Bludhaven Saviors

Nightwing (Volume 4) #24
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Miguel Mendonca

Nightwing is being hunted by a bunch of villaisn from aroudn the DCU inside a submarine. Now that is a fun idea for a comic book. Time Seeley pulls this off well (except for maybe when he has Dick Grayson refer to himself as the Dickster!) Some of these villains have only been created recently in the comics and not by Tim Seeley, which means Tim is reading all the books or the editors are just that good. Either way, I love it when the DCU comes together nicely. Blockbuster’s motivations for hurting Nightwing is interesting. He wants to be the hero of Bludhaven and sees Nightwing as a Gothamite who doesn’t understand the city. As for the final page, I wonder how Nightwing survives the explosion?

Villainous Relations

Nightwing (Volume 4) #23
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Minkyu Jung

I love how Tim Seeley is making Bludhaven a living breathing city with it’s own characteristics. For example, in this issue there is a sunken whaling ship in the bay that people call an Island because it has been there so long. In this issue, it looks like Nightwing and Defacer’s relationship is breaking down and while I don’t mind her, it will be interested to see her possibly turning back to crime and becoming a foe for Nightwing. The cliffhanger was something I did not see coming and I am excited to see how it plays out next issue and if Blockbuster really double crossed Nightwing.

 

 

Blockbuster Rebirth

Nightwing (Volume 4) #22
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Miguel Mendonca

Blockbuster returns in this issue! Blockbuster was basically the big bad of Bludhaven during the time I started reading comics and I am glad to see him returning again as Tim Seeley wonderfully builds up Bludhaven and Nightwing’s supporting cast again. This is something we haven’t seen since Infinite Crisis when Bludhaven was destroyed for no fucking reason other than that Dan Didio I assume. This issue made me think that maybe Ludendorf in the Wonder Woman film is not taking an early version of venom but maybe whatever Blockbuster takes? They are doing a Nightwing movie down the road, I suppose that is possible. Miguel Mendonca is an amazing artist and I hope he stays around for this book.  I did not see the final page coming.

Nightwing 19 – 21

Nightwing (Volume 4) #19
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

I can’t say I am sure at all what Dr. Hurt’s plan is here..and you never do with this character. I don’t remember him being involved with Egyptian mythology before but I liked it. This series is always consistently good.

Nightwing (Volume 4) #20
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

In the final issue of this arc, Seeley shows once again how much he reveres Morrison’s run on Batman and the relationship between Dick and Damian. There was so many homages to that, especially the final splash page. I wonder if we will ever see Deathwing and Dr. Hurt again. I sure hope so. It seems like Seeley was pointing towards something with Hurt. Oh and it turns out Defacer isn’t pregnant after all.

The Ultimate Mastermind

Nightwing (Volume 4) #18
Written by Time Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

Okay why did they have to show sweet little Robintron’s ripped off face – especially after I was starting to find him endearing? That was nasty. And it doesn’t look like this Deathwing is related to the ’90s Deathwing after all but maybe just a dollotron of Professor Pyg’s. That being said, the surprise villain behind the villain turns out to be Dr. Simon Hurt – the evil mastermind behind Batman R.I.P. I love that Seeley is willing to play with Morrison’s creations. Final Crisis was suppose to be the be-all, end-all of New Gods stories but DC keeps bringing them back but ignoring creations Morrison wanted to come back, this seems to be changing as Dr. Hurt was one of Morrison’s greatest villains in the Batman run. He is both the Devil, incredibly evil, brilliant. The ultimate mastermind for Batman. I can’t wait to see what Seeley does with him here.

The Return of Professor Pyg

Nightwing (Volume 4) #17
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

Nightwing and Robin head to France to search for Nightwing’s missing girlfriend and have a fight with Deathwing and a Death-Robin. During the fight, Nightwing is hit with a sword and sees himself in other realities. It is unclear to me whether this is the ’90s Deathwing or someone different although one of those alternate realities showed the ’90s deathwing. It turns out the big bad behind this is none other Professor Pyg! I like how Seeley is building on Grant Morrison’s Batman run here including a reference to Simon Hurt and now Professor Pyg. Morrison always sets up these great concepts and then writer don’t follow up on them. I am glad Seeley is. This was a great issue of a great series.

Nightwing 1 – 16

Nightwing (Volume 4) #1
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

How great is it to see Nightwing in that costume again? It’s been what ten years since he wore that beautiful – frankly iconic – Nightwing costume. DC….what were you thinking? He should have been returned to that immediately after he stopped being Batman. Speaking of that, Dick refers to his time as Batman. Does that mean Final Crisis happened in the New 52 universe or is this a result of Rebirth restoring the timeline? Interesting. This was a great start to this series but not exactly a good jumping on point for new readers for a first issue. We aren’t really told what is going on with this Parliament of Owls other than they are forcing Dick to work with them or they think they are and he is playing them. I don’t know much about the Court of Owls because they are a new 52 creation. Anyways, it is still weird to see Barbara Gordon in a Batgirl costume and not Oracle and looking so young. Is she still suppose to be the same age as Dick?  So far…this is good. Seeley seems to really understand Dick Grayson as a character and the art is perfect for a Nightwing book.

Nightwing (Volume 4) #2
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

This was a fantastic comic. I like how Seeley writes Nightwing’s narraration. It isn’t all action, there is depth to this story. I don’t like how the Raptor knows their have been different Robins. That is dumb. The general public in the DCU should not know that. Also, how is Barbara flying to Tokyo and back? Does Bruce bankroll her?