Nightwing #25 Review and *SPOILERS*

Making A Difference 

Written By: Tim Seeley

Art By: Minkyu Jung, Chris Sotomayor, Carlos M. Mangual

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: July 19, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

When we last stepped into Bludhaven, we saw our hero going through villain after villain on Tiger Shark's submarine as he tried to find himself a way out.  Too bad that when he finally reached his destination and was completely pooped from his experience, he found Blockbuster waiting for him and using the escape pod for himself, but not before leaving a bomb for Nightwing and the rest of the Bludhaven outsiders, who he believes he getting rid of to save the city.  Yeah, it was a hell of a cliffhanger that made it look like our hero wouldn't survive, but since this is the Nightwing book, we all know different.  Let's jump into this issue and see how our hero overcomes and when he does, how he's going to take on Blockbuster.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with the bomb ticking down the seconds until detonation....... and while I wish we had a little bit more time on the clock because of what Nightwing needs to do, it's fine I guess because we see Dick backtrack through the sub to find Clock King and the time vest that Time Bomb used in our Nightwing one-shot, where Wally West showed up and our hero uses the vest to manipulate time around the sub, allowing him to save every villain on the vessel before the explosion consumed them all.  Yeah, I don't quite get the explanation that Clock King gives about the perils of misusing the vest, but it seems that Nightwing is okay throughout this issue, so I'm saying it's a non-issue.  

So yeah, Nightwing is safe, all the villains are saved and with Tiger Shark's beloved sub destroyed, the pirate goes back to his Casino to find Roland Desmond waiting for him and since Tiger Shark knows that the man betrayed him, he intends to show him who's the boss by unleashing two Tiger-Shark hybrids on his ass, but it seems that these two monsters are no match for the power of Blockbuster and by the end of this scene, it looks like Tiger Shark knows exactly who the boss is.  By the time Nightwing shows up, the whole mess is over with and Roland is even waiting for him behind the bar at the casino wanting to make our hero a drink for a job well done.  Dick knows that in his current shape that he's no match for Roland and instead throws some shade the villains way in order to make him lose a bit of control and letting him know that Nightwing plans to stick around in Bludhaven and eventually take him down.

In the end, the sun is rising in Bludhaven and Dick swings to Shawn's apartment to try and put his relationship back together from where he left it previously and it seems that Shawn won't let that happen.  That's right, the great love between Dick Grayson and Shawn Tsang is now over and our hero is single again and Shawn is possibly getting back into her old ways with Pigeon.  If that wasn't enough of an ending for you, we also see that Roland is now the owner of the casino and is keeping Tiger Shark locked in a drained out aquarium and that Giz' involvement with Nightwing and trying to figure out the Second Hand's weapons have made him a target and possibly a dead one because when Giz' girlfriend Mouse returns home, she finds Giz laying over his desk with blood dripping.

That's it for this extra-sized Anniversary issue to Nightwing and I have to say that I found myself really enjoying this issue because while it showed the type of caring hero that Dick is, with saving all the villains on Tiger Shark's sub, while possibly sacrificing his life to do it, it also shows that he's a patient hero as well with his conversation with Roland Desmond.  He was willing to sacrifice his life on a long shot once that night, but if he went in strong against Blockbuster he knew he'd lose and was willing to postpone things a little to do it.  It was just a really decent issue of Nightwing that changed things up for the character by giving him a mission and a villain to go up against for the long haul and also, making him single again and possibly having to worry about his former girlfriend in the future.  I loved the art in this issue and Minkyu Jung continues to kill it whenever he's on this title and I find myself more intrigued with here this book is going than ever before.

Bits and Pieces:

This extra-sized Anniversary issue of Nightwing does not disappoint with it's page use and not only gives us an interesting answer to the question about how Nightwing would survive last issue's cliffhanger, but seemed to drive us into a completely new direction for the character and this book with what our hero will be facing coming down the line.  The art was great and I find myself all about what tales will be spun out of Bludhaven going forward.

8/10