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captwinghead's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
The second half of this collection did absolutely nothing for me. I couldn't connect to the plot, the characters, or Roy's interest in it (outside of him just being a hero). I found the whole thing to be a little hard to follow but, more than that, a lot of it didn't make sense? The costume changes were ridiculous. Sure, I've always questioned how practical it is for them to always be able to sneak off to an alley to change but in this story, there's a moment when Dick and Roy are in plain clothes in a car that gets run into and they come out of the car in costume 2 seconds later? On top of that, I found this arc to be boring. It's such a shame because the first story was truly wonderful.
I love Roy and Dick's chemistry. I love that Roy is a lot more secretive than Dick and more prone to think the ends justify the means. Here, he lied to Dick to get his assistance in getting Lian back from Cheshire. I'm still not 100% sure why he did because I feel certain he should have figured Dick would help him if he just asked? But anyway, he lied and it tore him apart to do so. I liked this story of him trying to be with his daughter again. I liked that Cheshire was an interesting antagonist. I liked Roy's partnership with Dick.
I really loved the intro that went over Dick's history once more. We got some truly great narration where Dick talks about how he's different from Bruce.
The beginning with Nightwing's narration is really great. But, as I mentioned above, the story following this one was just a bummer. The art also changed and I wasn't super fond of what we got later on. The first arc drew Dick and Roy a lot more expressively. Particularly, their eyes.
So, it's a tentative recommend. Definitely read the first arc but skip the second.
The second half of this collection did absolutely nothing for me. I couldn't connect to the plot, the characters, or Roy's interest in it (outside of him just being a hero). I found the whole thing to be a little hard to follow but, more than that, a lot of it didn't make sense? The costume changes were ridiculous. Sure, I've always questioned how practical it is for them to always be able to sneak off to an alley to change but in this story, there's a moment when Dick and Roy are in plain clothes in a car that gets run into and they come out of the car in costume 2 seconds later? On top of that, I found this arc to be boring. It's such a shame because the first story was truly wonderful.
I love Roy and Dick's chemistry. I love that Roy is a lot more secretive than Dick and more prone to think the ends justify the means. Here, he lied to Dick to get his assistance in getting Lian back from Cheshire. I'm still not 100% sure why he did because I feel certain he should have figured Dick would help him if he just asked? But anyway, he lied and it tore him apart to do so. I liked this story of him trying to be with his daughter again. I liked that Cheshire was an interesting antagonist. I liked Roy's partnership with Dick.
I really loved the intro that went over Dick's history once more. We got some truly great narration where Dick talks about how he's different from Bruce.
"His parents' murder went unavenged for years! And his hatred for criminals just kept growing... until he finally turned some of that hatred on himself. He couldn't save his parents as a boy -- although he'd saved so many others since -- and he couldn't find their killer. I sometimes think he feels responsible for their deaths -- as if he were the one who killed them. So you see, for all the similarities between us -- I didn't turn out a thing like him. He kept me from turning out like him... he freed me from his obsession."
The beginning with Nightwing's narration is really great. But, as I mentioned above, the story following this one was just a bummer. The art also changed and I wasn't super fond of what we got later on. The first arc drew Dick and Roy a lot more expressively. Particularly, their eyes.
So, it's a tentative recommend. Definitely read the first arc but skip the second.
fandom4ever's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Nightwing: Old Friends, New Enemies contained three stories originally published in the 1980s. The intro story ‘The Secret Origin of Nightwing’ was excellent. It was basically just going over Dick’s history from his time in the circus to his breaking away from Batman to become Nightwing, but it also had Dick’s own take on his relationship with Bruce and how different they truly are, even if they do care about one another as father and son.
The second storyline ‘The Cheshire Contract’ sees Nightwing and Speedy working together. This was a great story, and seeing Dick and Roy interact, both in costume and not, was perfect. Roy is clearly hiding the true intent of his mission from Dick but Dick helps him nonetheless because the two are good friends, and this comes across clearly in the story. I really enjoyed them comparing and contrasting themselves to the other. And the ending was so sweet!
The third and last story ‘Rocks and Hard Places’ was, I suppose, on some level supposed to be a sequel of sorts to ‘The Cheshire Contract’. Roy now has his daughter, Lian, and is planning on a better life for them both, but wow did this story quickly fly off the rails! All sorts of groups with weird names were thrown in, attacking Roy and each other, and I just could not follow what was going on as the story did little in true explanation.
Overall, I’d recommend reading the first two stories and skipping the third to get full enjoyment from this collection.
The second storyline ‘The Cheshire Contract’ sees Nightwing and Speedy working together. This was a great story, and seeing Dick and Roy interact, both in costume and not, was perfect. Roy is clearly hiding the true intent of his mission from Dick but Dick helps him nonetheless because the two are good friends, and this comes across clearly in the story. I really enjoyed them comparing and contrasting themselves to the other. And the ending was so sweet!
The third and last story ‘Rocks and Hard Places’ was, I suppose, on some level supposed to be a sequel of sorts to ‘The Cheshire Contract’. Roy now has his daughter, Lian, and is planning on a better life for them both, but wow did this story quickly fly off the rails! All sorts of groups with weird names were thrown in, attacking Roy and each other, and I just could not follow what was going on as the story did little in true explanation.
Overall, I’d recommend reading the first two stories and skipping the third to get full enjoyment from this collection.
unibadger's review
fast-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Car accident, Death, Blood, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Police brutality, and Death of parent
birdmanseven's review
3.0
These tales were decent, not great. The title is very misleading. These are really Speedy stories in which Nightwing plays a supporting role.
For more (much, much more) on Dick Grayson, tune in to a special spotlight over on the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-241-holy-robin-spotlight-batman
For more (much, much more) on Dick Grayson, tune in to a special spotlight over on the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-241-holy-robin-spotlight-batman
captwinghead's review
4.0
3.5 stars
The second half of this collection did absolutely nothing for me. I couldn't connect to the plot, the characters, or Roy's interest in it (outside of him just being a hero). I found the whole thing to be a little hard to follow but, more than that, a lot of it didn't make sense? The costume changes were ridiculous. Sure, I've always questioned how practical it is for them to always be able to sneak off to an alley to change but in this story, there's a moment when Dick and Roy are in plain clothes in a car that gets run into and they come out of the car in costume 2 seconds later? On top of that, I found this arc to be boring. It's such a shame because the first story was truly wonderful.
I love Roy and Dick's chemistry. I love that Roy is a lot more secretive than Dick and more prone to think the ends justify the means. Here, he lied to Dick to get his assistance in getting Lian back from Cheshire. I'm still not 100% sure why he did because I feel certain he should have figured Dick would help him if he just asked? But anyway, he lied and it tore him apart to do so. I liked this story of him trying to be with his daughter again. I liked that Cheshire was an interesting antagonist. I liked Roy's partnership with Dick.
I really loved the intro that went over Dick's history once more. We got some truly great narration where Dick talks about how he's different from Bruce.
The beginning with Nightwing's narration is really great. But, as I mentioned above, the story following this one was just a bummer. The art also changed and I wasn't super fond of what we got later on. The first arc drew Dick and Roy a lot more expressively. Particularly, their eyes.
So, it's a tentative recommend. Definitely read the first arc but skip the second.
The second half of this collection did absolutely nothing for me. I couldn't connect to the plot, the characters, or Roy's interest in it (outside of him just being a hero). I found the whole thing to be a little hard to follow but, more than that, a lot of it didn't make sense? The costume changes were ridiculous. Sure, I've always questioned how practical it is for them to always be able to sneak off to an alley to change but in this story, there's a moment when Dick and Roy are in plain clothes in a car that gets run into and they come out of the car in costume 2 seconds later? On top of that, I found this arc to be boring. It's such a shame because the first story was truly wonderful.
I love Roy and Dick's chemistry. I love that Roy is a lot more secretive than Dick and more prone to think the ends justify the means. Here, he lied to Dick to get his assistance in getting Lian back from Cheshire. I'm still not 100% sure why he did because I feel certain he should have figured Dick would help him if he just asked? But anyway, he lied and it tore him apart to do so. I liked this story of him trying to be with his daughter again. I liked that Cheshire was an interesting antagonist. I liked Roy's partnership with Dick.
I really loved the intro that went over Dick's history once more. We got some truly great narration where Dick talks about how he's different from Bruce.
"His parents' murder went unavenged for years! And his hatred for criminals just kept growing... until he finally turned some of that hatred on himself. He couldn't save his parents as a boy -- although he'd saved so many others since -- and he couldn't find their killer. I sometimes think he feels responsible for their deaths -- as if he were the one who killed them. So you see, for all the similarities between us -- I didn't turn out a thing like him. He kept me from turning out like him... he freed me from his obsession."
The beginning with Nightwing's narration is really great. But, as I mentioned above, the story following this one was just a bummer. The art also changed and I wasn't super fond of what we got later on. The first arc drew Dick and Roy a lot more expressively. Particularly, their eyes.
So, it's a tentative recommend. Definitely read the first arc but skip the second.
cosmidave1's review
4.0
Reprints the Nightwing series in Adventure Comics. Starts off excellent, with great story and art, but by the last few chapters it's rushed and it's horribly cobbled. It feels like they just wanted to end it quickly. It also became less Nightwing's story and more about Speedy. Still, it's a good read.
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