NIGHTWING ANNUAL #1 2021

Bat-Followers are spoiled for selection this week, with DC Comics having revealed quite a lot of annuals and specials tied into nearly the entire usually revealed Bat-Books. Batman: Worry State: Omega #1 is an efficient capstone to the James Tynion IV penned occasion that dominated the franchise for many of 2021. The Batman and Detective Comics annuals supply a peek at what’s to return in 2022, as does the Gotham Metropolis Villains Anniversary Large particular. And but, with my time this week restricted, I’ve elected to evaluate Nightwing 2021 Annual #1.

Why? As a result of the month-to-month Nightwing title by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott is well the very best e-book on the cabinets proper now. And whereas the standard artwork staff is absent, this single e-book captures every little thing concerning the collection I get pleasure from in a single easy, neat package deal. It additionally has the advantage of being a single, simply accessible story that doesn’t require any earlier familiarity with any of the characters concerned – an actual rarity among the many Batman books nowadays.

The story finds Dick Grayson (aka Nightwing) making an attempt to trace down the Purple Hood, Jason Todd, after physique cam footage surfaces of him killing a number of undercover FBI brokers. It’s all too simple for Oracle to imagine that Todd (who just lately agreed to cease utilizing weapons) may backslide into his ultra-violent vigilante methods, however, Nightwing desires to provide his foster brother the advantage of the doubt. The difficulty is then cut up between the investigation within the modern-day and a flashback to the primary time Dick Grayson and Jason Todd teamed up as Nightwing and Robin.

Tom Taylor is aware of these characters. Extra importantly, he has an ideal reward for conveying these characters merely and successfully by means of their dialogue, with a minimum of exposition. Devoted followers will respect how Taylor delves into a space that was largely unexplored again within the 1980s when Dick Grayson first grew to become Nightwing and Jason Todd was nonetheless Robin in establishing their relationship. But newcomers will have the ability to enter into this story without feeling weighed down by the historical past.

The paintings for each segment is incredible and make for an attention-grabbing examination in contrast. The trendy-day sections by Cian Tormey and Raul Fernandez are vividly detailed and thickly inked, which subtly enhances the thriller and urgency of the story. The colors by Rain Beredo are additionally efficient, with the backgrounds of Gotham Metropolis rendered in muted greys and blues that make the pink of Purple Hood’s costume stand out all of the stronger in distinction as Nightwing blends into the background. The flashback segments illustrated by Daniel HDR are cleaner and softer, with the colors of John Kalisz being brighter and extra varied. This presents an extra traditional comic book really feel and enhances the nostalgia aura of the story, not fairly rose-tinting every little thing however harkening again to easier days for each Purple Hood and Nightwing.

If you happen to haven’t been studying Nightwing and don’t wish to await the Quantity 1 TP Leaping into the Mild that comes out later this month, this annual is an efficient place to leap in and see what you’ve been lacking. I like to recommend each extremely, nonetheless. However, if you happen to solely choose up to one e-book this week, this needs to be it.

NIGHTWING 2021 ANNUAL #1/ Written by TOM TAYLOR/ Pencils by CIAN TORMEY & DANIEL HDR/ Inks by CIAN TORMEY, RAUL FERNANDEZ & DANIEL HDR/ Colors by RAIN BEREDO & JOHN KALISZ/ Letters by WES ABBOTT/ Printed by DC COMICS