Nightwing vs. Shiva
I have been enjoying this series and with Dick Grayson being one of my favourite characters it's nice to see him have a good series, especially one where he's Nightwing the persona I prefer him as. I have been happy with the work Kyle Higgins has been doing with this series and although Tom DeFalco has done a decent job on this issue and the last I will be happy to see Higgins return next issue.
Plot
This issue sees Nightwing continue his fight with the gang of thugs he was facing last issue. After that he gets a phine call from Sonia Zucco who arranges another business meeting with him. Also this issue Nightwing final faces Lady Shiva and the issue finishes by leading into the Death of the Family crossover.
Review
This was a good issue but I'd much rather have Kyle Higgins writing the last two issues. No offence to DeFalco but he's jumped onto this series for two issues to fill in the gap between these issues and Death of the Family and it appears he's quickly thrown together something including a high profile villain. There are parts of his writing I like and the story in general isn't bad, it's just that it's felt too rushed and would have probably been better over a few more issues. I would like to see DeFalco have another go of writing Nightwing but as long as he gets a few issues to do a proper story as these tow issues haven't given him enough time to show what he can do with the characters.
Andres Guinaldo's art in this issue is amazing and I have loved his work over the series. I love the way he draws the characters and although he doesn't add detail in a lot of the scenery I can forgive that due to the brilliant way he draws the characters. I like the way he draws the fight sequences in this issue and think that he can move the pace of a fight very well. I love how he draws Nightwing somersaulting in slow motion showing how he landed. I've always liked this kind of art in fights that involve acrobat style fighters and Guinaldo does it perfectly. It's always nice to see emotion on characters faces during comics and Guinaldo does an amazing job of showing what the characters, especially Nightwing are feeling.
What I've been waiting for since last issue, the fight between Nightwing and Lady Shiva. So was it good? I liked the fight but it was a bit disappointing. The fight was a bit rushed and after such a great set up in Nightwing #0 I was expecting something a bit better when the fight came about. I know that Shiva is meant to be this brilliant assassin but Nightwing looked like he didn't stand a chance, which didn't make for a fair enough fight. At the same time I also felt that Shiva went to soft on him which showed that Nightwing would have had even less of a chance if she was putting 100% into it. The fight overall was very good and although a few points bothered me it was probably one of the best fights in comics this week. I'm also looking forward to seeing a rematch between the two further down the line and it would be nice if Nightwing learned enough in that time to put up more of a fight.
There was also a sequence where Dick talks to Sonia on the phone which I felt dragged the issue along. Although it lead into revealing Shiva's reason for being here it was unnecessary and I would have preferred more time spent on the Shiva fight. The conversation itself was also similar to the one they had in a previous issue where Sonia is calling to make a business meeting. I would rather they just show you the two having a meeting or not and just get it over with instead of teasing something that might never happen. I may be nitpicking here but I felt that this conversation was just to fill time in a story that's essentially filling time.
I also loved how Penguin's involvement in the last issue was mentioned during this one and how he also made a brief appearance during. His role over the two issues makes you question how much he knew and if he was keeping something from Nightwing. It also made me question whether Penquin was actually involved with any of the events that happened during this story.
I liked the leas into the Death of the Family crossover at the end and although it probably could have kept till next issue it's a nice teaser of what's to come.
Final Verdict
This was a good issue and a nice end to the two part story featuring Lady Shiva. I would recommend getting this issue but if you're a new reader considering getting the series I would advice waiting till the start of Nightwing's part in the Death of the Family crossover in the next issue.
