writer: Tim Seeley / artist: Marcus To / DC Comics

Ok, Seeley, ok. I effs with this iteration of Nightwing, fam. What has been slowly building in the background since the series began has been Nightwing’s sustainability and mental state towards becoming and staying his own hero. Not the nods towards possible mania like King’s Batman right now, but just the loneliness and self confidence of Grayson trying to do right, do it his way and still be happy about all of it. It’s clear that your boy is still shook from his dealing with Raptor, but in Blüdhaven he was supposed to live a simple life and get back to his roots. Nah. In the words of Syrio Forel, “Not today.” After his sorta, kinda apprehension of Gorilla Grim and walking in on his new boss and discovering she was The Defacer, a former sidekick and villain, Nightwing is right back in the thick of it. It being crime solving, somewhat. First he’s gotta deal with his past in an unexpected way.

nightwing11a

What works well for this issue is that it bridges Nightwing with his remorse, but not for the things he originally thinks he should be remorseful for. He is discovering that he might be the monster at the end of the tunnel, depending upon your perspective. I’m curious to see where this takes Nightwing, how the group continues to respond to him and if this possible budding romance he’s got brewing just got derailed by the end of the book.

nightwing11b

Nightwing #11 looks good too. I still enjoy the fact that Nightwing seems like a softer (but not weaker) version, aesthetically to Batman. The pencil work is generally strong and To does a good job to drive home some different characterizations as we met some new people this week that will have an effect on the story moving forward.

Nightwing is still a fun book, but it is exploring Grayson in a refreshing, self-effacing way that makes the character a little more three-dimensional. He is now fully immersed in Blüdhave, for better or worse. Probably the latter.

8.8 Rehabbing Villains out of 10

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