Nightwing #5

Nightwing #5 is an interesting issue. The characterization and art are spot on, but the script is weird, and it's probably thus far the best example of Kyle Higgins' first five issues. Right now, Kyle Higgins seems interested in doing mostly one-off stories, which end with slight advancement of an ongoing plot. And that's fine, but there is something off about it, and after a lot of thought, I think I've put my finger on it.

The thing is, the main stories are rarely tying back into the larger story arc. If the adventure in issue five had much of anything to do with Saiko and the circus as a whole, that would be great. This story centers around a random circus clown with a vengeful ex that has somehow conjured a monster to come after him. The fight was cool, and Nightwing's actions int he story were spot on, but this begs the question "why the hell are you telling this story?" How does this matter, what's the point in telling this story?
To look at this issue in a vacuum though, it's pretty good. Eddy Barrows is still killing it on the pencils. He has taken hints of Scott McDaniel's methods to portray motion and blended it with his gritty, more realistic style. This is one of the best fight scenes I've seen in the "New 52" and Higgins writes it perfectly with Dick joking about how taking down demons isn't normally his thing.

Hints of McDaniel

The twist at the end is fitting, and somewhat surprising, as we finally learn the identity of Saiko. Now here's the real question: why does he want revenge on Dick Grayson? The only person who has a true vendetta against Dick is Mr. Haly's son, but he hasn't proven enough of a plot point to be a man of any consequence. So Higgins now has to connect those two dots.

What I struggle with, is that the way Kyle Higgins tells the story, is probably more realistic. Nightwing is going to have a bunch of sid-equests as this underlying story slowly progresses. It establishes time passing, as opposed to when events of the main story go back-to-back, making it seem as if the five issues all happened in one day. I can't fault him for that, but Saiko is a pretty cool villain, I want him developed more.

I get that Higgins really wants this to be about Dick becoming engrossed and a part of the circus again, and that he has to travel around with them, and that's fine, but make it so his personal journey is following him around to. For example, this would have been a perfect issue for Saiko to launch a sneak attack on Dick, right after he battled the demon. If you want to build a rivalry and an antagonism between Saiko and Dick, build it! Don't assume the reader will automatically get psyched for Saiko, you have to show the rising action and development towards the final battle on the page.

See the world through Nightwing's eyes!

What I liked: Great for a one-off issue, cool villains, good storytelling, great art, just a cool book in general. Kyle Higgins "gets" Dick Grayson/Nightwing, something not many writers have done (Chuck Dixon, Marv Wolfman, Peter Tomasi, Grant Morrison.....Kyle Higgins?).

What I didn't: Why does this story need to exist? What about this story helps the plot move along? Issue #4 also had this problem, but it was excused because it was part two of a crossover. This issue has no excuse!

Conclusion: This issue really bothered me, because while Nightwing #2 and #3 had really built momentum, this takes it backwards after the standstill of #4. Luckily, the plot should pick up next month in #6 as this whole story is supposed to conclude by issue #7 so that Nightwing can be included in the "Night of the Owls crossover in #8. Hurry up Higgins, you're running out of time. 7.8/10 (C+).