Review: Nightwing Vol. 3- Nightwing Must Die

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline is engaging and pits the heroes against some great villains. Emotions and character development are handled well. The volume brings back some fan-favorite aspects of Grant Morrison’s time with Batman. The artwork is beautiful and helps make the entire experience even better.

Cons: Nothing significant.

Overall: The Nightwing series soars even higher than before with its third volume. This collection details a thrilling superhero adventure filled with action and some beautiful artwork. This is then further enhanced by well-written characters and worthwhile connections to the past. Overall, any fan of Nightwing or fans of Grant Morrison’s run on Batman should consider reading this volume.

Story

Nightwing Vol. 3: Nightwing Must Die, by Tim Seeley, is an awesome comic book that surpasses its two already impressive predecessors. This volume details an intense saga that reunites Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne in a battle against a series of incredible enemies. The battle is tense, interesting, and brings back some fan-favorite aspects of Grant Morrison’s time with Dick and Damian. The story isn’t just action and heroics though, as emotional and meaningful developments are playing out right alongside everything else. This collection looks at the bond between Nightwing and Damian and also looks at Nightwing as an individual, specifically as a young adult facing the “real” world. All of this together helps make an excellent comic book and a memorable entry in this series.

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The storyline in Nightwing Must Die follows Nightwing and Robin’s investigation into the disappearance of Nightwing’s girlfriend. This adventure pits them against evil reflections of themselves, the always-creepy Professor Pyg, and the demonic Doctor Hurt. Each encounter is exciting on its own but together they create a genuinely thrilling saga, one that pushes the duo to the extremes. Plus, the fact that all of these encounters relate back to Grant Morrison’s fantastic run on Batman and Robin adds additional weight to everything and makes the entire narrative even more significant.

Outside of the action, Nightwing Must Die does a fantastic job with the relationship between Nightwing and Robin. These characters have one of the closest friendships in the Bat-family, so seeing them interact like this is great. It allows both of them to show off their unique personalities and how these personalities often create moments of humor. Plus, the look into their emotional connection to one another is incredibly heartwarming, as fans get to see Robin worry about Nightwing “replacing” him and Nightwing reassure him that nothing can replace their team-up. All in all, seeing these two together is wonderfully wholesome and just plain fun.

The individual examination of Nightwing also works out well. It looks into the doubts he holds regarding his own maturity and development at a time of crisis. In this way, it works as a realistic look into the feelings that come about naturally in real-world young adulthood. This type of story suits Nightwing well and is compelling in general.

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Art

The artwork in Nightwing Must Die matches the high quality of the writing and the high quality of the artwork in volumes preceding this one. Both Javi Fernandez and Minkyu Jung put forward beautiful work throughout this collection. Their artwork is bold, bright, and helps emphasize both action and emotion. This is a serious asset to the storytelling, which really relies on the artwork to help hammer home the physical and emotional impact of a few key scenes. The volume is also laid out impressively and does particularly well in bringing creativity to a few hallucinogenic scenes. Plus, Chris Sotomayor’s equally beautiful colors only serve to make everything look even better. In the end, the visuals here are a big draw for the collection as a whole.

Continuity

Nightwing Vol. 3: Nightwing Must Die continues the story from Nightwing Vol. 2: Back to Blüdhaven (Review).

The story here continues in Nightwing Vol. 4: Blockbuster (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• This entire volume makes a number of references to Dick Grayson (Reading Order) and Damian Wayne’s (Reading Order) time as Batman and Robin. This is detailed across the Batman and Robin Vol. 1 series, collected across Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn to Batman and Robin Vol. 3: Batman and Robin Must Die.
• Damian’s association with the Teen Titans (Reading Order) began across Teen Titans Vol. 1: Damian Knows Best (Review).