Nightwing #43 Review

Written by: Michael Moreci
Art by: Minkyu Jung, Felipe Sobreiro, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: April 18, 2018

It's time for another one-shot of Nightwing.  I am not opposed to these sort of issues popping up now and again, but two in a row kind of spells out that the new creative team jumping on the book needed some time to get things going.  That's fine also, but it doesn't usually equal must see tv.  At best these issues are fun diversions, but at worst they are placeholders pulled from the musty file labeled “inventory issues”. Which do we have here?  Well, let's find out…

The issue starts out by showing us that Dick Grayson is not hip with technology or texting or...poor Dick is just having problems!  It seems that Damian is also having problems of the League of Assassins kind.  After seeing that Roy is also trying to get ahold of Dick, he suits up and lickety-split is kicking ninja ass!

We quickly get Damian and Dick together and through the narration, Dick says that Damian is "like my little brother".  Wait...what???  I know it's a throwaway line to set up a joke, but it really threw me off.  Couple that with the "usual" dickhead Damian and I was very angry very quickly here.

That's when Roy shows up (much to Damian's chagrin) and the narration and interactions continued to feel way off with where we are in Rebirth.  I know that Michael Moreci only has one issue here, but why fill it with the same cliched and generic Damian versus the world dialogue that is so played out by now?

When Cheshire shows up next, it's just bad timing with what is going on in the current Titans book.  I know that this issue takes place a while ago (there was an editors note), but I'm not sure that it's worse because of that.

The whole scene just ends, but Dick uses his big brain and figures out it was all a diversion.  We then get to see the actual League plan, get an odd feeling and sounding mopey Dick, some very quick detective work (ie: asking Roy some questions) and a fight.

Call me jaded, but I am really getting sick of every issue throwing in the "hero speech" to cover up the lack of characterization in the rest of the book.  Here, Dick tells Cheshire he doesn't allow anyone to hurt the people he cares about...cool.

The issue ends with Dick apologizing, Damian being a bit inappropriate and the three heroes having a little fun kicking butt in the Blud.

I know I sounded pretty negative this whole time, but this issue wasn't a complete loss.  I really liked Minkyu Jung's art and I did smile at the ending.  All in all, though, this was a one and done issue that didn't have to be and if you skip it waiting for Ben Percy to start his run next issue, I will not hold it against you.  If you read it, you may get more chuckles out of it than me, but I am not a happy person.

Bits and Pieces:

This second one-shot in a row's biggest sin is being completely skippable.  Michael Moreci tries to have some fun here, but the story is paper thin and the interactions are cliched and outdated.  It does look good, but I'd suggest waiting until Ben Percy's run starts next month if you are looking to jump on this book.

5.0/10