Nightwing 2: Night of the Owls

Comic Info

Nightwing (2) #8

Reprints Nightwing (2) #0, 8-12 (June 2012-November).  Nightwing has just discovered his whole life is a lie.  His grandfather was a Talon for the Court of Owls and he was destined to be one as well until fate and Bruce Wayne intervened.  Now, Nightwing finds himself battling for his life against his grandfather.  Nightwing also finds himself accused of murder, and as Detective Nie hunts him, Nightwing must find why a group called the Republic of Tomorrow is desperate to kill him.

Written by Kyle Higgins with additional writing by Tom DeFalco, Nightwing Volume 2:  Night of the Owls is the follow-up to Nightwing Volume 1:  Traps and Trapezes and contains part of the bigger Batman title crossover event Night of the Owls in addition to a secondary story.  Featuring art by Eddy Barrows, Ruy Jose, Eber Ferreira, Andres Guinaldo, Mark Irwin, Geraldo Borges, and Raul Fernandez,  Nightwing (2) #8-9 were also collected in Batman:  Night of the Owls.

I am one of the readers who enjoyed the New 52 relaunch of the DC Universe.  I grew up primarily a Marvel reader, and often found DC a bit murky and unreadable.  Though that view softened over the years, the New 52 did do a good job streamlining titles and making the comics more internally coherent…and this is a great example of it, but it also is a very average comic.

The story is basically divided into three parts.  The first part is the Night of the Owls issues that tied into the bigger Batman story.  Dick’s role in the events were definitely a bit different than some of the other titles since the battle was personal.  The two issues don’t necessarily flow together since the action jumps a bit, but it at least provides a different feeling story than what was going on in Batman’s part of the tie-in.

Nightwing (2) #0

The second story involves Dick’s search for the people framing him for murder.  It is a rather average tale and a strong comic book story but little more.  The “shocking” revelation of why Detective Nie was hunting Nightwing felt a little drawn out and would have been more interesting in 1992 rather than 2012 when it seems a bit more blasé and not much of a shock.

The final tale in the collection is part of DC’s big flashback month and features Dick’s rise to becoming Robin.  It is a bit of a waste because it feels like this tale has been told a million times and the New 52 didn’t alter it enough to make it worth retelling.  It is a good background issue for new readers and sets up the return of Lady Shiva which was mentioned in other issues.

Nightwing is a pretty standard comic book, but it is a solid comic.  The art and story are fine and though it isn’t a comic that will ever wow you, I do have some attachment to it since I did always like Dick Grayson more than any of the other Robins.  Nightwing has always been a second stringer and continues to be a second stringer unfortunately…and this book isn’t changing it.  Nightwing 2:  Night of the Owls is followed by Nightwing 3:  Death of the Family.

Related Links:

Nightwing 1:  Traps and Trapezes

Nightwing 3:  Death of the Family

Nightwing 4:  Second City

Nightwing 5:  Setting Son

Batman:  Night of the Owls