Written by Scott Lobdell
and Zack Kaplan
Illustrated by Travis Moore
Published by DC Comics
This book fell off the rails a little bit a few issues ago. It’s been slowly but surely getting back on track. This issue is actually pretty decent as well. It’s about your personal identity and what that means to a person. That theme carries through the issue, and it’s a strong one. It makes the story an even stronger one.
The opening sequence is “Ric” Grayson on a romantic walk with Beatrice Bennett.
The scene is a little overwritten, but it’s nonetheless effective. They have a stroll and it seems our boy has fallen for her. The other relationships the writers have presented before this have always fallen flat for me.
This one has not.
That’s because Lobdell and incoming writer Zack Kaplan have made Beatrice a complete and full character. We get some scenes in here of her speaking up for her community and also how strong she happens to be. It’s pretty great to read honestly.
Meanwhile the “Nightwing Squad” is out there trying to clean up the streets!
We get to see them briefly. But are they enough to stop any incoming threats? We are about to find out! There is a lot of build up for the rest of the issue. But there is a quiet tension that starts to become increasingly frightening as you read it.
The Joker’s Daughter starts to make her presence felt as the villain of the piece. And the writers make her extremely brutal and an actual threat. Her appearances before this were nothing spectacular to me. But this shows a side of her we haven’t seen yet. And it’s great.
This all leads to one hell of an ending and one hell of a cliffhanger. The writers whet your appetite here and seem poised to really cut loose in the next issue. They make the build up worthwhile and interesting. Let’s see what happens but it seems like it could be great!
RATING: B+
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