Comics! Nightwing #0

Nightwing #0

Tom DeFalco with Kyle Higgins: plot
Kyle Higgins: Dialogue
Eddy Barrows: pencils

The Solicitation
• It’s the origin of Dick Grayson in The New 52! • From orphan to super hero – it’s all here!

Preview

Why I Bought It
I bought issue #1, and being a fan of all things Batman, decided to pick this up to see how Dick Grayson became Robin in this new 52 universe.

What I Liked
Something caught my eye at first glance with this book, and that was seeing Tom DeFalco's name on the cover and involved with the plot. I find that very interesting that DeFalco is there, because Higgins has been on this book as far as I can remember and he was doing OK with it. Why all of a sudden bring someone else in to help with the origin story? Especially the plot part of it? Interesting.

so they have given Dick a couple of tweaks to his origin from the old universe to this one. First, he has the ability to read body language, sorta in a similar way that Cassandra Cain Batgirl could. The second was that because he has this ability, it helped him to deduce who Batman is, which was something that Tim Drake did in the old universe.

This book also greatly showed how Dick reacts very differently to his parent's death than Bruce does. They each have their own way of dealing with grief, with Dick more of the moving forward type and not holding vigil the way Bruce does almost obsessively.

The art was consistent throughout the book. I liked especially that Dick as Robin was portrayed in a way that made sense age wise and not some hulked up monster. My one moment with the art that wasn't that great was the surprised look on Batman's face when Dick calls him Mr. Wayne, and it happens two pages after Bruce admits that Dick probably knows his identity already.

What I Didn't Like
I get and understand why they make certain changes from the old universe to the new one. Dick being able to read a person's body language makes sense since he is a part of the circus. I can do with the little additions like the Robin bracelet and Dick's nickname being Robin before he was actually Robin, but there are certain aspects that I just thought would be unchangeable. The fact that Tim doesn't discover Bruce's identity but Dick does in a far less investigative manner. Dick just happened upon the knowledge, where as the Tim of pre-52 was able to deduce after searching it out.

Panel to Remember
I liked Dick's entrance as Robin. Him floating above Batman in the background telegraphs a lot about his character and how he can do great on his own away from Batman. But alas, he has been stuck in the Batman world since the whole reboot. Get him out of there already.

The one thing I would change about the panel would be to have Dick smiling a little. A little knowing smile would have fit in perfect and shown more about his character in the same way that him floating above Batman did.

Quotable
"I see much more for you, beyond his shadow." - That's right Lady Shiva, now let's just make it happen.

Grades
Words: 7/10
Pictures: 7/10
Buy Next Issue: I'll be around when these books get included into the upcoming Joker story line, but I don't see anything that begs for my money beyond that.