A Nightwing #102 Micro-Review – Detective Superman

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Nightwing #102
AUTHORS: Tom Taylor, C.S. Pacat
ARTISTS:  Travis Moore, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira (Inker), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer). Cover by Bruno Redondo.
RELEASED: March 21, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Continuing the pattern from last issue, this one feels a little bit like an appetizer for the upcoming Titans series, which Tom Taylor is also writing. Nothing wrong with that in the grand scheme of things. Though I’ll be glad if/when things get back to business as usual.

C.S. Pacat’s backup with Nightwing and Jon Kent stole this issue for me, despite me not being enamored with how Jon is drawn. We get a little bit of Dick mentoring him on the ins and outs of detective work. That’s cool to see.

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Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1 Micro-Review – The Death of Supermen

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Adventures of Superman Jon Kent 1, cover, March 2023, Clayton HenryTITLE: Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1
AUTHOR:  Tom Taylor
ARTISTS:
Clayton Henry, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Colorist). Cover by Henry & Marcelo Maiolo. 
RELEASED: 
March 7, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Apparently Jon doesn’t have a cape anymore. That kinda sucks. Superman should have a cape.

The Earth didn’t move for me on this one. Nor do I expect it to, as I’m not a fan of the Injustice game. That’s not to say this story, about Jon Kent traveling the multiverse to find the person that’s killing various different iterations of Kal-El, doesn’t have potential.It just starts a little flat for my tastes. But given Tom Taylor’s obvious history with the character, I’m willing to give it some time.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nightwing #101 Micro-Review – The Glad King

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nightwing 101, cover, February 2023, Bruno RedondoTITLE: Nightwing #101
AUTHORS: Tom Taylor, C.S. Pacat
ARTISTS:
Travis Moore, Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer), Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira (Inker). Cover by Bruno Redondo. 
RELEASED: 
February 21, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I got a little lost on this one.  Am I supposed to know who the king of Vlatava is…?

You guys see that horror flick Smile, last year? Said king takes a page out of that movie’s book as far as villainous features are concerned. Whether on the page or on film, it’s damn unnerving.

This feels a little more like a Titans issue than a Nightwing issue. To an extent I suppose that’s inevitable, what with the reemphasis the Titans are seeing these days. It’s not the worst thing in the world, so long as the book remains Nightwing-centric.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nightwing #100 Micro-Review – New, Exciting, and Conspicuous

**This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nightwing #100 cover, January 2023, Bruno RedondoTITLE: Nightwing #100
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS: 
Various. Cover by Bruno Redondo.
RELEASED: 
January 17, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue manages to be a nice celebration of Nightwing’s solo history via guest artists who’ve worked on him. Scott McDaniel, Eddy Barrows, etc. But it also clearly points Dick Grayson in a new and exciting direction. This is an issue of which all parties should be proud.

My only qualm with it? It’s got a scene where Batman and Nightwing are talking in front of Alfred’s grave…in broad daylight. They’d be kind of conspicuous, wouldn’t they? And they’re kind of blowing the whole secret identity thing…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

An Action Comics #1050 Micro-Review – Back to Normal

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Action Comics 1050, cover, December 2022, Steve BeachTITLE: Action Comics #1050
AUTHORS: Philip Kennedy Johnson, Tom Taylor, Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS:
Mike Perkins, Clayton Henry, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin (Colorist), Dave Sharpe (Letterer). Cover by Steve Beach.
RELEASED: 
December 27, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue undoes what might have been the biggest longterm effect of Brian Michael Bendis’ work with Superman’s world. It’s not necessarily surprising, as we pretty much knew it wasn’t going to last anyway. In effect, things are back to normal for Superman and Clark Kent.

Perry White has a minor stroke/heart episode in this issue. It makes you wonder, if Perry is so old and frail, how is he able to run The Daily Planet? As someone who’s worked as a journalist, if you think that’s not a stressful job, think again.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nightwing #99 Micro-Review – A Feel-Good Bat-Book

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Nightwing #99
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS: Bruno Redondo, Geraldo Borges, Caio Filipe (Inker), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer). Cover by Redondo.

RELEASED: December 20, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This feels like a set-up issue. As in, what happens here is meant to set up whatever’s coming our way in future issues of Nightwing. In that sense, I’m definitely intrigued.

What’s consistently been interesting to me about this Taylor/Redondo run on Nightwing is that it’s largely become a feel-good title. It has a tone and feel more akin to, say, a Superman book. As it’s theoretically a book in the Batman family, you wouldn’t necessarily expect that. But the approach has helped Nightwing stand out from the crowd. So it’s clearly working. It’s certainly fitting around the holidays.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Superman: Son of Kal-El #18 Micro-Review – Superman vs. Twitter?

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Superman: Son of Kal-El #18
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS:
Cian Tormey, Ruairi Coleman, Scott Hanna (Co-Inker), Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Colorist), Dave Sharpe (Letterer). Cover by Travis Moore & Tamra Bonvillain.

RELEASED: December 13, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

We learn in this issue that Red Sin, Jon Kent’s new enemy, has been posting hateful stuff about him on social media. Does that mean we’ve got Superman fighting a Twitter troll? Hey, seems like a perfectly despicable villain to me. Especially after all the fake outrage that was generated on social media after the revelation that Jon was bi.

The Justice League are rebuilding Jonathan and Martha Kent’s house when we open the issue. Martha wonders if the Justice League should be prioritizing them, and Wonder Woman replies that they are Justice League. I love that.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nightwing 2022 Annual Micro-Review – A Little Training…

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nightwing 2022 Annual, cover, November 2022, Eduardo PansicaTITLE: Nightwing 2022 Annual
AUTHORS: Tom Taylor, Jay Kristoff, C.S. Pacat
ARTISTS:
Eduardo Pansica, Inaki Miranda, Julio Ferreira (Inker), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer). Cover by Pansica, Ferreria, & Lucas.

RELEASED: November 29, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

In addition to an origin story for Heartless (shown on the cover), this issue gives us a really cute story about Haley/Bitewing. Quality stuff.

But my favorite of the three short stories we get in this Annual is about Nightwing doing a little training with Jon Kent. By and large, I think their friendship is a little bit forced. But C.S. Pacat, Inaki Miranda, and the creative team still manage to tell us an insightful story about Nightwing’s teaching methods compared to the one he grew up with under Batman.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nightwing #98 Micro-Review – Oh, Thank God…

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nightwing 98, variant cover, 2022, Brian StelfreezeTITLE: Nightwing #98
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS:
Daniele Di Nicuolo, Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer). Variant cover by Brian Stelfreeze.

RELEASED: November 15, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Oh, thank God. They’re not actually going back to the Ric Grayson stuff, as the end of last issue suggested. It was a set-up for the introduction of Nite-Mite, Nightwing’s equivalent to Bat-Mite. (I might have gone with the name Mite-Wing. But Nite-Mite works too.)

Daniele Di Nicuolo has guest artist duties this month. He shows off his versatility by going suitably cartoony for the Nite-Mite stuff, and then also being able to depict scary demons straight from hell (literally). At the same time, Adriano Lucas offers a nice consistency. Great looking issue.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Superman: Son of Kal-El #17 Micro-Review – The Big Talk

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Superman Son of Kal-El 17, cover, 2022, Travis Moore, Tamra BonvillainTITLE: Superman: Son of Kal-El #17
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS:
Cian Tormey, Ruairi Coleman, Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Colorist), Dave Sharpe (Letterer). Cover by Travis Moore & Tamra Bonvillain.

RELEASED: November 8, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue is centered around Jon being afraid to talk to his dad about his bisexuality. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that the matter ends on a high note. Because…y’know, his dad is Superman. He says all the right things. But it’s still a nice little window into what I’m sure a large percentage of LGBTQ people go through with their parents. Even those who aren’t as supportive as Superman.

Artistically, the opening scene in this issue is fun. A nice little race sequence between father and son. It made me smile.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.