TITLE: Nightwing #10
AUTHOR: Tim Seeley
PENCILLER: Marcus To
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASED: December 7, 2016

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The cover may say “Welcome to Bludhaven,” but don’t be fooled. NIghtwing has been here before. It’s been about a decade. But these are his old stomping grounds…kinda.

Bludhaven (pronounced “blood haven”) was the setting for Rightwing’s original solo series, which first hit stands in 1996. Compared to Gotham, Bludhaven was poorer, dirtier, and at times more violent. As writer Chuck Dixon described the city in issue #1: “As bad as Gotham is, Bludhaven’s worse in a lot of ways. If it’s too coarse or too vile or too awful for Gotham, it winds up here.” Yikes. Now, after a hint from Superman (who, remember, is from that New 52 Earth), our New 52 Dick Grayson is checking out this world’s version of Bludhaven. As it turns out, not much has changed. Dick and Nightwing are making Bludhaven their new home, even though the city doesn’t look highly on those that wear capes and masks…

Tim Seeley is essentially using the formula for the old Nightwing book, with the New 52 iteration of the character. As an older fan, that’s a nice treat. We’ve got the Bludhaven name, the black and blue suit, and Dick is trying to “figure out who I am,” as he tended to do back in the day. He’s even got a new gig as a volunteer for teens affected by violence. How many friggin’ jobs did he have in that old series? He was a bartender, a cop, a gymnastics coach. A true renaissance man, that Dick Grayson.

We get a nice same-but-different vibe from the city. It’s not depicted as violent or dirty, thus far. But there’s a definite air of corruption and danger. What’s more, this is a Bludhaven that’s concerned about tourism. In future issues, Nightwing will apparently become a mascot of sorts for the city. That’s intriguing, considering he’s more of a covert-style vigilante. It’s certainly a far cry from people thinking he’s dead.

Seeing Marcus To on this book makes me smile. Years later, I’m still bitter about the Red Robin book he worked on being cut short. He’s worked for DC since then, but having him back on an ongoing Bat-book feels like justice of sorts. He and colorist Chris Sotomayor give us an awesome Nightwing. What’s more (as Meg Downey pointed out on Twitter), To gives us subtle variations between Dick as Nightwing, Dick in public, and Dick in private. The way he dresses is obviously different, but the way To plays with his hair is the great part. As Nightwing it’s a bit wilder, in public it’s styled neatly, and in private it’s unkempt. Sadly, you don’t always notice that kind of thing the first time through. But I give To a lot of credit for it. His character acting is also very natural, and again, subtle at times. Case in point: The page that strictly consists of shots of Dick sitting in a chair talking. To makes each of them different, while other artists might go for panel duplication.

The issue starts out with a one-page scene (shown below) in which Batgirl and Robin briefly talk about Dick. We also get a shot of Batman. It’s not immediately apparent why this is in this issue. Though when you take into account the talk about Dick finding himself, it makes some sense. In this scene we see Bruce, Barbara, and Damian. But the trio used to be Bruce, Barbara, and Dick. And of course, when beginning a new chapter in Dick’s career, beginning with a Robin scene always seems fitting.

Seeley does give us one groaner of a line. Via Dick’s inner monologue: “You gotta keep it sexy and exciting… Like Nightwing.” I’m far from a sexiness expert. But the truly sexy don’t have to tell us they’re sexy, do they?

But all in all, this is cool. Putting Dick in Bludhaven doesn’t inherently make this a good book, but it’s a nice treat. On its on merits, this Nightwing book has been fairly strong. That doesn’t look like it’s going to change in the near future.

Follow Primary Ignition on Twitter @PrimaryIgnition, or at Facebook.com/PrimaryIgnition.