Richard Gratton's Fantastic Reads 4 U

Nightwing: Rebirth #1
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: 07/13/16

I have not read a ton of Nightwing comics, but what I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed. When I saw the last copy of Nighwing: Rebirth #1 on the shelf at a comic shop I happened to stop at, I was really looking forward to revisiting a hero I hadn't read about in years. The cover caught my eye right away and I knew I had to pick it up. But I have to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with this comic. That's not to say it's bad, not by any means; it just isn't fantastic, it's average. Nothing more and nothing less.

Nightwing: Rebirth #1 provides a slow-moving story that is a good starting point for anyone who hasn't read or hasn't been reading any of Dick Grayson's recent adventures. The comic does a decent job of tying up loose ends and setting a very basic direction for the ongoing title. It gives us a look at where Dick has been, who he has been, and what may be in store for him in the near future. In doing this, we also get a sense of who may or may not be supporting characters in the book. On the downside, the book reads like a summary page extended into a full-length comic; bringing us up to date, giving us very brief teasers of villains to come, and very little more.

Artistically, I am not a fan of this book. Yanick Paquette is a decent artist, but I would like to see more realism in the details of his work. Most of the characters have overly exaggerated jaw lines (in some cases reminiscent of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh), which make them look a bit too cartoony for my taste. To be fair though, the action in this book is very limited, so the opportunities to show any real artistic explosion in this issue just don't come.

What is interesting in this book is the interaction between Dick and Damian. The original Robin mentoring the current Robin. Dick being a big brother to Damian is a cool relationship that could be a great partnership if DC decides to go that way. Just imagine where a book like Nightwing and Robin could go. The Parliament of Owls with a new, mysterious leader is set up as the initial adversary in Nightwing's ongoing series. Hopefully, this will play out in a way that brings more excitement than this one-shot does.

These Rebirth one-shots should be the teasers that establish the titles DC is going to publish. But on the business end of things, they need to have hooks that grab hold of us to the point where we are so compelled to go out and buy the first issue of the ongoing series because we can't stand not knowing what is going to happen next. This issue does not do that. If I were not a Nightwing fan already, I would probably skip over the ongoing series based on this offering in favor of something that catches my interest more than this did.

Scale of Awesomeness: 5 out of 10