Since moving to Bludhaven, Nightwing has come face-to-face with a classic villain from his own rogues gallery for the first time again in this “Blockbuster” arc. This new arc has been all about building Blockbuster up as a villain that is quite possibly the biggest threat Nightwing has come up against. This fight with Blockbuster has been made even more difficult as Tiger Shark has put a price on Nightwing’s head, calling in villains from across the DC Universe to deal with the former Boy Wonder and Dark Knight. Can Nightwing make it out alive and take down Blockbuster before he can attain power over Bludhaven? Let’s find out with Nightwing #25.
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Minkyu Jung
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: As the bomb on the yacht counts down Nightwing thinks quickly by taking the time vest Clock King received from Tiger Shark. Nightwing uses the time vest to save all the villains in the yacht by putting them in the ocean.
Nightwing is saved from drowning by Detective Svoboda, who informs Nightwing the police only arrest a few of the villains he rescued.
At the Marcus Casino, Tiger Shark angrily finds Desmond in his office. He orders his genetically modified tiger sharks to kill Desmond. Desmond transforms into his Blockbuster form and quickly kills Tiger Shark’s tiger sharks.
Blockbuster corners Tiger Shark and tells him he lost because he didn’t have skin in the game.
Later that night Nightwing finds Desmond at the Marcus Casino bar. Desmond talks about how the cops will be busy dealing with the villains that came to Bludhaven and dealing with the fact Tiger Shark had several cops in his pocket. Desmond then cheers their win and says he has a business to start running.
Nightwing tells Desmond that he will defeat Desmond. Nightwing says he knows that Desmond is scared that he is weaker than his little brother and that he will loss his power.
Desmond transforms into Blockbuster, breaks a table and tells Nightwing to leave.
Elsewhere, Giz reveals to Mouse that he is working for Nightwing as someone watches him from a secret room.
Nightwing goes into Shawn’s apartment and hugs her. Shawn tells Nightwing she can’t do this anymore. Nightwing wants to keep working on their relationship but Shawn can’t deal with how Dick continues to be Nightwing rather than try to be a normal guy and says he can’t save this.
After Nightwing leaves Pigeon enters the room and tells Shawn it’s time for her to get back to painting again.
Sometime later Desmond walks to the Marcus Casino and asks one of his hosts, Misty, how things are going. Misty mentions that they have a new blackjack dealer who is doing well. Desmond goes to the blackjack dealer, who turns out to be Dick Grayson, and tells him to keep up the good work.
Desmond then goes to his office and checks in to see how his “pet” is doing. He then stares at Tiger Shark locked in a cage.
At Mouse and Giz’s apartment, Mouse gets home and finds Giz unconscious with his arm bleeding. End of issue.
The Good: As much as Nightwing #25 is the end of the “Blockbuster” arc it is also the beginning of something much bigger down the line. Tim Seeley is able to create a satisfying conclusion to this arc. But as he does that Seeley creates multiple launching points that will affect every facet of Nightwing’s life and Bludhaven as a city.
With this arc being all about establishing Desmond as the top of the food chain in the mafia underworld of Bludhaven Seeley succeeded. Desmond using Nightwing to achieve his goal rather than just muscling his way into the position as Blockbuster was a smart way to position the character. In going with this route we get to see how Desmond can be a threat to Nightwing and the city in multiple ways. Seeing how he tore through Tiger Shark’s special soldiers makes him an even more physically imposing figure to overcome.
While Blockbuster was successful the power he was searching for Seeley made sure it was not a total loss for Nightwing. Throughout this arc we were able to see what makes Nightwing such a great hero with how he took on some formidable fighters across the DC Universe. Nightwing #25 further that emphasizing his quick thinking ability with how he saved all the villains on the ship.
That quick thinking was also greatly used with how he was able to have a drop the mic moment in his conversation with Blockbuster. This conversation between the two helped to establish the cat and mouse game Nightwing and Blockbuster will have moving forward. Dick being the first one to make a major move by taking a job at the Marcus Casino that Blockbuster now owns creates an intriguing scenario. Now we get to see how Dick puts his super spy abilities he learned while working for Spyral to use.
Complementing the story between Nightwing and Blockbuster was how Seeley developed Dick and Shawn’s relationship. For Shawn it was good to see how she was not going to put up with Dick not moving forward with her. Knowing what Dick’s life is about she knew that she would not be able to move from her past if she was with someone that she felt still was stuck in that world.
Pigeon showing up after they broke up does bring into question what Seeley will do with Shawn’s character moving forward. It’s clear this isn’t the last we will see of her. Where Shawn is when she shows up next could mean even bigger things depending on what Pigeon’s real intentions are.
As for Dick, this relationship with Shawn does open his eyes to the fact that being a superhero is who is. This is a life that he can never leave behind no matter how much he would like a normal relationship to work. That fact does highlight how it will be better for Dick to find someone like Starfire or Barbara Gordon where he can live as both Dick Grayson and Nightwing. It’s something that could add to the upcoming appearance Nightwing will have in Batgirl as his relationship with Barbara is explored by Hope Larson.
The ending for Nightwing #25 will be interesting to see how it relates to Huntress appearance for the next arc. From the looks of it the character that took out Giz will be Mister Minos or Agent Zero from Spyral. It would make the most sense given how Nightwing took down old Spyral before going back to being a superhero. Though if it is Mister Minos than Seeley will need to explain how he survived his supposed death before the Grayson series ended.
Minkyu Jung once again deliver a solid looking issue with Nightwing #25. Jung did a great job getting across the desperate situation Nightwing was in as he tried to save himself and a boat filled with villains. The same goes for showing off Desmond’s power in his Blockbuster form as he tore through the two tiger sharks. That power complimented the confidence and anger Desmond showed during his final interaction with Nightwing at the bar as he went from calm business owner to raging monster in seconds.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: Nightwing #25 closed out the “Blockbuster” arc with Tim Seeley setting up the groundwork for the future of the series. Now that Blockbuster is firmly entrenched as the most powerful underworld boss in Bludhaven the series has big bad Nightwing needs to overcome. That alongside how Dick’s relationship with Shawn Tsang came to an end provides plenty of questions for Seeley to answer in future issues of Nightwing.
