Review – Nightwing: Rebirth #1 (DC Comics)

Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbarn
Release Date: July 13^th, 2016

There’s not many more fully-rounded heroes in the DCU than Nightwing.

After shaking off his teenage angst alongside his Robin identity in the mid-80s, Dick Grayson has become a role model for what superheroes can be. Confident, capable and never anything other than 100% into what he does.

That positivity made for one of the most refreshing Batman eras ever when he took over the cowl, allowing him to seamlessly drop the Nightwing identity again recently when he became a superspy to infiltrate the mysterious SPYRAL organisation.

Unlike most other heroes, Dick Grayson is who we care about, the mask is just another identity. Saying that, he’s always at his best when he’s his own man and that means when he’s Nightwing.

With this new beginning, Tim Seeley re-establishes Grayson’s character, affirms his relationships with Bruce and Damian, closes things off nicely with Agent One and Midnighter (for the meantime) and sets up where he’s going to be taking the title: away from Gotham.

With the Court Of Owls expanding internationally into the new Parliament Of Owls, and under the impression they have Nightwing in their pocket, Dick has set himself a new infiltration job, with the plan to destroy them from the inside.

It’s a joy to read from start to finish and ends on an obvious but no less thrilling last page that will have old-school Nightwing fans punching the air with joy.

Of course it helps massively that the art duties are taken care of by the immense team of artist Yanick Paquette and colourist Nathan Fairbairn.

Paquette’s gorgeous clean lines and dynamic style is perfect for a Nightwing title, with every page just leaping out at you. Character design, talking heads, balls-out action, Paquette just nails it every time and Fairbairn brings it all to vibrant life. It’s fabulous stuff.

DC’S Rebirth has been almost flawless for me so far, but this is probably the best of the bunch so far. If you only buy one DC title, it needs to be Nightwing.

Rating: 5/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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