‘Nightwing 2021 Annual #1’ Review

Forty Pages of Brothers in Arms
Nightwing 2021

Writer: Tom Taylor / Artists: Clan Tormey, Daniel HDR, Raul Fernandez, Rain Beredo, and John Kalisz / DC Comics

The Nightwing 2021 Annual #1 is here, which means we get some double-sized Grayson action this week.

I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t even realize the annual was coming up, but that’s probably because I never look at solicitations. So, that’s on me. 

This Nightwing 2021 annual took my favorite approach: a single, long-form story. A lot of times annuals are filled with multiple shorts by a few creative teams, and those are cool too, but I like being able to dig into a 40-plus page comic and just take in a story that’s got more breathing room than usual.

While we didn’t get Nightwing back in Blüdhaven dealing with the Heartless problem, we did get a return of my favorite aspect of this book: its heart, heat, and hands. 

The story in this annual revolves around Red Hood doing what he does best, beating people senseless. But this time, he’s out murdering people in cold blood, which forces Nightwing to have to stop him before he can kill again. 

Nightwing 2021

But it’s never that easy, is it? Red Hood claims someone is out impersonating him, so the two Bat Brothers go out to find the culprit.

And that’s what the book ultimately winds up being about: two brothers. 

As they search for the real killer, Taylor weaves in and out of the past and present to tell a larger story about brotherhood, acceptance, and growth. 

This is why I love Tom Taylor so much and regard him as one of the best writers in the medium today. The man really knows how to pull at the heartstrings. His stories are always equally about character as they are active, and as a writer myself, I really appreciate that. 

But we also got hands in this annual. A lot of hands. The art team consisting of Tormey, HDR, Fernandez, Beredo, and Kalisz more than delivered on some beautifully laid out conflict either through fights or through car chases. It’s the type of visuals that would make your eyes smile if they could.

10 Crowbar Beatings out of 10

Enjoying Nightwing? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.

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  • Morgan Hampton

    Staff Writer

    Morgan Hampton is a writer--OH MY GOD I CAN ACTUALLY SAY THAT NOW. *ahem* Excuse me, sorry for that outburst. As I was saying, Morgan Hampton is a writer currently living in San Francisco with an obsession for all things nerd (except Medieval stuff. Get outta here with that mess), and a passion to represent the underrepresented. He's an aspiring comic book writer so catch him in the funny pages some time before the apocalypse. He holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from SFSU so he's broke.

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