Nightwing: The New Order Review

Finished reading Nightwing: The New Order, writer Kyle Higgins returns to the character as Nightwing finds himself in a not too distant future that he has help to create after the use of superpowers have become almost nonexistent and illegal throughout the world. The book opens within a partly destroyed Metropolis where all the heroes and the villains have been defeated by Nightwing after using a device he's holding. Twelve years later Dick now heads the police force know as the Crusaders as their primary job is to police people with superpowers and make sure they are in check with the use of prescribed drugs that suppress a person's own superpowers since it had become illegal to have them. While being the public face of the Crusaders, Dick is also a single parent to his son Jake who soon begins to display superpowers of his own and after getting checked out by a retired Mr Terrific, as he discovers that Jake's DNA my hold the key to bring back the worlds superpowers as the drugs to suppress superpowers have no effect on him. When news of this gets to the Crusaders, Dick finds himself having to go rouge against the world that he help to create which also gains the attention of heroes that went underground after the events of Metropolis. Overall this was an amazing book as it sends the DC Universe into a very intriguing alternative future with how this universe has effected the characters that inhabit this world which also showing how different they are compared to their counterparts in the main DC Universe. There is an amazing amount of interactions between characters throughout the book as it is the main source of exposition for what has happened within this universe which allows for a each character's views and emotions to come to the forefront. This also leads to some amazing character development especially for Dick and Jake when they meet with Starfire and the remaining Titans as it shows how this universe has effected people who are against the current laws for superpowers while also bring the conflict into how Dick views them especially when his son is involved leads to some great twist within his development. Additionally the use of the book being narrated by Jake helps to bring a different prospective to the book as it allows to make the story feel more personal from the narration is. The art by Trevor McCarthy is amazing as it brings this version of the DC Universe to life extremely thanks to the futuristic designs of some of the technology that is on display along having a slightly darker tone that fits extremely well for the type of universe the story is in while still having some familiarity to the classic DC Universe. 9/10.