Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Nightwing? — Reviewing ‘Knight Terrors: Nightwing’ #2

Even trapped in his nightmares, Nightwing has the heart and willpower to gather forces for a good old-fashioned prison break. Thrilling probably isn’t the right word for this break, but it’s at least emotionally interesting. That’s worth something for sure.

Overall, Knight Terrors is a strange event of sorts. There is the main mini that explains why everyone is trapped in nightmares as Batman deals with things. Then all the main books were paused mid-storyline, for many of them to get tie-ins to the event. These tie-ins are so mixed, yet all share the same bit that they are very disjointed from the main book outside the nightmare theme.

By that, I mean if you were not reading the main event there is no way you would know why everyone is in a nightmare. Insomnia, the new villain, is mentioned nowhere in most tie-ins outside of the title page header.

Dick Grayson trapped in a nightmare where he thinks he killed Batman is a solid concept. It’s a bit muddled by the prison antics and jokes sprinkled in, and Dick’s not taking it very seriously at all. That speaks to him being able to parse out reality and nightmares, but then, what is the point of Insomnia’s attack? I love Nightwing and he’s powerful in his own ways, but I think I would have preferred him to struggle a bit more.

Insomnia just tilting to the buck wild side for a dream more than a nightmare speaks to how uneven the event foundation truly is.

Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad write a solid Nightwing and assembled Bat-cast (naturally so with Oracle and the Batgirls). They also present an intriguing Scarecrow that I would like to see more of because this puts him in a new space. Too bad that likely won’t have a follow-up anywhere at all. For a two-issue tie-in that had to hurry through things to a wake-up conclusion, it works. Could there have been more, sure, but they worked with what they had.

At the end of the day, it has all the energy that one would need or want from a Nightwing story. I really do hope this duo has more big books in the works at DC because I miss reading them monthly.

The story is fun to look at because of the really energetic style that Daniele Di Nicuolo has. Things pop and have a whimsical side to them even if this is a horror-tinged story. Plenty of detail and weight are given to the settings and the individuals. Especially in strongly capturing and displaying the emotions called for at any given moment. Even with that fun energy, there are still some elements that come off as creepy to play into the nightmare theme. We also get bizarre versions of the Bat rogues, such as Killer Croc having a handbag for a head.

That’s funny stuff.

Regular colorist Adriano Lucas makes sure that plenty of big bold popping colors are mixed into the darker palette style. This gives us that sort of superhero-adjacent energy that comes with these characters but also keeps the tone in line with the overall series direction. All the spaces are therefore grounded a bit because their colors are more real and heavy, allowing the heroes/villains to be wilder and stand out more.

Wes Abbott once more does what he does and brings great lettering to the series. Capturing all the feeling and infusing every letter with that energy, while making sure it all flows. Never overwhelming, no matter how much text needs to be there, it hits just as hard as it needs to. Lettering is so much more than just putting the words on a page and Abbott always showcases that. Everything from tone/volume to emotional energy to just fun elements are clear and powerful.

While it might currently be a divergence from the regular series that audiences love, it’s at least a fun and pretty divergence.

Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2 is now available from DC Comics.