Nightwing: The New Order #5

Writer: Kyle Higgins

Artist: Trevor McCarthy

Colourist: Dean White

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

It's a shame that this miniseries is ending next issue, because I really think this story has found its groove in the past issue and with this one. I love these characters to begin with and Kyle Higgins is presenting us with pretty new takes on them.

We unfortunately haven't gotten much of Nightwing's son Jake aside from his narration and I loved seeing him interact with these classic heroes (and maybe some villains), one of which is blatantly spoiled on the cover. I remember Higgins talking on Kevin Smith's podcast FATMAN ON BATMAN. He said that it's hard to create new Nightwing stories since the foundation of the character is so intrinsically tied to Batman. Finding new Nightwing stories to tell isn't easy, and I like how Higgins circumvented this and instead makes Nightwing become the foundation of this story, which as we read here gives us a pretty fresh story and take on the character.

Not much happens in this issue, and it seems like the upcoming finale is going to be quite the doozy. The ending is really interesting and I hope Higgins can pull it off in a single issue. This issue really didn't interest me until the mostly boring opening action scene got out of the way. As I mentioned before, it's nice to see Jake interact with these characters and there are so many nice moments in this issue that got me smiling. I wish Higgins would've spent more time with Jake.

Trevor McCarthy's art is pretty fantastic. His pencils along with Dean White's colouring create this really unique, totally dystopian-looking world that really gets my imagination going in terms of what happened in the past.

This is a pretty bare issue, but it's a fun read. Jake is a fun character and while I wish Higgins had him play a bigger part in the story, we get some good moments sprinkled throughout this issue. McCarthy and White's art is gorgeous to behold.