Future State: Nightwing Issue 2 Review: “Once Upon a Night in Gotham Part 2”

Future State: Nightwing issue 2 continues where issue one left off with Nightwing at his Arkham Base, begrudgingly teaming up with the new Batman. The Magistrate is after Nightwing and Batman won’t leave him to face them alone. Who will come out on top, the Magistrate or the new Dynamic Duo?

First, I want to apologize for this late review. I was super excited about this issue, but I also live in Texas. At time of this writing, we are currently being hit by winter storms and temperatures that our infrastructure is just not prepared for. I currently have power, but I barely have running water. Life kind of came at me fast the past few days. I say this as someone who lived in Upstate New York most of my life.

Please note that there will be some brief spoilers below.

Future State: Nightwing issue 2 begins with a reporter broadcasting the Magistrate who are getting ready to launch an assault on Arkham Asylum where Nightwing has set up his base. They refer to it as, “The Secret Fortress of Nightwing,” though, which sounds pretty awesome to me. Nightwing with all his tech is already aware of the situation. He tries to get the new Batman to leave for his own safety, but he insists on assisting Nightwing.

Nightwing gives Batman the bare minimum of his plan to escape the Magistrate. Basically, he only gives Batman all the need-to-know information. The Magistrate opens some massive fire on the Asylum, but before they can finish the job, The Resistance made up of Huntress, Batgirl, Talia Al Ghul, Oracle, Robin, Batwoman, Man-Bat, and Two-Face, drop in to assist. Nightwing is their fearless leader after all, and Batman called them in.

Nightwing and Batman do make it away, but not without pursuit. However, Nightwing wouldn’t be Nightwing without a plan or two up his sleeve. He and the new Batman will not go down easy. They may even one-up the Magistrate before they’re done. The issue does end on a hopeful note!

Writer Andrew Constant really knocked it out of the park with this 2-part story. I am partial to Dick Grayson and Nightwing has been my favorite of all the Future State books I have read, but because I’m a huge fan I always want to see Nightwing written well. This is definitely Nightwing written well. Constant’s Nightwing is true to the world Dick is in. This is a Nightwing who is a little harsher, but who always has a plan, and cares deeply for his friends and family.

My favorite part was seeing Nightwing interact with a new and different Batman. This Dick Grayson has lost a lot, but he hasn’t stopped fighting. He has not been defeated. And while he thinks he has to do it all alone, those who care about him clearly display to him that he doesn’t. This new Batman definitely cares and he refuses to let Nightwing face the Magistrate alone. This determination makes them a fairly decent new Dynamic Duo!

The art by Nicola Scott continues to be amazing in this issue too. She has such attention to detail in her art and it is always aesthetically pleasing. Seeing Oracle’s new costume in Scott’s style is especially cool. As a fan of Scott’s Nightwing in particular, I hope we will see her drawing more of him soon.

Future State: Nightwing issue 2 is a solid ending to the 2-part Future State: Nightwing series. The story between the two issues does not feel at all rushed and finishes well with a glimpse of hope at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed Nightwing’s foray through the Future State Universe and I’m definitely looking forward to what Nightwing gets up to next month when the book is taken over by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo!

Author: Jessica Rae

Jessica has a BA in music with an emphasis in voice and spends her day typesetting, editing, writing, and moderating webinars. Jessica primarily reviews anime and comic book series. She also offers insights on various movies, books, games, and other geeky topics.

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