Nightwing #63 Review

In The Dark, The Talon Strikes

Written By: Dan Jurgens

Art By: Roman Cliquet, Nick Filardi, Andworld Design

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 21, 2019

Let's mosey on back to Bludhaven, where I imagine the populace uses the word mosey all the time for some reason, where previously we saw that Dick Grayson's Great Grandfather and Talon extraordinaire, William Cobb was offered by Lex Luthor the means to get his grandson into the Talon fold.  Hopefully, with the help of his new Nightwing friends, Ric will be able to ward off this threat, but with no memory of the Court of Owls or his Great Grandfather, will Ric ever see him coming?  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

For this issue of Nightwing we're dealing with something a little more than William Cobb and that's the idea that the Nightwing team have been burning the candle at both ends because the city has been dealing with sweeping blackouts and because of that, people are taking to the streets in droves in order to get up to no good.  It's weird though because in this issue we never find out what Lex Luthor gave William Cobb so that the Talon could get his descendant under his wing and I have to think that these sweeping blackouts are more than just a coincidence at this point, but the issue never really gets to anything dealing with that.

Instead of "The Offer" or the blackouts, we see our Nightwings working really well together and having Ric and Zak having a sort of bonding moment, making it look like those two would be able to actually be friends outside of the superhero life, but the good times in this book don't last long because the day job keeps Ric busy, while the the blackouts keep him out all night and maybe it's that these blackouts are running our heroes ragged so that Talon would be able to pick them off one by one because while the Nightwings are dealing with the abundance of crime in the city, William Cobb is taking his time and getting things sussed out in his mind about who his grandson is now and who is important in his life.  Yeah, things aren't looking good for our heroes or Bea if Talon wants to separate Ric from everything he holds dear in his new life and by the end of the issue we see that this series looks like it's going to be turning the stakes up a notch going forward.

All in all, the art is decent in this issue, where it doesn't really "wow" me, but it certainly doesn't do anything wrong either.  The story on the other hand has really gotten me excited because while I've been taking this series for what it is and seeing how far DC is willing to take the Ric Grayson status quo, this arc is the first one where I actually feel myself getting excited for what's to come because it's a new angle in introducing Ric's past to himself because this aspect of it might actually get him killed or even playing for the other side of the law.  It's pretty compelling, while also giving me the new Nightwing team, which I do enjoy seeing.  

Bits and Pieces:

Now that "The Offer"'s on the table, this series is really picking up because while we've seen villains since Nightwing became Ric Grayson, none have seemed as dangerous as William Cobb and I'm excited.  We've got decent art this issue and a lot of character moments that drove the story along in a fun way that really brought a nervousness by the end as the tension built.

7.8/10