I don’t think I’ve ever finished a series I started to review for Sartorial Geek and, with 2020 being a clean slate, I decided maybe that should be changed (also: we all know comics go out-of-print after a certain number of years, so this is my way of trying to finish all the series I’ve gotten into). I sort of gave up on most of the series I’ve previously discussed— except for the New 52 Nightwing (I know, I know, everyone tells me I can skip it and just get into Grayson, so I thought I’d give the second volume a try before I made a judgement). So, here we go with Nightwing Volume 2: Night of the Owls.
Writers: Kyle Higgins, Tom DeFalco
Artists: Eddy Barrows, Ruy Jose, Eber Ferreira, Andres Guinaldo, Raul Fernandez
Colours: Rod Reis, Peter Pantazis
Letters: Pat Brosseau, Carlos M. Mangual, Travis Lanham, Dezi Sienty
Plot summary
Dick Grayson must face his past and a deadly adversary in the present as he learns of his connection to the mysterious Court of Owls. But even if he’s able to stop an undead, unstoppable assassin, he’ll still have to deal with the rising forces of the anti-Gotham City army and its leader the mysterious Paragon.
Worth reading
This should be the easiest part of the review, but the truth is . . . mostly no, this book was not worth it. But that one issue in this trade that I loved saved the whole thing for me and made me want to continue on with Higgins’ run. For what it’s worth, the issue I loved (“Perpetual Motion”) was a collaboration between Higgins and Tom DeFalco (most notably known for his work on Spider-Man). I love DeFalco’s stuff. “Perpetual Motion” felt like a breath of fresh air amidst rambling, stuffy clutter and, while I don’t know how much of that switch-up was due to Higgins deciding to course-correct or DeFalco swooping in to save the day, it at least has me reaching for the next volume. Also worth noting: “Perpetual Motion” provides an updated origin story for Dick Grayson, so if you’re kind of over origin stories, that won’t be your jam (but it does hint at a future storyline! Or at least, I hope it hints at a future storyline. Otherwise, I’m gonna be a little mad my time was wasted).
Flaws
I wasn’t a huge fan of the whole Paragon/Republic of Tomorrow plot, which is a shame because other than a lot of references to the Court of Owls, the majority of this trade dealt with the Republic. I think it had a lot of potential, but it was rushed and largely inconsequential. The lead-up makes Paragon out to be something of a criminal mastermind, and a worthy long-term foe for Nightwing, but the execution was all over the place, and the end was too neat. Out of curiosity, I Googled Paragon and found he really was a big player. It doesn’t look like he’s been used since, so like, what’s the point? I could see if he was a tantalizing mystery character like Brian K. Vaughan’s The Skeleton (in a Reddit AMA, Vaughan said they had a year-long plot line ready to go, but since that never came to fruition and the villain’s identity is still a secret: “that mystery is probably more interesting remaining one.”) but when you take a second to think about the Republic of Tomorrow, it’s just not that interesting, and Paragon, who keeps prattling on about wanting to rid Gotham of “false idols,” is even less so.
Rating
Honestly, this should be like a 2/5 but I enjoyed “Perpetual Motion” so much that I bumped it up to a 3/5. I’ll be reading the next one, and I hope it gets better!
Love Potion Number 9
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