Till not too long ago, Nightwing was a superhero very a lot on the periphery of my nerdery. All I actually knew about him was that he had one thing to do with Batman, whereas not really being Batman, and wasn’t to be confused with Darkwing Duck.

Should you’re at the hours of darkness like I used to be, right here’s the fundamentals: as a youngster, Dick Grayson began his superheroic profession as Batman’s sidekick Robin, however now all grown up, he’s moved to the ominously named Bludhaven, the place he’s taken on a brand new persona, preventing crime as Nightwing, using the talents he realized from Batman whereas carving out his personal id.

For these of us who’re new to the Nightwing gig, quantity one, On With The Present, (written by Dan Watters, with art work by Dexter Soy) is an ideal jumping-on level, kicking off new storylines relatively than being tied up in outdated ones.

The motion begins with the leaders of Bludhaven’s varied gangs being assassinated as they sit down for peace talks, plunging the town’s underworld right into a chaotic turf conflict. In fact, Nightwing has to swing into motion to stop the violence from spiraling uncontrolled, and naturally, he rapidly learns there’s a a lot darker conspiracy behind all of it. I used to be stunned at how quickly I used to be sucked into this, and one of many greatest elements was the sheer quantity of enjoyable stuff occurring.

You need examples? It has a well timed story concerning the militarization of police. It has mutant road gangs. It has a Batman cameo. It has a darkish supernatural pressure lurking within the shadows. It has a bunny rabbit!

It might have been good to see a few of the motion sequences stretched out longer, however it is a minor nitpick, and I’m trying ahead to see what occurs subsequent (which results in one other nitpick, which is that when this quantity ends, we’re nonetheless very a lot within the thick of issues, and I’ve to attend till January to choose up quantity two, Dying Traps).

On with the present, certainly.