“RISE OF RAPTOR” part one! The Parliament of Owls wasn’t brought to justice like Raptor promised Nightwing—it was eliminated! Raptor’s methods have crossed the line and Nightwing goes to apprehend him. Upon his arrival, he discovers Raptor’s true intentions and obsessions… 

This issue starts with Nightwing meeting up with some of his former contact from Spiral, the spy organization that he used to work for before coming Nightwing again (we won’t get into all that right now). The reason for this meet up was to take down a group called the Court of Owls.

Let’s just say it doesn’t go according to plan, and when they go to raid the Court of Owls’ hideout, all the members are slaughtered from Nightwing’s other former partner, Raptor. You could see how this brand of “justice” wouldn’t sit well with Nightwing, so he goes to track him down and bring him in.

We’ve been getting little hints here and there about who Raptor may be. He does seem to have some kind of link to Nightwing’s past back when he was a circus performer. Tim Seeley has been playing the slow game with this series, but it’s definitely gearing up to some big reveals.

I’m for sure digging the art in this issue: Javier Fernandez does a really good job with the flow and momentum of movement, which is pretty important when it comes to Nightwing. The panel layout has also been done very well; I’ve always been more of a fan of the weirder kind of panels rather than the traditional 6th grade layout. I just feel that helps the flow of the storytelling.

I saw a tweet the other day from Tim Seeley saying that he plans on giving Nightwing a good Rogues gallery, and from what I can tell so far it seems like he’s doing exactly that; and factor in that he’s going to be bringing Bludhaven back in future issues, this title is definitely going to be on the top of my pile each week when it comes out.

I’m giving this:

4 out of 5 whiskey shots.