Nightwing has given readers great stories in the past four issues and is very different from many other superhero books. It gives the readers a mystery that does not just get settled in one story arc, but may take several story arcs to settle. This is one of the reasons this series has been one of my favorites for the DC reboot and one of my favorite titles on my pull list right now. With each issue it makes me more interested in the story and gets me excited for the next issue.
In this issue Dick Grayson is traveling with Haly’s Circus to New Orleans. But one of his performers, Jimmy, is frightened to be in New Orleans, but no one knows why. When Jimmy is kidnapped by a demon, Dick finds out the exact reason why Jimmy is so frightened. Now it is up to Nightwing to try and save Jimmy from the demon.
I really liked the cover for this issue. It seems like a lot of the Bat titles for the Dc reboot have been giving us great covers. Some examples that would show this are Batwoman, Batgirl, and Nightwing. The concept for the cover was excellent because it showed exactly what was going on in the story and what readers should expect if they picked up this issue. I always think that it is important to have a good concept for the cover because it is never smart to have a misleading cover. If you mislead a reader to buy an issue they will be very disappointed with the outcome of the story.
With this issue of Nightwing I was kind of disappointed. Like I said in the beginning of this review one thing I love about this series is the mystery. We did get to see that mystery in this issue, but they also threw in a random demon. I would understand if they threw in this demon to help tell more of the main mystery about Haly’s Circus, but it was thrown in to tell a story about a character that really has never been mentioned in the series. If it was a main character like Raya being kidnapped by a demon than it may have been more important to tell for the purpose of the main story. So, I was very disappointed with the villain in this issue and that made me disappointed with the whole issue because the villain was most of the story.
But this issue was not totally bad there were some good things that happened. We do get to see in this issue that maybe it is not the best idea that Dick is holding onto his past and maybe that is what the whole demon story was trying to tell. In the end Jimmy tells Dick that sometimes it is best to keep what is behind you behind you. I think in the end we will see that with Dick holding onto his past it may be getting him in more danger.
The best part in this issue that makes me tell you guys to pick this issue up was the cliffhanger. The cliffhanger was a shocker to the whole mystery and something I did not expect. So, I am guessing other readers and fans of the series did not expect it either. All I am going to spoil is that the cliffhanger has to do with Raya and may change this story in the future.
The art for this issue, like every issue, was drawn very well. It seems like Nightwing goes for darker art, which I think matches perfectly with the story trying to be told. I hope they never change the art for this series because I think it goes well with the story.
In conclusion, I would tell you guys to pick up this issue if you like the mystery being told in this series. If you were looking for a good villain story I would say skip this issue and wait for the next issue. It seems like the demon story was only a one shot story so that is good for the people who did not enjoy this issue that much.
