Nightwing #9 Review – No One Likes Alternate Universes
I’ve been struggling with Nightwing since its reboot. The Court/Parliament of Owls arc was amazing. I have no idea what was going with the Night of the Monsters. His random familial arc with Raptor was okay. Now I’m back to completely confused about what in the world Nightwing is supposed to be about. I do wonder, however, if that is the point. Since returning from Spyral, perhaps Dick Grayson himself doesn’t know what Nightwing is supposed to be. Is he a member of the Titans? Is he Batman’s partner again? Is he another solo artist in Gotham? Is he all of these? Or is it time he struck out for his pre-Flashpoint stomping ground of Blüdhaven?
Why would I mention Blüdhaven? It could be because alt-universe Superman tells Nightwing that the Nightwing from his Earth made Blüdhaven his stomping grounds. Which then planted a seed in Nightwing’s mind. Perhaps Dick will move out once again away from Bruce to strike out on his own. But he’ll come back eventually. For one, he loves Damian too much, and two, no matter how much he refuses to admit it, Bruce is his father.
Did you know Nightwing got his name from Superman? It was from Kryptonian legend; “The Nightwing…an ancient god eternally reborn to start anew.” By being reborn of Nightwing and shedding Robin, he started anew. And then he started anew once again after leaving Spyral. Nightwing has felt rather sad since his Superman died, and he hasn’t reached out to the new Clark with open arms. Know who else hasn’t embraced the new Supes? His father.
This Superman also feels sad that he’s been separated from his Nightwing, because they were also close friends. He decides to reach out to Nightwing on this particular night, because he sensed an enemy from his Earth’s Nightwing tormenting this Earth’s Nightwing. If you think that sounds confusing, you aren’t alone. Even Dick doesn’t have time to understand who is doing what to which Earth.
You know what, Dick? I think we all are.
Everything then goes how you would expect it to go, including Nightwing and Superman becoming friends. Even Batman appreciates what Superman has done for Dick, which is probably the highest praise this other Clark is going to get from Bats.
Now, where do they go from here? The last panel is pretty telling, and I’m very mixed about it. Not sure if there is a place for Nightwing in Gotham with Batman, Batgirl, the Birds of Prey, and Robin running around, but back to Blüdhaven? Guess we’ll all learn more in the next two weeks.
Our Rating: Yep
Author: Tim Seeley
Artists: Marcio Takara and Marcelo Maiolo
Publisher: DC Comics
Publish Date: 11/16/206
Acquired via Publisher
