Here we are at the conclusion to Nightwing’s Future State, and I have to say that I’m really happy with the way it played out. Like most incarnations, this Gotham City is a horrible place to be: overrun by the Magistrate, heroes outlawed, and a “news channel” called Jak-L (jackal) news. This was a very exciting experiment by DC Comics that put Andrew Constant on my writers to watch list. I hope someday in the future to see Andrew return to the world of Nightwing, either in the present or possible future.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Future State: Nightwing #2!
Let’s start with the amazing Nicola Scott and the awesome art she brings to the pages. The battle scenes at the last stand at Arkham Asylum were great — you could feel yourself trying to be quiet while Nightwing and the Next Batman are taking down the shock troopers. The driving scenes with Nightwing’s new ride were great and I really hope that car finds its way into the current series, because it is just too great of a design to toss away after this miniseries.
While Nicola is great at showing us those action scenes, it is with high praise that I mention her pages with Nightwing and the Next Batman that happen before and after the battle. The body language of these two characters reminded me of when Nightwing was first teaming with Bruce — there was always that pushing away from the elder just to have the younger tag along. Then, by the end of it, the two are battle-worn and standing as equals, which was a perfect way to show they are a different kind of dynamic duo. Kudos to Andrew for that as well with the words and script!
The story was excellent, really laying it on the line for Nightwing. As I said in my review of issue #1, I did like seeing a darker Grayson, but in the end it really did a great job of reminding us of Dick Grayson’s superpower: being a friend that you want to back up. Everyone came to his side as we saw with the Resistance and they believe in him enough to follow him into this uncertain battle.
This quick series ended perfectly and showed me a fantastic dynamic duo, but I really hope this future gets another chance to be seen again as the creative team did a good job of showing a darker world saved by Dick Grayson.
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