Nightwing #10
*broad overview spoilers*
With "Welcome to Bludhaven" emblazoned across the cover, I have to admit that I was kind of excited to pick this one up. Bludhaven was literally made for Nightwing in the 1996 series, so to see Dick Grayson finally getting back there twenty years later feels really good to this fan. That's my initial reaction anyway.
Upon closer inspection, this Bludhaven is a little different from the version that DC decided to drop Chemo on, but maybe that's not bad. There's some casino action going on here, so maybe The Blud is being modeled after Las Vegas a little bit? Or maybe more than a little, since Bludhaven is working to rebrand itself as a family friendly city, much as Vegas has been doing for years now. Enough about the city though!
Dick volunteers at The Haven Community Center, where he meets Shawn Tsang (who he will realize later he already knows). He gets set up in an apartment, and of course spends the night as Nightwing where he fights Gorilla Grimm, and then meets a new villain. There's... a little more to it than that, but not much.
Overall, a whole lot of setup was crammed into this issue, which made everything feel very fast paced. When the story arc is done, I have a feeling that the pace will have been just fine. For this issue by itself, it feels... a little off. I can't quite put my finger on it though- writing's fine, art's fine. It's hard to put my excitement for the return of Bludhaven aside to figure it out.
So for the score, I'm going to deduct one point for that little something that is off, and nothing else, because my excitement for Bludhaven sweeps any other reservations aside. Final score: four stars.