Nightwing #30 Review

Written by: Tim Seeley and Tom King
Art by: Javier Garron, Jorge Lucas and Mikel Janin
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 28, 2014

Hello (Dick) Grayson

I love Nightwing.  It was the first book I started reading in the New 52 and the reason I feel in love with DC again.  Maybe that's why I saw the writing on the wall early and actually won a bet (the usual $0.50) with Eric here at Weird Science that DC was canceling Nightwing so when they finally announced it I was far from surprised.  That doesn't mean I wasn't upset.  Kyle Higgins had done such a good job on the book and moving Dick out of Gotham to Chicago promised a Nightwing free from Batman's shadow.  Then Forever Evil happened and Dick's Chicago fun was cut short.  However, DC knows how much we love Nightwing, so they're giving us one last adventure to send off our hero is style, right?  Wrong.  Nightwing #30 is a prelude to Grayson, or "Agent Dick" as a kid at my local comic store calls it.  I'm not going to spend my review pissed off at that, though.  Nightwing ended with Kyle Higgins leaving the book last issue.  Case closed.  I will put my feelings aside and review this book on it's own merits. 





This is a really odd book.  Knowing what I was getting into, I wanted to find out two things after reading it. Who are Spyral and how does Dick get involved with them.  While the beginning introduces Spyral in a neat looking segment, I still don't have a grip on who they are and what they are about.  I'm sure that's how Tim Seeley wants it.  The problem is, I'm not that intrigued to find out more on their merits alone.

How Dick gets tangled up with them is another story.  Of course Batman is involved, but it's a bit different than the norm.  Batman is no longer in a position of ordering Dick around.  He can still ask, but it isn't nicely. It involves fists and blood, but in the end, Dick agrees to "stay dead" and join Spyral.  I have to admit, the information Batman gives about Spyral makes me very wary about the upcoming series.  I also really hated the interaction between Batman and Dick.  The dialogue was heavy handed and seemed too much out of character for both of them.  The rest of the book is dedicated to Dick getting Spyral's attention.  Of course he does and next stop...Grayson #1.

The art duties were split between three artists and while the transitions were a bit jarring, it didn't make or break the book for me.  I liked Javier Garron's beginning the best.  His character work was really good.

Bits and Pieces:

Nightwing #30 was an odd book that only exists as a prelude to Grayson. If you are looking to close Nightwing's New 52 run, don't bother reading this issue and stick with Higgins' #29.  It's an okay read that doesn't change my mind about the upcoming title at all.  I am a Dick Grayson fan and will follow him to his new book no matter what...at least for a few issues.

5.5/10