Nightwing, Vol. 4: Blockbuster

Nightwing (2016)

by Tim Seeley, Michael McMillian, Miguel Mendonça (Artist)

Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing, has adopted Blüdhaven as his home, and it’s his mission to keep the streets safe from the high-tech weapons that are suddenly pouring in...even if it puts his newly stable relationship with his girlfriend Shawn in jeopardy.

 But for the super-strong criminal known as Blockbuster, Blüdhaven isn’t just an adopted home—it’s in his veins. So when he reaches out to Nightwing to help him rid the streets of these deadly weapons, will Dick find himself with a powerful new ally...or walking into a deadly trap?

 Plus, Dick’s former identity as Grayson, Agent of Spyral comes back to pay a visit in the form of Huntress!

 GRAYSON writer Tim Seeley (BATMAN ETERNAL) and artists Miguel Mendonca (WONDER WOMAN) and Javier Fernandez (RED HOOD/ARSENAL) continue Nightwing’s Rebirth by bringing back one of his most iconic villains! Collects NIGHTWING #22-28.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Batman, Comic Book

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 23, 2018

About the author

Tim Seeley is a comic book artist and writer known for his work on books such as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Dark Elf Trilogy, Batman Eternal and Grayson. He is also the co-creator of the Image Comics titles Hack/Slash[1] and Revival, as well as the Dark Horse titles, ExSanguine and Sundowners. He lives in Chicago.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blockbuster is back but I have to say I much prefer the 90's Kingpin version of the character to the current Jekyll and Hyde version. This leads into the return of Spyral. I didn't care for the Grayson series and I didn't care for this arc either. The Spyral stories are all poorly written with vague character motivations and unclear story devices. That trend continues here.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a stellar volume 3 I was pretty excited for this. Not only did the last volume really impress me but I also love Blockbuster as a villain so I was ready for this one!

The volume starts off actually pretty good. Nightwing is going full on working the superhero thing. He's using all his time to take down villains and work the hero angle. He's having issues with Shawn too after the scared pregnancy of the last volume. On top of that a old villain shows his face, BLOCKBUSTER, but is he the same one we've always knew? Not to mention this is a call back to Agent Grayson as some old friends and foes show up.

Good: I enjoyed the stuff with Shawn and Nightwing. I think it's pretty intriguing and complicated relationship. I also enjoyed the fights as Nightwing's style is fun to watch him jump around and whoop some ass. The idea of blockbuster return was pretty intriguing and Shawn's story progression was well done.

Bad: The idea of Blockbuster was cool but the end result...not too great. He almost becomes a background character to the rest of the story. The return of Spyral is just meh too. I didn't love the pacing of this series as some parts were really dull.

Overall, it remains a pretty fun series, but a step down from the last arc which was great. A 3 out of 5.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me like the whole day to read but I just love it omg!

Dick has to face off against some old and new enemies like Tiger shark and whatever casino he is running but what happens when his arch-nemesis Blockbuster also comes in and what plans these guys have made and when the time comes to battle the latter it will take everything that dick has to stop him and also great story with Shawn and then a Spyral mission and how it connects to this and the return of Mr Minos with a great twist!

Its a great volume and it has so much stuff here and thats what makes it good. Bludhaven and then even Spyral and the return of Huntress and I love the way the writer focuses on Shawn and the run-offs and showing their struggle and really hitting why Blockbuster is one of the best villains ever and how all these things connect together is insane in a good way and the art is just too freaking good! A must recommend!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
It's blast from the past time in Bludhaven as Blockbuster returns to take the city from Nightwing, but he's not quite how you'd remember him. Then, the Huntress whips back into Dick's life only to co-opt him into helping her defeat a remnant of Dick's days as Agent 47 in a three part SPYRAL adventure.

I like Blockbuster as an idea, if I'm honest. I've not read the original Nightwing run that featured him from the 90s, but it's on the list. He's sort of like Nightwing's Kingpin character, but a little more rough and ready. That said, he doesn't feel like much of a threat on his own. The environments that he throws Dick into are really the draw here, and there's a lot of 'How the hell is Dick going to get out of this one?' going around in the main story arc. There's also a sense that this isn't over yet, which makes it feel a tad anticlimactic.

If anything, the SPYRAL three-parter is much more fun, since Seeley was co-writer of the epic Grayson run a few years back. If you've read Grayson, all of your favourites are back, from Huntress to King Tiger, to Juan and Jim. It's really a good throwback to that series and rounds off a few dangling plotlines, and it generally just feels more Nightwing-y than the Blockbuster story does.

Blockbuster's art is split between Miguel Mendonca and Mingku Jung, both of whom are making the rounds at DC as fill-in artists and are making a name for themselves in their own right here. Both are strong, solid artists with good eyes for choreography, although Mendonca's art is a little heavier while Jung's feels a bit more fluid, so it suits Nightwing a bit better. Spyral's first and third issue also feature Mendonca, while Javier Fernandez returns for the second and third issues also. I'm surprised he bothered, really, since he then pencils the final arc of the series, Raptor's Revenge, which feels like undue pressure, but hey, I'm not an editor.

Good, but not quite as good as the previous few volumes. Blockbuster is outshined by SPYRAL, and I'd say that probably would have been a safe bet even before the issues came out.

[Wing Kee · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I bit better but not by much.

World: The art is good, the characters are strong, I wish there was a greater sense of motion and the splash pages were more evocative. The world building here is solid, with Desmond coming into the Rebirth Blüdhaven. Of course Blockbuster is a Nightwing classic so this new world and pieces makes him a bit different, but I don't mind it. The Spyral stuff is also aight as it does call back to Grayson but honestly I didn't really care for that part of Dick's life.

Story: The Blockbuster story was better, it was Blüdhaven and it was tied to the past and building towards something new. I liked that about it, making and setting up Blockbuster to be a thing which is what Blüdhaven needs. That being said, I found the pacing and the story beats to be a bit wonky and choppy. The writing wasn't well executed and on paper a story like this would be great but the execution let this story down. I think we needed a little more smarter and grounded Desmond to give him weight but we didn't get that. Still it's aight for what it did. The Spyral story was meh, it was more Spyral stuff I didn't care for but for what it was it was meh. Of course Dick being Dick the end was expected, this is a Nightwing book what did you expect with the romance?! The stuff with Giz and also Shawn was janky as hell and it would have hit emotionally if the characters, especially Shawn was written better.

Characters: Dick is being a Dick so it's expected. But I found him inconsistent with the trusting issues. One issue he's saying being a spy he can't trust anyone, another issue he's saying as a spy he needs to trust his partners deeply...okay. Better writing please! Shawn is ridiculous, she's poorly written and her motivations and actions make her stupid and I don't like that, her arc is just argh. Desmond is not really fully fleshed out making his arc not as good as say Blackmask in Brubaker Catwoman or Morpheus in War Drums, could have been way better.

The writing is a problem. New writer please...

Onward to the next book!

*read individual issues*

[Frédéric · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first plot is easy to guess once the first twist is revealed and gets bogged down in uninteresting twists and turns to get there. And it's poorly illustrated to boot.

The second arc makes heavy reference to Spyral, an organisation from Grayson’s previous series that I haven't read. And so it went over my head by 3000 feet, with its spies, former spies, future spies, also bogged down in twists, betrayals and whatnots. Drawing also weak.

Shawn's subplot annoyed me big time. It was so predictable I felt insulted. Starting with a remark by Dick- who's a real asshole here- it goes into the conventional plot of this kind of situation with a pathetic foregone conclusion seen 2 zillion times already.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, really disappointed by this volume. Maybe a 2.5.
The art is still terrible. There's a bunch of ridiculous action in Blockbuster Part 3 with a whole handful of baddies. As a reader, I had no stake in the action because they only show up for the one issue, so obviously, Dick is going to survive the encounter ok.
The one-liners are terrible (examples: "Clock King. Former engineer who builds clockwork death traps. About to get clocked--" Dick, while fighting Shado: "Hiya. Bye-ya." and "Magog... Superman level threat. Is Mean. A combination which equals not good for the Dickster.")
The only thing I did like about the Blockbuster storyline, not Blockbuster himself, Tiger Shark, or Shawn, but when Dick was fighting off all the baddies, Kid Amazo assumes Dick has a whole bunch of awesome powers because he beat everyone aboard, and Nightwing says: "No powers. Just a lot of homework." That's the Batman way. The Nightwing way. Know your opponents, and know how to beat them.

*spoiler-ish*
-
Shawn breaks up with Dick/Nightwing. I have to say, I don't really care for her, and didn't see the love there to begin with. It starts off with a fight that involves the baby scare of Nightwing, Volume 3: Nightwing Must Die. Nightwing is relieved that Shawn wasn't pregnant because he still thinks she's too motivated (in life) by her anger, and he doesn't want to impart that anger on a potential kid. OK. That's harsh, but OK. Shawn is angry because he didn't go out as Dick Grayson to get a minimum wage job that would keep him rooted in Bludhaven. She feels like he's not doing enough to invest in her and staying there.

Pigeon comes back and is LAME, and Shawn dresses up like the Defacer and is LAME.
-

Moving on, there's a murder in the Run-Offs, and it's really sad how disposable the side characters are. Nightwing feel's like it's all his fault because he asked that side-character to do some deep digging on some baddies for him. Helena shows up, and we're back in it again with Spyral.

One example of the terrible art mentioned above:

Why does Dick look like Vegeta?

There's one second of self-realization Dick has when he's out with Helena. He thinks to himself "And maybe that's it. I lied to Shawn, to myself. I can be just as motivated by rage as anyone else. I just chose to be around people who might act on it... so I don't have to."
Heavy stuff. Like what he and Jason spoke about a little bit in Nightwing, Volume 2: Back to Blüdhaven. Man, I miss that art by Marcus To.

We get some answers regarding Spyral and Mr. Minos, a throwback to Grayson.
There are a weird two panels of why are we here? is there a god and afterlife? what's the point? existential crisis, and then... back to the Blud!

I know Tim Seeley wrote Grayson, but there's something about Helena here that sounded out of character. Same with Dick. Why was he so angry with her? (See angry picture above.)
Dick left Grayson on good terms with Helena, as far as I remember. There was a lot of sexual/romantic tension between the two of them, but he didn't leave angry...
But he was pissed when she shows up in Spyral Part One... Why?
Anyway, the sexual/romantic tension between Helena and Dick comes back & then there's a sad Shawn in the window scene... Awk.

The End.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid. Volume 4 of the Nightwing series picks up with Dick Grayson trying to track down alien weaponry being sold on the streets of Blubhaven from a mysterious group called the Second Hand. To make matters more complicated a task force is being formed to take down Nightwing and things have become rocky with his girlfriend Shawn aka former villain Defacer, Though the first half of the book is slow I really enjoyed the origin of the New Blockbuster. This book felt like a Daredevil book in some ways for some odd reason. But I really loved the cat & mouse game that Roland aka Blockbuster plays with Nightwing. It was really epic seeing Grayson keep away from the large group of villains Blockbuster and Tiger Shark send after the hero. The latter issues of the book see Nightwing teaming up with longtime ally and former love, Huntress. This was my personal favorite part of the book because we are reintroduced to the spy organization, Spyral. Spyral was one of the best ideas to come out of Grayson series. That series saw Nightwing loose his identity and go undercover into the spy organization which has goals of unmasking the superhero community. If you have not read that story arc I suggest readers read Forever Evil and then jump into Dick Grayson's spy adventures starting with Grayson, Volume 1: Agents of Spyral. Tim Seeley continues to right an interesting book here filled with action and a lot of heart. The artwork could have been better on some issues but I still enjoyed the book.

[Hannah Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5/5

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just bad, as it not even so bad as to provoke a lengthy review. Forgettably bad.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟

Dick gets a job offer from Blockbuster. He and Helena stop Minos. Minos releases Raptor from prison.

[LBK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying this series

[Ma'Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even after handling Richard "Dick" Greyson/Nightwing for so long now, Tim Seeley's scripts and stories are very hit and miss. Early on, while storyboarding and co-writing with Tom King, Seeley's were more misses. Now, recently, he's had some big hits. Blockbuster is not one of them.

He starts it off with Dick claiming that the past month had been slow and boring, but that was during the best stuff we've seen in this series. Now he's baited into a shitty plot with smuggling and mobsters and a casino and exotic animals collected by Tiger Shark. Later there's a death that's supposed to have a lot of impact, but it's a character we've maybe seen on 6 panels previously. We hadn't any attachment to the person.

And yet there are so many subtle details that make the series special and able to retain an undercurrent of greatness. But the background characters that seem the most interesting are hardly given any meaningful page time. I want to see more of the Run Offs and the elite team of agents including Tiger brought to ineffectively hunt Dick. And I want Richard and his close friends and lovers to let their freak flags fly beyond a few easy-to-miss, subtle references. How is it even possible that there's not a *few* queer comrades to these line-walkers and pole-swingers?!!?

The next volume is about the return of Raptor, whom I thought was a great character, so I'm excited to see if Seeley and friends are able to get back on their A Game.

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Betrayal? From villains???? In THIS political climate??????

More likely than you think....

[Will Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Volume 4 introduces us to a younger version of Blockbuster who's just not very interesting. I see what Seeley's trying to do, he's clearly following the blueprint the Daredevil Netflix show had for Kingpin, by making him a local who "cares" about his city and tries to help it the only way he knows how. Unfortunately his "plan" just boils down to killing the current mob boss and usurping his power. Seeley never shows or tells us how Blockbuster intends to use his power to help Bludhaven or the people around him so he just comes off as an empty character.

The relationship between Dick and Shawn takes some huge missteps as Dick essential tells Shawn he's afraid of raising a kid with her because of her anger issues. That would be an interesting wrinkle to their relationship...you know, if Shawn actually HAD severe anger issues. So far when Shawn's been upset she's only used that as a drive to continue helping people at her community center and helping former criminals get back on their feet. It feels like Dick is complaining about a problem that isn't there. It's out of character for him and incredibly frustrating to read. The book actually could have solved all of these problems by showing us more of Blockbuster and fleshing out Dick and Shawn's relationship problems, but instead the back half of the book spins its wheels telling another uninteresting Spyral story. The next volume is the last one in this series and its gonna have to do a LOT to redeem the mess this book has become.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have this right on par with the last book. The problem I'm having with the stories has a lot to do with the lack of storytelling. The sinister plots aren't that engaging and the villains are engaging, Nightwing lets his devotion for the job overcome the personal life. Seeley looks like he continue on this trajectory with the story and I'm not very eager to continue. They need to create a bigger threat to keep a puzzle or something to be invested with, I'm just moving through this without a lot of thought. I can only hope Seeley can find that arc I know he is capable of finding, this feels safe and mainstream, where is the Revival weirdness?

[Eyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, I love romance. I love shipping, I love drama. This girl drama that Dick has been dealing with every issue? Really annoying. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to get used to it though :/
The plot in this one was fun and engaging though, that fight scene issue was epic!

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

It dragged a little in the middle, but finally caught my attention again near the end.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an ok Nightwing comic, pretty cringy in some areas but it stayed mature for the most part.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, Dick Grayson gets around. Also appreciate that Javier Fernandez knows that when drawing Nightwing, the more skin the better.

[Zeina (Taylor's Version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this volume, I was excited to see what was going to happen and as always the art and the writing style are AMAZING.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
I've always liked Dick Grayson as a character. My relationship with his title, not always so much. This Volume, while it has its important moments, feels kind of like filler, with some good moments. Contains:
- Tiger Shark (who feels like a low-grade gangster to me) is working with "The Second Hand" to help distribute high-end alien-tech weapons in Bludhaven. He is able to lure Nightwing into a trap, but loses the upper hand soon after.
- Lots of drama between Dick and his girlfriend Shawn. He's struggling with maintaining his "Dick Grayson" life over his "Nightwing" life, and with her being a reformed villain, its causing stress for them. Eventually, due to the constant "bleh" and Grayson skipping a job interview, they break up.
- Shawn reconnects with Pigeon and seems to be headed down a villainous path, yet has doubts when becoming involved in crime again
- Giz, reformed villain and tech help to Nightwing, is killed via digital interaction when researching the Second Hand
- The Second Hand is initially revealed as Spyral, having the members of that team fight against Nightwing and Huntress, but they are being mentally controlled by Mr. Minos
- Huntress enters the scene to help Nightwing take down Spyral, and their connection increases greatly, ending with them sleeping together (which when observed by Shawn who is coming over to apologize, drives her possibly back to villainy)

I'll continue on with this title, but I really wish something different (and I don't know what), would happen. Kind of recommend.

[José · Rating 2 out of 5]

55/100.

Una de cal y otra de arena. La primera historia que nos cuenta este volumen, Blockbuster, se compone de cuatro número y debo reconocer que me ha parecido bastante mala. No era más que una colección de tropos utilizados de manera prototípica en una historia que no aporta nada a la serie de Nightwing, excepto algunas viñetitas. Está escrita por Tim Seeley y dibujada por Miguel Mendonca (la tinta es de Vicente Cifuentes y el color de Chris Sotomayor) en el primer y en el tercer número y por Minkyu Jung (los colores siguen siendo de Sotomayor) en el segundo y el cuarto. El arte no es malo, pero si falla el guion... Le daría un 3.

Después nos encontramos con la segunda historia, Spyral, se compone de tres número y, al contrario que la primera, me ha resultado bastante entretenida. Nos lleva al Grayson de New 52. A mucha gente no le gustó, pero a mí me pareció bastante entretenido y, quizás, por eso también me ha gustado esta historia. El arte de Javier Fernández me gusta bastante (en el último número, se le une Miguel Mendonca de nuevo), y acompaña bien a la historia que Tim Seeley nos cuenta. Le daría un 6'5.

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that left me feeling like it should have been better than it was. The action was solid, the plot (so far as comic book plots ever are) was believable and reasonably motivated, the villain was interesting, and Dick is (at least potentially) a great lead.

However, I kept asking myself who is this guy and why does he do what he does? I get who Dick was as Robin, and who is now within the context of the Batman family. I get who Dick is as he ties in with the Titans. But this book just feels like even Dick himself--meaning even the creators--don't have enough of an idea of who Dick is supposed to be on his own as Nightwing, as a headliner, to make him work.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dick Grayson and Shawn Tsang are trying to work things out in their relationship. But super-heroing keeps getting in the way. Tiger Shark is importing exotic alien weapons into Bludhaven. Nightwing and Blockbuster are trying in their own way and for their own reasons to stop this. Blockbuster gets his casino while Nightwing learns that the weapons are actually comes from Spyral. The Huntress joins him in tracking Spyral where they learn that Minos is back. Plenty of action, relationship angst, and Nightwing antics fill the volume.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels unfocused. Supposed to be about Blockbuster but he feels secondary to the story most of the time. I also don’t think that the romantic relationships are very strong in this series so far. There’s so much telling that these characters feel this way about each other instead of showing.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite storyline ever but still an enjoyable volume.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Nightwing and always will. But stop hurting him emotionally, my heart breaks every time.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh. Blockbuster is a great villain. But to bring him back after the great storytelling that Chuck Dixon did is kind of like bring the Joker back after you’ve killed him. You ruin the original story and you’re not likely to live up to the story you ruined.

So apparently this is another ‘reboot’, either of the universe or the character of Nightwing or something.

Nightwing is meeting Blockbuster (the brother of the original Blockbuster) for the first time. With a not as good artist.

This is another one where I can’t actually complain about the artist. They do a good job. Dramatic, expressive, you feel the action.

I’m not sure how I should feel about these stories now. But I’m only reporting on how I DO feel.

Tiger. Agent 1, has come back to kick Dick’s ass. But with no other explanation than to kill superheroes who ‘stray out of line’. But we know that’s not Dick.

Everyone is sad because of ‘Giz’s murder.

“He didn’t call me an idiot yet. Are we sure it’s really him?” Nightwing about Tiger.

Okay, Nightwing and Helena and the Skull students go after Tiger and his team who are trying to kill them and then they find out that it’s not really Tiger. Tiger is captured and calls Nightwing an idiot as soon as he finds Tiger captured.

I can see what they are going for. And the art is really a good attempt to capture it. But since it’s really “Spyral is still trying to get them” and Spyral has always been really lame and with no reasonable motivation whatsoever it’s still a pretty much who cares.

“Spryal Finale”. Dear god let’s hope so. Mr. Minos is apparently the mystery guy who ran Spryal back in that horrible ‘Grayson the Spy’ series. He was never interesting and I thought/hoped he was dead, but, no he’s back. He’s konked Nightwing through illusions that he was Tiger. Meanwhile Helena and the Skull Girls (students at the girls school where Helena and Nightwing taught) rescue another skull girl. Meanwhile Mouse sneaks into Blockbusters penthouse room to kill Blockbuster.

She tries to stab Blockbuster but Defacer stops here. Then Blockbuster wakes up and Hulks out.

Mr. Minos tries to torture Nightwing to get his knowledge of superhero secret identities out of him.

But “Duff” (who the hell is he?!?) has hacked into the device Mr. Minos has put onto Nightwing head.

Somehow this allows Nightwing to start talking back to Mr. Minos. “He always talked too much for a spy. But enough for a superhero.”

Yanking Mr. Mino’s chain just enough gives the Skull girls room to frazzle his brain and then Tiger recovers enough to strangle him.

Unfortunately it’s not as interesting as it sounds.

Mouse goes back to her friends at the community center and is comforted. Defacer realizes that she also went off because of the pain.

Nightwing goes back to St Hadrian’s School for Girls with Helena to say goodbye to the girls. Who are also somehow robots. WTF?

Helena quits and flies Nightwing back to Gotham, confessing that she only feels comfortable with Nightwing.

Defacer decides she was wrong and goes to apologize the Nightwing and become his super sidekick. But as she approaches his apparently she sees he is banging Helena. She decides this isn’t the time to talk.

It starts off as a strong ‘reboot’ of sorts but then wastes a lot of time afterwards.

It’s kind of a mess. I’ll give it 2 stars, it was definitely below average, but had a few parts I liked.

I’m kind of at the point where I have no hope they will bring back Nightwing.