Nightwing was one of DC’s New 52 which I decided to reserve judgment on after the #1, since it seemed overly introductory, and hadn’t really gone anywhere interesting yet, but looked like it was ready to.
In the second issue, however, we start to get into the meat of the tale, and gather some idea of what the new Nightwing is going to be about.
Dick Grayson learns that the circus he was raised in is back in town and that some organization wants him dead – not Nightwing, but Dick himself.
A woman from Dick’s past escorts him to the circus owner who is on his last breath. He hands over ownership of the circus to Dick, telling him some mysterious things about his parents and claiming the circus isn’t really a circus.
So, now we’re getting into some compelling stuff. Nightwing is going to have to investigate the circus, and his own life as well as the lives of his parents to discover the secre.
Meanwhile, the mysterious organization who wants him dead might know his secret identity. Of course, on top of it all, women always make things more complex.
This is the kind of story Nightwing is built for, a dangerous, potentially globe-trotting mystery with some romance thrown in, and while the action is sometimes a little hard to follow, the plotlines are shaping up to run a lot smoother, and will take the character, mercifully away from the activities of others in the DC universe.
Luckily, the little background required for new #1 readers would be limited to the basic Dick Grayson origin story, which most would remember from the admittedly corny Batman and Robin film from the nineties, and even without that, enough references are made to help the reader along.
I’ve made it no secret that I’m disappointed with how much Batman there is in the New 52 (hint: there is too much Batman), and I think this pull from the Batman mythology, allowing Nightwing to develop independently of Batman’s watchful eye – unlike Catwoman, Bat Girl, Bat Woman, and Batwing, all of which Batman has already made a gratuitous cameo within. In essence, this is a good move, and makes the book much more generally appealing. Hopefully, the writers won’t prove otherwise in the next few issues.
Nightwing #2 can be picked up wherever you get your comics, including the comiXology store.
