COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Nightwing: The Night of the Owls
With everyone looking to streaming websites as the potential future of films and TV shows, HBO Max has a lot to prove being the new kid on the block. That being said, Zack Snyder’s Justice League will probably be one of their biggest hits. One of the most controversial things about Zack’s vision is that the Joker killed Dick Grayson, the first Robin in his version. Luckily, we have lots more Nightwing action to see on Titans, with the third season currently filming.
‘Night of the Owls’ is a two-part story. The first part deals with the “Night of the Owls” event, where across the city of Gotham, the “Court of Owls” is sending their mysterious “Talons” to assassinate high ranking members of society. Nightwing finds himself going up against the first Talon that Batman encountered, a man that just so happens to be his great-grandfather. The second part of the novel sees our titular hero being framed for murder. As Dick investigates, he stumbles into the hideout of a mysterious new organization called “Republic of Tomorrow” who are led by a madman named “Paragon”. This new enemy is hellbent on killing Nightwing and becoming the true face of justice in Gotham. Can Nightwing prevail against this skilled killer and clear his name?
I thought that the first part of the novel was done extremely well. It constantly flitted between the present and the past with us getting a real idea of who the first Talon was. We also see that despite the ridiculous regenerative powers that these Talons have, Nightwing is still able to go toe-to-toe with one. The second part of the novel was also not bad, I liked that the writers are actually making an effort to introduce new villains. However, I do think because both stories were so action-packed, there wasn’t much space for character development.
The artwork was not too bad. There were some scenes which were drawn quite well, however, there was also a handful where I felt like the art was a bit off. The covers were also average, and there weren’t many variants. Overall, a good progression of the series, and I hope that future novels bring in more character development!
Favourite Panel:
Panels like these literally prevent anyone from underestimating how skilled this guy is.
Favourite Character:
Nightwing. I mean not just because he’s my favourite character ever, but also because he was so badass fighting that Talon!
Rating:
Story Arc: 14/20
Character Development: 12/20
Artwork: 13/20
Enjoyability: 13/20
Re-readability: 13/20
Overall: 65/100
Level: Intermediate