The "Better Than Batman" arc has been one of the most exciting, consistently entertaining stories coming from of DC Comics in the past several months.  I've used the word "swashbuckling" to describe it a few times, and I still feel that's accurate: it's a grand adventure, serialized entertainment that hearkens back to the Silver Age…

Remember in The Princess Bride* when the grandson asks if his grandfather's story has any sports in it? "Are you kidding?!" the Grandpa replies.  "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..." That's what Nightwing feels like: a grand, swashbuckling adventure.  There may not be any actual fencing or giants (not yet,…

"When it comes to criminals, their fear is more important than your trust." Those words, spoken by Batman in flashback, serve as both a loose theme and the underlying struggle Nightwing is going through on his new mission.  Is it better for the Parliament of Owls to think that Dick is truly one of them,…

You look at a title like "Better Than Batman" and your mind can go several different places.  Are they trying to say that Nightwing is better than Batman?  Ignoring the fact that Batman himself has said just as much before, it's easy to think that such an inflammatory title can come across as disrespectful to…

To say nothing of the quality of the books, most of DC's recent Rebirth titles have been continuations of established events rather than true shake-ups of the status quo.  Sure, there are some titles like Green Arrow that have brought back integral elements that had long been absent (of course I'm talking about the goatee);…

Nightwing #30 “Setting Son” comes to us with a certain... trepidation. We don’t have Kyle Higgins writing for us. Instead, we are given a prelude to the upcoming (out as of July 9, 2014) series Grayson, co-written by Tim Seeley and Tom King. Nightwing fans everywhere are decrying/celebrating/worrying about this move by DC. Of course…

There's a prevailing sense throughout the past year's worth of Nightwing comics that writer Kyle Higgins had big plans for Dick Grayson in Chicago but as soon as Forever Evil began dictating terms for the entire DC Universe the series grew a bit aimless until we reached this 2-part finale of issues #28 and #29. It's obviously…

With the Nightwing series ending at issue #30, it appears that writer Kyle Higgins is trying to tie up all loose ends and craft a finale that brings us up to date with Forever Evil while celebrating the past 28 issues. The first 1/3 of the comic is essentially one large fight scene that tosses…

Does it feel to anyone else like the Nightwing title has been getting knocked around by editorial interference from the start? It's a book that's shifted gears a lot. It looked like Nightwing was going to stand out as a book about a hero who gets to tour the US as a traveling hero who…

When compared with issue #19, the first chapter of the first arc in Nightwing's Chicago adventure's, issue #26 is a bit of a snooze. I mean, that first arc we had Nightwing being chased by police while he himself hunted the man who killed his parents, we caught a glimpse of a serial killer who…