Review: Nightwing Vol. 6- The Untouchable

August 18, 2020 ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline centers around a great battle that is gripping all the way through. The following stories offer some more lighthearted fun on their own. The volume’s artwork looks good throughout the read.

Cons: The main storyline has some small problems throughout it. The following stories aren’t that memorable.

Overall: This is a volume filled with great levels of tension and excitement. It stars a straightforward fight between Nightwing and a powerful villain, a fight fraught with suspense and intensity. There are some small problems in this volume’s stories but none take away from the positive qualities. In the end, this is a book for Nightwing fans wanting to see him participate in a tense battle against a great villain.

Story

Nightwing Vol. 6: The Untouchable, by Sam Humphries, collects a few highly enjoyable stories. The first is a dramatic affair filled with tension and starring an interesting, new villain. The follow-up stories are much shorter and simply send Nightwing off on a few fun adventures. There are some problems here and there, such as the main story dragging at times and failing to address progress from the previous arc, but these don’t take away from the volume’s ability to grab and hold the reader’s interest. Overall, it is a solid collection that Nightwing fans are likely to enjoy.

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The Untouchable begins with its longest and most significant story arc. This is a thrilling battle between Nightwing and a mysterious villain from his past. This villain has the ability to subtly mind control people and always seems to be a step or two ahead of Nightwing, both of which help imbue this story with a palpable sense of tension. It always seems like Nightwing is pushing himself to his limits in order to take on this villain, yet, until the volume’s conclusion, he continuously comes up short. This makes the journey to the book’s conclusion incredibly exciting and allows Nightwing’s final victory to feel as rewarding as it should.

However, outside of this wonderful sense of action and tension, there are a few small problems. This arc ends up feeling a bit too disconnected from the progress made in the previous arc and seems to almost ignore its fallout. It also would have been nice to see Nightwing address or at least acknowledge the systemic problems created by Blüdhaven’s casinos, especially since these problems are often mentioned by the villain. Finally, the many flashback scenes ended up extending the arc in a way that made it drag on at times. None of these problems are significant on their own but together they prevent this otherwise entertaining story from standing out in the way it could have.

The Untouchable then closes with a few individual chapters centered around Nightwing going on smaller adventures. These are enjoyable in that they break the mold of this series’ approach to storytelling and that they allow a few fun moments between Nightwing and his allies. However, they aren’t incredibly memorable on their own.

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Art

The artwork in The Untouchable is consistently high and helps build up the drama of the storytelling. The bulk of this volume’s visuals come from Bernard Chang, with colors from Marcelo Maiolo. These chapters are detailed and bold in a way that feels cinematic. They make the main characters stand out as the dashing centerpieces of this attraction but constantly remind readers that the city of Blüdhaven is there too, constantly glowing with neon accents in the background. It looks beautiful and gives a wonderful vibe to this comic’s events. In addition, smaller contributions from Jamal Campbell help bolster the main storyline and a single chapter from Jorge Corona helps give an incredibly unique vibe to one of the volume’s one-shot stories.