Category Nightwing

Dec 31 2012

Nightwing 15

nightwing 15 DoF

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Nightwing 15, originally released December 19th 2012. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

death-divScott: Superheroes are defined by the things they care about most. Whether it be a loved one, a city, or a planet, there must be a something that compels them to fight, something for which they can be held accountable. Their physical abilities may make them Super, but it is their desire to protect the things they care about that make them Heroes, and what differentiates them from other physically powerful figures, like villains or, say, sidekicks. The success of Nightwing as a series ultimately depends on whether Dick Grayson can shake the notion that he is a sidekick, fighting to save Batman’s Gotham rather than something of his own.  In Nightwing 15, with the threats against Dick’s beloved Haly’s Circus beginning to have real consequences, it finally feels like he is blossoming into a Superhero in his own right.
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Nov 27 2012

Nightwing 14

Alternating Currents: Nightwing 14, Drew and ScottToday, Drew and Scott are discussing Nightwing 14, originally released November 21st 2012.

Drew: As a former sidekick, it’s difficult for Nightwing to define his life without Batman. This is as true outside of the mask as it is behind it — just try to define Dick Grayson without mentioning Bruce Wayne. This makes Dick’s investment in Haly’s Circus (the one part of Dick’s origin story that doesn’t involve Batman) make a lot of sense — it’s his best shot at agency in his life. Dick seems poised to begin a new chapter in his civilian life, yet his costumed life finds him pulled inextricably back towards Batman, as some of Bruce’s oldest foes demand Nightwing’s attention. Continue reading →

Oct 19 2012

Nightwing 13

Today, Scott and Shelby are discussing Nightwing 13, originally released October 17th 2012.

Scott: The other night I just could not get to sleep. I was lying awake restlessly, my mind racing through any number of thoughts until the desire to know what year a certain Guided By Voices album came out was nagging at me so much that I convinced myself to open my computer and look it up. 40 minutes later I found myself on John Woo’s Wikipedia page and decided it was time to call it a night once and for all. Dick Grayson is having one of those restless nights, but instead of GBV’s chronology, what’s nagging at him is Gotham’s lack of gang activity — the city is too quiet for him to sleep easy. The sequence of events that follows is something like a night spent with Google and Wikipedia: a bunch of tangentially related bits and pieces — some very intriguing, others merely dead ends — that by the end has you wondering what you’ve really learned.

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Sep 20 2012

Nightwing 0

Alternating Currents: Nightwing 0, Drew and ShelbyToday, Drew and Shelby are discussing Nightwing 0, originally released September 19, 2012. Nightwing 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: The past is complicated. Or rather, our relationship with the past is complicated. Time has a way of changing our opinions of events, placing even our emotional attachment to our own memories in flux. That shifting relationship to the past is made exponentially more complicated in the comics world, where the actual events of the past are open to revisions, reboots, and retellings every few years or so. While those changes are often jarring for the characters, they’re particularly difficult for the audience, who may be attached to previous iterations of the story (not to mention the fact that they may be particularly anal about continuity). Like I said; shit’s complicated. It’s impressive, then, that Nightwing 0 isn’t just a successful retelling of Dick’s origin, but a compelling essay on the value of such retellings. Continue reading →

Aug 20 2012

Nightwing 12

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Nightwing 12, originally released August 15th, 2012.

Peter: I feel like I’ve been let down a lot by comics lately. Most of the books I’ve read recently have left me feeling unfulfilled. Stories just don’t seem to be going interesting places, or aren’t very thought provoking. Nightwing has become one of these offenders recently. Dick is a great character that is capable of exploring so much. During the Night of Owls, he played a major role in the story and I loved it. There are some nice moments and a few redeeming factors, but overall, I am feeling very whelmed about this issue. Continue reading →

Jul 19 2012

Nightwing 11

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Nightwing 11, originally released July 18th, 2012.

Peter: Sometimes all the right pieces just fall into place, just as they have here, weaving an incredibly compelling story. In Nightwing, Kyle Higgins treats us to not only a standard superhero book, but a carefully crafted mystery/thriller story. It almost reads like a police procedural. Dick continues to try to clear his name, and reasserts his place as one of Gotham’s premiere crime fighters in the process. Continue reading →

Jun 25 2012

Nightwing 10

Today, Drew and Peter are discussing Nightwing 10, originally released June 13th, 2012.

Drew: Watching his parents fall to their deaths; training to be a crimefighter; falling out with his mentor; becoming Batman; relinquishing the Batman mantle once his mentor returned. To put it lightly, Dick Grayson has had a turbulent life. Tension and tragedy are somewhat par for the course in the superheroing world, but coming of age in costume has amplified those difficulties. At the start of the relaunch, Dick had reasserted his identity as Nightwing, and he seemed to have the agency all former sidekicks long for. Soon enough, however, he was being roped into all kinds of identity crises, as his personal and family histories made claims on his future. He emerged from those events with a stronger sense of self, and issue 10 finds him acting with that hard-earned agency, even as a corrupt cop tries to redefine Nightwing in the public eye. Continue reading →

May 23 2012

Cram Session: Nightwing 1-7

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

Being so immersed in the Night of the Owls event makes it kinda hard to imagine that there are fans of the Gotham-verse not reading Nightwing. The series was quick to find a voice, and while it stumbled a bit with some vamping-for-time issues, Kyle Higgins’ Nightwing boldly directs the mood and action of the cross-over with almost as much authority as Batman. If you haven’t been following Dick’s you-can’t-go-home-again story, catch up with our video recap!

May 17 2012

Nightwing 9

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Nightwing 9, originally released May 16th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.

Peter: Excepting the main Batman title, Nightwing has been involved in the Night of the Owls more than any other book. Dick Grayson plays a huge role in the story, which has been incredibly compelling and just down right cool. Dick’s large role gives a deeper understanding and widens to scope of this event. Which is why it’s safe to say I love this book, and so should you.
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Apr 20 2012

Nightwing 8

Today, Drew and Peter are discussing Nightwing 8, originally released April 18th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.

Drew: Scott Snyder has said that, for Batman, the Night of the Owls is all about his relationship to Gotham. That singular focus on a theme so close to Bruce’s identity can be felt throughout that title, and all of our favorite books have a similar thematic focus; Wonder Woman on family, The Flash on time, etc. While these themes all focus on aspects of their heroes’ identities, Kyle Higgins has managed to refract the events of the Night of the Owls onto identity itself, Nightwing’s own pet theme. Last month’s reveal that Dick had been earmarked (okay, toothmarked) to be the next Talon struck a powerful blow to his sense of self, which was still on the mend from his recent costume changes (plus the inherent issues of being a kind of unmoored twenty-something). Continue reading →