Better than Batman- Part 1
This issue was a big improvement off of the "Nightwing:Rebirth" special. As I suspected in my review of that issue, it can be skipped entirely. This new start for Nigthwing provides enough insight into the situation that the story makes sense without the Rebirth issue. In this story Nightwing has been working for the Parliament of Owls because they threatened to kill Damian Wayne otherwise. Here we learn Damian is in no danger and that Dick is acting as a double-agent in order to bring down the Parliament of Owls from the inside. In that sense this story feels much like espionage a la "Grayson."
The writing by Tim Seeley is better this issue than in Rebirth. I liked Nightwing's narrative voice and the slight comedy injected into the book. The art here by Javier Fernandez is also on par with Yanick Paquette's from the last go around. I preferred Fernandez illustration of Batman and Robin, but liked Paquette's illustration of Nightwing better. My favorite moment in the book was Nightwing's conversation with Batgirl. The inklings of romance there were nice and sentimental, and reminded me of "Batgirl: Year One." I hope there is more of the Dick and Barbara relationship in the future. An intriguing new character was introduced and I'm interested to see what he's about.
All in all, this is an improvement over the Rebirth special and a strong starting point for the return of Nightwing. Though the intricacies of the espionage plot are a little perplexing, hopefully those things will be revealed in time. For now, I'm happy to enjoy the mystery.
