk. For those of you new to the D.C. world it's a little in joke you may have missed. Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon have a huge history a mile wild. They are on again and off again as quickly as either one changes authors.

So when Dick Grayson makes the comment he's always had a weakness for red heads... I did have to giggle quite a bit.



Unlike most of the others I've read in the relaunch this issue was less action and more direct character development. And I loved it. If you like the Gotham universe or you like Batman or you like the thought of Batman's slightly more human son as a super hero well this is the comic for you.



If you aren't interested in Gotham or the Batman universe well then maybe check it out because it is fairly well drawn (nothing as heart stopping as Batwoman but still good work mister art person) and the writing so far is top notch. I have a sneaky feeling it would make a great gateway comic for people who have already been exposed to graphic novels and feel like testing the water.

There certainly is potential for the story line to get me up in arms. Especially in terms the main character's relationship with women. But I'm willing to at least give this one a shot.