Writer: Benjamin Percy / Artist: Otto Schmidt / DC Comics
Deadline
Let’s say you haven’t been keeping up with Percy’s Nightwing…but between the incredibly cyberpunk aesthetic and the general curiosity of seeing how superhero stories tackle things like the 24-hour news cycle fatigue, you’re interested in jumping back on. Let me be the first one to tell you that Nightwing Annual #1 is going to be the comic you want to pick up. It serves as a great primer on everything that occurred during The Bleeding Edge and is a solid standalone story that sets up the next part of the Dark Web saga that promises to be just as visually thrilling and with a captivating narrative as Percy’s first act.
The opening pages give us some classic Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon banter and plenty of fanservice before immediately jumping into some electrifying moments and a brief recap of all the Dark Web conspiracy that has unfolded and jumping to the meat of the story: Nightwing visiting Gotham Four News Headquarter and the other major reporter of the DC Universe, Vicki Vale.
Getting a glimpse into the newsroom of Gotham is a welcome change of pace as Percy draws several parallels between the familiar inundation of information and familiar chants of fake news. Some of the quips are a bit heavy-handed, but that’s part of the charm of comics. As the issue progresses, the main themes are paired with beautiful artwork courtesy of Schmidt. The integration of television static is a wonderful visual element and the action sequences give such a fun liveliness to our acrobatic hero. Plus Vire, the villain on the cover, becomes that much more frightening when given a chance to flex on the page.
The extra-sized comic covers a lot of ground and Percy has plenty of room to show off his innate understanding of Nightwing’s quirks. While some of the interactions with Vicky Vale made me personally raise a couple eyebrows, Nightwing’s screen time with Batgirl was just endearing. Plus, the more that gets revealed about the cabal that is the Dark Web the more I want to keep reading. While not as razor-sharp as The Bleeding Edge, Nightwing Annual #1 whets the appetite and paints a fun roadmap for all the things to come.
8.5 “Problems with Media Reporting” out of 10
Reading Nightwing?Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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