Review: Nightwing Vol. 1- Better than Batman

Quick Summary

Pros: Dick Grayson is characterized perfectly and is as fun as ever. The series’ newest character, Raptor, is great and presents some complex themes and depth. The story is well done and interesting overall.

Cons: Longtime Dick Grayson readers may find the beginning of the book a little slow. Damian’s characterization is off.

Overall: The first volume of the Rebirth Nightwing series is undoubtedly a huge success. Though it starts out a little slow, it easily makes up for it with the thrill ride of adventure, deception, and heroics that follows. This is the fun side of the Bat-family and it lets you know. Any fan of Nightwing will be happy with this book.

Story

Dick Grayson’s time as a super-spy is over as he successfully returns to his Nightwing persona once more. Nightwing Vol. 1: Better than Batman is a great superhero story that takes time for fun and games while also digging deep into Dick Grayson as both a hero and a friend. Though readers of Grayson might find the beginning of this book a little slow, the rest of the story is worth it. It has action, heart, and everything else you would expect from Nightwing. Overall this is a book we would easily recommend.

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At the beginning of the story, I was a little worried about the book’s quality. The story progressed somewhat slowly and seemed to be hampered by recaps of what happened in prior issues and reaffirmation of relationships between characters. The beginning of the main story is alright though and starts to dramatically improve once Raptor is formally introduced.

The only serious complaint I had about the book’s beginning is Damian’s portrayal. Here readers see Damian as an action figure and video game loving teenager instead of the character from Batman and Robin and Robin: Son of Batman. It seems like he was simply given the traits of a “generic teenager” rather than the deeply developed character that he is.

Once Raptor enters the story, things kick into high gear. He is a morally ambiguous, smooth talking, anti-hero who Grayson instantly takes a liking to. In fact, he is so well written that its even hard, as a reader, to dislike him. He even presents a new, liberal twist on the morality of superhero comics when he questions why villains are always the mentally ill rather than people who oppress others through monetary and socioeconomic means. All of this is presented with the backdrop of a compelling story as well, making for a delightful reading experience.

Once Seeley gets readers to sympathize with Raptor, he reveals the twist: Raptor has been kind of a villain the whole time. Though this twist is somewhat teased throughout the story, this tease only makes it worse. Just like Nightwing, you see the signs that Raptor isn’t what he says but you don’t want to believe them; you hold out hope that it’s just a red herring designed to lead you astray. So when his true nature comes out, you feel just as betrayed and hurt as Nightwing did.

Outside of the main story, Seeley also does a great job in showing off Nightwing’s relationships with his friends and allies. He still has his antagonistically-friendly relationship with Tiger, his brotherly relationship with Damian, his “will they won’t they” relationship with Barbara, and his father/son relationship with Bruce. All of these are well done and help to build upon Dick as a character outside of the mask.

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Art

With the story as good as it is, the artwork may be the biggest disappointment about this book. This does not mean that the art is bad, it just ends up feeling average while the story is great.  Javier Fernandez presents a clean and detailed picture that works but does not do much to fully excite. Overall, readers can go into this book knowing that it will not look bad, but it will not blow them away either.

Continuity

This story is the first volume of Nightwing’s Rebirth journey. Though Rebirth is meant to provide a good jumping on point for new readers, this story has its roots in a number of other stories. In particular, Grayson Vol. 5: Spiral’s End (Review) and Robin War (Review) provide the base for which this story is mainly set.

In addition, Batman: Night of the Monster Men (Review) takes place during the middle of this collection, though it does not have a large effect on the plot (for more information see our Night of the Monster Men reading order here). The story started here will continue in Nightwing Vol. 2: Back to Blüdhaven.

This volume also references and continues the stories from many other comics books, all of which are detailed below:

• The conclusion of Dick (Reading Order) and Helena’s (Reading Order) involvement from Spyral is detailed in Grayson Vol. 5: Spiral’s End (Review).
• One of the Saint Hadrian girls mentions “Jim ‘n’ Juan.” These were the nicknames the girl’s invented for Dick’s butt in Grayson Vol. 2: We all Die at Dawn (Review).
• Dick Grayson’s time as Batman is mentioned. He became Batman in Battle for the Cowl and continued throughout the first Batman and Robin series.
• Dick joining the Parliament of Owls and Damian (Reading Order) having a bomb in his brain are references to Robin War (Review) (Reading Order).
• Lincoln March mentions a few key pieces of his past. This past is detailed in Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (Review).
• Batman Inc. is mentioned. This is an organization that began in Batman Incorporated.
• Dick working with the Titans (Reading Order) is mentioned. This is something that had its roots in Titans Hunt (Review) but really started in Titans Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West (Review).
• Batgirl (Reading Order) being in Tokyo is most likely a reference to her adventures across Asia in Batgirl Vol. 1- Beyond Burnside (Review).
  • While there, she mentions Gotham being safe because of “Batwoman’s Bootcamp” and “The Gotham Twins.” These are references to Detective Comics Vol. 1: The Rise of the Batmen (Review) and Batman Vol. 1: I am Gotham (Review) respectively.
• The death of a particular Robin is mentioned a few times. This happens in Detective Comics Vol. 1: The Rise of the Batmen (Review).
• The events of Batman: Night of the Monster Men (Review) (Reading Order) are mentioned a few times.