Nightwing #153 (The Final Issue)

Overall- This was a really enjoyable comic book. I really have to say that Peter Tomasi did a very good job with the writing duties for this series. When he first took over as the writer, I wasn't overwhelmingly pleased with his work, but as time progressed, he became better and better, and I'd have to say that behind Chuck Dixon, Peter was the best writer to pen this series(and to be honest, recently, Peter has really given Chuck a run for the top spot).

Storywise, this comic seems to take place AFTER Final Crisis, which would mark this as the first post-Final Crisis DC comic book. That in and of itself was kind of peculiar to me, since prior to this comic, the "Last Rites" comics have been pre-Final Crisis. Dick mentions Barry Allen as one of the plethora of DC heroes who have returned from the grave, so following simple logic, that would put this comic post-FC. If not for the mention of Barry, I'd have figured this comic was pre-FC. There was just no other mention of Final Crisis, by the characters or by the artwork. You'd think that Gotham would look a whole lot worse after the events of Final Crisis, but everything seemed just fine. Weird.

This comic basically shows us Dick moving from New York back to Gotham to take care of crime in Bruce's place. Dick moves back into Wayne Manor, interacts with Robin and shares with Alfred that he feels that Bruce is gone for good this time(HA!). Besides that, this book shows us the parallels between the childhoods of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, and gives us a lot of insight into the thoughts of Dick Grayson, who is the most logical person to inherit the Bat-Mantle until Bruce makes his inevitable return.

I've always been a fan of Dick Grayson(if you don't believe me just check the blog, this is the 119 post about Nightwing!), and as such, I've managed to collect every issue of this series, so needless to say, the end of this comic series is kind of bittersweet. On the one hand, everything in the DCU right now seems to be positioning Dick Grayson to become Batman's replacement. You don't get much more high profile then being Batman, one of the(if not the)most important characters in all of comic books.

However, the prospect of Dick becoming the next Batman makes me VERY nervous. I'm a realist, and as such, I have absolutely NO doubt that Bruce Wayne will eventually find his way back to the present and reclaim the Bat-Mantle. When Bruce comes back, where will that leave Dick exactly? The Nightwing name has already been claimed by some Kryptonian and the Batman name will be Bruce's again, so I ask again, where would that leave Dick? I really hope Dick survives the next few months, but it does seem that Dick Grayson has been living on borrowed time since his "death" in Infinite Crisis. Remember, Geoff Johns/Dan Didio were ready to kill Dick off then, but stayed their hand. I guess there is really no sense worrying about what will become of Dick Grayson... I'll just sit back and enjoy the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline, and if Dick manages to become the next Batman, I'll hold my breath and hope that Dick's career as the Batman is long and successful. For this issue, I'll give it a 9 out of 10. Peter Tomasi really did a great job of showing us WHO Dick Grayson is and I'd recommend to anyone planning to give the upcoming "Battle for the Cowl" storyline a read to pick up this issue as well.