Nightwing #22 Review and *SPOILERS*

Block Party

Written By: Tim Seeley

Art By: Miguel Mendonca, Vincente Cifuentes, Chris Sotomayor, Carlos M. Mangual

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: June 7, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

If you've been following my reviews for Nightwing, you'll know that I haven't been a fan of this series besides for the initial coming to Bludhaven arc, where the Run-Offs first showed up and the problem for me seems to be that Tim Seeley doesn't want to tell any kind of original stories.  Hell, I was originally afraid that our Bludhaven arc was just going to be a rehash of what Chuck Dixon did in the 90's, but thankfully, Tim Seeley made that story his own and I think it helped....... I'm back to being afraid though because now we're dealing with Blockbuster in Bludhaven and that's right out of Chuck Dixon's run, but with any luck, it will be something new and different and not rely on making people remember how much they liked that story back in the day.  Let's jump into this issue and see if Nightwing can be redeemed and if it can be the series that we all think it should be.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Roland Desmond getting out of Blackgate and making his way back home to Bludhaven, where he supposedly has himself a legit job, but that doesn't mean that he's stopped taking his Blockbuster serum, which is a shame because it seems that's all he was hired at the Marcus Casino for.  After finding a card counter and outing him, we find out that Tiger Shark is the owner of the Casino and has an agreement with the Second Hand, who is bringing alien weapons into Bludhaven and while watching the card counter being devoured by sharks in a giant aquarium, we find out that Tiger Shark is getting a little worried about Nightwing doing the whole hero thing in the Blud.  So he moves Roland from being a pit boss at his casino to being the hitman that will bring Nightwing's skin back to him so that the deal with the Second Hand continues to go on as smoothly as it can.

While Roland is getting a sort of promotion, Dick Grayson is taking out Metropolis gangs that have come down to Bludhaven looking for trouble........ and alien tech, but he's also looking for a job because between the time that Shawn Tsang told Dick that she needed some time apart to what we have now, somehow she's gotten her old job at the Rec Center back and demoted Dick back to only being a volunteer........... Yeah, I don't know how this happens, but Dick needs a job if only to find out who Dick Grayson is and in Shawn's mind to give him a reason to stay in Bludhaven.  

In the end, after Dick tries to talk to some of the Run-Offs to get an idea about how an interview is supposed to go, since it's been awhile for him, he goes off to do some investigating about where the alien weapons might be coming into the city.  The investigation doesn't last too long though because before he can even swing to where he intended to go, Blockbuster shows up behind him and busts him one........... and while Dick is ready to fight the dimwitted Blockbuster he knows, he instead is introduced to his brother Roland, who on top of having all the brute force and stamina, also maintains his intelligence as well.  Things are turned on their head though when Roland turns back to normal and tells Nightwing that he'd like to offer him a job............ Which is a straight up fun departure from Dick's original days in Bludhaven back in the 90's and I'm happy as hell for that.

That's it for this issue of Nightwing and while I would have liked a little more on Blockbuster himself because for new readers, he's pretty unknown and even the original one was relegated to background muscle in the New 52, I found myself really enjoying this issue.  Yeah, we spent a little too much time with Dick being dumbfounded at the idea of job interviews, but I'm happy to get equal time with Dick Grayson along with Nightwing and am happy to get back to Shawn and his relationship.  Like the initial Bludhaven story we had in this series, this is familiar territory for long time Nightwing fans and like that story, it seems that Tim Seeley is putting his own spin on this and so far, it's working.  I loved the art in this issue and look forward to see where things go with Nightwing and Blockbuster in this story.

Bits and Pieces:

While Bludhaven and Blockbuster are no strangers to long time Nightwing fans, this new take on the 90's story is something that seems fun and interesting.  Hopefully Tim Seeley continues to make this story his own and doesn't rely on fan nostalgia to sell this book because when he tells straight up stories, they're not bad and that's what I'm hoping to get out of this.......... and I hope Miguel Mendonca stays on art for this arc because I loved the way this issue looked.  

8/10