#pick of the week

Pick of the Week: Miami Vice: Remix #1

Jem & the Holograms #1

Batman Eternal #51

Multiversity: Ultra Comics #1

The Wicked + The Divine #9

Daredevil #14

The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #5

Wayward #6

Gotham Academy #6

Wytches #5

Pick of the Week: Ms Marvel #13

Action Comics #40

Silver Surfer #10

Spider-Gwen #2

Batman Eternal #49

Hellbreak #1

Star Wars #3

The Surface #1

Howard the Duck #1

Teen Dog #7

Pick of the Week: Descender #1

Saga #26

All New Hawkeye #1

Rat Queens #9

Batman Eternal #48

Spider-Woman #5

Princess Leia #1

Nameless #2

Steven Universe #8

Halogen #1

Pick of the Week: Multiversity: Mastermen #1

Batgirl #39

She-Hulk #12

Deadly Class #11

Silk #1

Silver Surfer #9

Fuse #10

Moon Knight #12

Manifest Destiny #13

Uncanny X-Men #31

Pick of the Week:Help us Great Warrior #1

Darth Vader #1

Batman Eternal #45

Secret Six #2

Shutter #9

Southern Bastards #7

All-New X-Men #36

Amazing Spider-Man #14

Guardians of the Galaxy #24

Thor #5

Teen Dog #6

Nightwing #10 by Kyle Higgins,Eddy Barrows, & Geraldoh Borges,Rod Reis, Eber Ferreira & Carlos M. Mangual.

This is my first, but obviously, my Picks of the Week’s will contain spoilers, so I’ll put a jump in them :)

Well, this is very late, but I was about to write out this weeks, and thought I should start with last weeks as a warm up. Also I thought Nightwing would be a fitting first Pick. Just to test the waters :)

First things I want to say with Issue 10:
If you DON’TreadNightwing or pick up the title, but have been interested in it from reviews, or word of mouth or whatever then this is a good place to start :)

I know it’s 10 issues in from the beginning of the ‘reboot’ so to say, but this is a really good starting point for the new story arc. The last 10 issues have been about re-inventing that Nightwing legacy by making this series a stretch different to its last 2 predecessors.

Although, I for one, really did enjoy the crossover with the 'Night of Owls’ (The revelation to Dick originally being in line to become a Talon added a very creative spin on his history. Also the origin on the 'Grayson’ name was very cool) I had been waiting forNightwing to turn off and have some lone adventures for a change, and Issue 10 starts that perfectly. It’s a very welcome beginning to the new storyline.

If you’re fretting about not knowing what’s happened the last 10 issues, then don’t. Honestly. Kyle’s done a brief sum-up on the first few pages just to get you settled, but soon spins you into the new story which is refreshing :)

Bringing back old faces -The first being Lucius Fox in this issue of NW- is a little nod to the fans who will be familiar with them and is always something that hooks me into a story straight off the bat (ha-ha) and not only makes it a interesting story to newbies  of the fandom and makes easier for them to spot faces and pick up names but also pleases the old-fans.

This is one of the things that always had me so fond of Scott Snyder’sBatman&Detective series. He create’s character’s that are relevant, they’re there for story development, not just an extra name written into a script. Another thing he does very well is that he uses originally existing characters to their full potential.

I mean, anyone can create a fraudulent Bat-Villian to reek chaos on Gotham, but it’s much more well done when people use what they’re given and Scott Snyder does just that.

That was one of the things I had hoped Kyle Higgins would also go along with, but when reading the first few issues of our New52’s Nightwing I felt a little disappointed being introduced to all these new characters from the Circus. But now, with Issue 10 you can see how they were all very relevant towards the 'Night of Owls’ storyline, and now that that has all been settled, and done with (For now at least, I can’t really talk so soon with the way things go in Gotham) it’s easy to jump into this new story and welcome the more familiar faces.

As I said previously, Lucius Fox is one welcomed addition to the team, making an appearence in the first few pages and bringing back a familiarity to the Nightwing title I had been looking for. We’ve seen Dick’s connections within the Bat-Family come up in the last 10 issues, and we saw his connections to his childhood in Haly’s but his teenagehood lifetime in Gotham was brushed over in the search for his history, but Lucius was a very good way to bring back the rememberance that Dick was a Gothamite growing up.

Another familiar face for those who have been following Dick Grayson’s rendevous for the last year or so is Sonia Branch (Previously Sonia Zucco) introduced in Scott’s 'Black Mirror’ arc. I loved the plot point she bought to that story, and so her return in this arc is a pleasent surprise for me. One I’m welcoming. Especially since last time Dick encountered her he was in the Cape'n'Cowl which of course she knows nothing about. Something I hope Kyle plays upon.

Though I’ve enjoyed the return of familiar faces, the thing I enjoyed the most in this issue was the play on the history of Gotham. One thing I will always be happy to learn about and read more about is Gotham City. From it’s bleaker Crime Alley to it’s skivier Narrows, I love delving deeper into the history of the City because in right, Gotham is a character in herself. If there was no Gotham City, there would never be a Batman.

Here, in Nightwing, Kyle’s taken a turn to use Gotham’s history as a part of the plot to Dick Grayson. One of the big issues in the reboot was that it was confirmed that after handing the cowl back to Bruce he’d be settling into Gotham permanently.

Now the last two era’s of the Nightwing title, Dick has never been settled in Gotham for good. He’s had a temporary stay when donning the cowl a few times, and when coming back to help out with the many crisis’s they’ve had but never actually stayed very long. Instead he spent a great deal of time in Blüdhaven, and then moved onto New York and many other places. Until Bruce “died” and he took up the mantle of the Bat, he’s never made a place for himself in Gotham since his Robin days -well since he and Bruce had that fateful clash of swords- and spent a lot of time avoiding being in the City too long.

When it was announced that he might take refuge in Gotham some fans were nervous about what direction Dick’d take. But following on from the obvious strain and change the tenure of the Cowl had on Dick, Kyle took the risk of settling him in Gotham City, and it’s worked wonderfully for him to play with in this new story arc.

He’s made use of the old Amusement Mile in Gotham, giving Dick a opportunity to place his own stamp in Gotham. And also it introduces us to the activities out of the tights (Like his old Officer or Curator jobs) which was a nice introduction. As well as finally proving that he does indeed have a home to go back too with the minor introduction to his 'base’ or 'cave’ if you will which was another pleasant surprise.

The art is another standpoint to be acknowledged. Though I was a little disappointed when I heard that Eddy Barrows hadn’t finished another issue but Geraldoh Borges does a very good job of filling in. He draws Dick phenomenaly well, and has a grasp on being able to draw the movement of a figure which if pretty much required when drawing Nightwing. The arts not dropped in standard which is a very nice thing to be able to say, and the panel layouts still continue to work very well with the story dynamic. It’s cool to see that it stands up art-wise next to its bat-brother-and-sister-books I particularly enjoy the art for. (Batman, Batwoman, Batman & Robin etc)

The only downside I had to this issue was the idea of the villian. Though, I’m not having a prejudice before the arc has properly got going, it just felt a little bit of a set-back. Almost as if I was reading Issue 1 all over again.

He’s stumbled across the mark of another secret organisation -called 'The Republic of Tomorrow’- another organisation posing him as a killer, one he has to track down & exterminate (Not literally ofc) though I will keep an open mind, and it didn’t leave me feeling too disheartened because Wingster interrogating the members were some of my favourite panels.

Overall, though a really fantastic Issue. It really had the vibe of one of my favourite era’s of the Nightwing arc, back when Tomasi was writing him, just before he took up the Cowl. It was very nostalgic, and a very welcome turn after the gritty Night of Owls storyline. Very worth a pick-up if you enjoy the Dick Grayson character, enjoy Nightwing, are looking for more Bat-Books to try, or are simply looking for somewhere to jump onto the title. Bravo Kyle, bravo.