What the hell did I just read?
So we start in New Orleans with a crazy voodoo chick summoning a giant demon and... wait, this is Nightwing right? Did I pick up Justice League Dark by mistake? No, ... this is Nightwing. Huh, well... this is unexpected. So Dick recaps the story so far in narration. We are then introduced to Jimmy, a Clown who is really nervous about being in New Orleans. There's still a lot of Romantic tension between Dick and Raya following Barbara's visit last issue. That Night, the Demon abducts Jimmy and Dick chases it as Nightwing. Also, this demon speaks in Rhyme. Well that's interesting, this nameless one shot generic demon speaks in Rhyme but ETRIGAN DOESN'T!? WHAT THE HELL DC? Any way, Jimmy was captured because Voodoo chick and he were once an item and I guess hell literally hath no fury like a woman scorned. Dick shows up and fights the Demon and he has some funny dialogue even though he's clearly out of his league. Dick defeats the Demon by blowing up a mausoleum... I think, it's not exactly clear what happens. After ... whatever the hell that was, we get the saving Grace of this issue. We learn that Raya is actually in cahoots with Saiko, who is finally revealed to be Dick's supposedly deceased friend Raymond. Raymond's eyes look weird, similar to the voodoo chicks while casting the spell. Connection? God I hope so, otherwise this entire side story was a complete waste of time.
What Works:
I'm glad to see Eddy Barrows back as the artist. He's a lot better that Trevor McCarthy. This issue definitely held my attention and I'm glad we're finally getting some real answers as far as our big mystery is concerned.
What Doesn't:
Uh...... This issue is really weird. Issue 4 may have been a bit of a tonal shift as far as the story was concerned, but at least it felt like I was reading Nightwing. This feels like a really bad episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or at least I think it does, I've never actually seen a bad episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nightwing himself is great but this issue is just a confusing mess that belongs in a different book. I'm also sad to see that Raya is actually a bad guy, I really liked her character.
Overall:
2.5/5
This issue was pretty bad but at least it wasn't part of the main story, and the parts of the book that were part of the story were really good. I think the problem this book is having is that it's constantly loosing focus on it's main story. When it does a non-sequitur like this it doesn't work.