Review: Nightwing Vol. 5- Raptor’s Revenge

August 17, 2020 ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The buildup to this volume’s conclusion is great and creates awesome levels of suspense and tension. The volume’s conclusion is epic and works as the end to the current Nightwing story arc. The artwork is mostly positive.

Cons: The volume’s opening is a little rough.

Overall: Though not quite as consistently positive as other volumes in this series, the fifth installment is an amazing end to an epic run with Nightwing. This collection takes all of this comic’s lingering plotlines and brings them to an epic conclusion. This creates a volume with an ok beginning but a highly worthwhile end. Anyone who has been reading this series should read this volume to see how the current situation is wrapped up.

Story

Nightwing Vol. 5: Raptor’s Revenge is the climactic conclusion to Tim Seeley’s lengthy run on Dick Grayson. This volume successfully brings together characters and plotlines from throughout the Nightwing Rebirth series and uses them to launch an energetic and thrilling battle for the fate of Blüdhaven. The result is another epic collection for an already impressive series. The only downside is that the beginning of the volume is a little rough at points. Besides this though, the volume is worthwhile overall.

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Raptor’s Revenger starts out a little rough. The opening chapters help establish the situation and provide a base for the rest of the volume. However, the conflict and storytelling aren’t quite as captivating as they were in previous volumes. Plus, Huntress’ sudden departure felt like a cheap way to dismiss her contribution to the book, which is a disservice to an otherwise great character and a weak way to address the cliffhanger at the end of the previous book.

Luckily, Raptor’s Revenge improves dramatically from this point forward. The rest of the volume sees the situation in Blüdhaven become more serious, as Raptor begins waging a war on the city as a whole. This forces a tense alliance between Nightwing and Blockbuster and also forces the Run-Offs to come out as heroes. However, despite this, it constantly feels like Raptor is untouchable and that his plan is working out perfectly. All of this helps build the suspense and tension until the volume’s epic conclusion.

This conclusion is an awesome mix of satisfying payout and emotional torture. On one hand, Raptor’s plan is foiled, Blockbuster is removed from his position of power, and it finally feels as if Blüdhaven is going to be alright. On the other hand, Raptor’s death is tragic, especially in that it seems like he finally sees the error of his ways, and Nightwing and Defacer’s final parting still hurts, even though it makes sense that the two can no longer be involved romantically. All in all, the conclusion delivers on many fronts and does not disappoint.

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Art

The visuals in Raptor’s Revenge are alright but are not as strong as other volumes in this series. The collection starts with artwork that is mostly positive but contains a few pages with unpleasant layouts. In addition, Diana Egea’s inks do not complement Miguel Mendonça’s pencils quite as well as inks in previous volumes from this series. This creates a lukewarm opening for the volume.

Things improve as Javi Fernandez takes over on art. These chapters bring back all of the beauty fans have come to expect from Nightwing. The action is dramatic, the emotions run high, and the layouts are consistently impressive. Plus, Chris Sotomayor’s colors just make everything even better. In the end, I would say the art in this collection is still very positive but not quite as positive as other volumes in this series.