Dick Grayson. He started out his crimefighting career as the original Robin after his parents were murdered and Bruce Wayne took him under his proverbial wing. Over the years, he “graduated” to the Nightwing persona, took over as Batman for a while (sometime after all that
KNIGHTFALL stuff), switched back to Nightwing, and most recently, took back over as Batman in Grant Morrison’s
ATMAN AND ROBIN with Damian Wayne at his side as Robin.
Well, now he’s back to being Nightwing again. And interestingly, Dick Grayson is the only one of Bruce’s protégés to get a title to himself, with Damian sharing the spotlight with Bruce in BATMAN AND ROBIN and Tim Drake headlining TEEN TITANS. So, does Dick Grayson truly need his own title? And is it any good?
Yes -- on both counts. In fact, I’d say that this book is among the best of the New 52 Batman titles, up there with Scott Snyder’s excellent work on BATMAN (which also launched this week) and BATWOMAN.
Only a handful of writers over these past few years were able to turn Dick’s stint as Batman into something special. More often than not, if the book wasn’t in the hands of a writer like Morrison or Snyder, it read just like any other Batman story.
So, I was quite interested to see how writer Kyle Higgins would handle the character now that Dick Grayson is no longer Batman. One of my biggest concerns is that a huge chunk of the Bat-timeline would be reset with this relaunch and that much of Dick’s experiences as Batman would be forgotten or ignored. Thankfully, that’s definitely not the case. Higgins comes right out of the gate explaining that Dick has recently reclaimed the mantle of Nightwing after taking over as Batman for a while. His experiences as The Dark Knight have allowed him to become a more mature crimefighter.
One of my favorite aspects of this issue is how the “character” of Gotham is portrayed; Grayson speaks of the city as if it is a living, breathing entity. The city has shaped Dick’s past and present, and will continue to shape his future. It’s such a great compliment to what Snyder’s doing over on BATMAN.
As far as the plot of the issue goes, it’s pretty solid. Haley’s Circus -- the same circus that Dick and his parents belonged to before their deaths -- has returned to Gotham for the first time since that tragedy. In the meantime, a mysterious assassin attempts to kill Dick Grayson -- claiming that Grayson is “the fiercest killer in all of Gotham and he doesn’t even know it.”
Eddy Barrows’ artwork works wonders in this issue. I love the dynamic action sequences and his creative use of splash pages and panel layouts (especially in the first few pages). The new Nightwing costume also isn’t that bad (even if it does resemble the version of Robin we saw in a certain Batman movie in ‘97). All in all, this one’s off to a great start and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
SYNOPSIS: Dick Grayson flies high once more as Nightwing in a new series from hot new writer Kyle Higgins! And as he embraces his destiny, Haley's Circus, the big top where Dick once performed, returns to Gotham City – bringing with it murder, mystery and superhuman evil. Nightwing must confront his past, among former friends and enemies from his circus days, while uncovering a much greater evil!