A part of DC Universe: Rebirth!
Nightwing is back…in blue!
He’s been Robin, he’s been a super spy, a ghost. Now, Dick Grayson finds himself back in Gotham City fighting to reclaim the life that was taken from him. But when a new evil threatens those closest to Dick, as Nightwing he must once again choose whether or not to tear himself away from his home in order to combat this dark force.
Everything Dick thought he knew about being Nightwing will be brought to bear, and his relationship to his former mentor Batman will be put to the test in Nightwing: Volume 1, Better Than Batman! written by Tim Seeley (Grayson) with art by Yanick Paquette (Swamp Thing, Batman/Superman) and rising star Javier Fernández (Red Hood/Arsenal).
Collecting: Nightwing 1-4, 7-8, Rebirth
The Meta Details:
Source: Netgalley
Format: eBook
Length: 141 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel
Content Level: sixteen and up? I don’t know, I’m a terrible parent
Pearl Clutching Content: references to murdered parents, lots of graphic violence, loss, betrayal, survivor’s guilt, basically a DC comic
Trigger Warnings: see above
Featuring: My all time DC crush, a new problematic fave, the Huntress (another fave), sassy Damien (another fave), sassy Alfred (another… oh fuck it. I like the Bat-clan, okay?)
Scorecard:
Recommended for: Dick Grayson fangirls… and, okay, other comic fans
Rating: Must Read
Ginny Lurcock’s Thoughts: I had this whole review written out once already. It started with my history of crushing on Dick Grayson (starting with Burt Ward and continuing up to but not through Teen Titans Go!) (That Robin was annoying.)
There was a large chunk dedicated to how I found it hard to get into this tome at first. That the art style wasn’t my cuppa (sorry, and that was included too). That I didn’t enjoy the jumping back and forth in the timeline every third panel. That I’ve spent so long out of the DC universe it was hard to come back again.
And then it was full of flowery prose about how I was drawn back into it, just when I was losing hope. How I was taken on this adventure that had me biting my nails, my pulse jumping, my heart breaking and my faith in humanity restored all in one hundred and forty-one pages…
Only to realize I was only at one hundred pages…
And that my new fave was highly problematic.
So with sickening dread building in my stomach, I read on and was horrified and amazed. Fascinated by the turn of events that lead us to the very end…
Where I wept openly.
So even with the rough start, I’ve got to recommend this book to comic fans who have at least a passing familiarity with Dick Grayson (or access to Wikipedia).
I know, I know… I have been a shield carrying Marvel fangirl for a long time now. (They have a subscription feature and their movies are just worlds better.) In this one graphic novel, though, I’ve happily settled back into Gotham. Where Joker’s abuse of Harley lost me, this book found me. One hundred and forty-one pages shook up my entire world.
(No worries, though, Gotham is where my summer house is. I’ll happily split my time.)
You know, once I figure out how far back I have to buy… *le sigh*
A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for a fair and honest review via Netgalley.
Ginny Lurcock 