Title: Good Girl Gone Bad

Writer: Kyle Higgins

Art by: Eddy Barrows & Geraldo Borges

Cover by: Eddy Barrows & Rod Reis

Release Date: February 15, 2012

Official DC Comics Synopsis: After the huge reveal of last issue, Dick Grayson takes Haly’s Circus back to Gotham City in preparation for a large memorial show. But as Dick gets closer to the truth about his past, just how much is he really deciding for himself? And what does the Book of Names really mean? It all builds to a head here…just in time for a twist that will leave your jaw on the floor!

Review by: Brendan S.

So here we go, the penultimate chapter in the first Nightwing New 52 arc.  But before I get into the coverage of the book, someone on the internet has brought to my attention that this cover symbolically, intentionally or otherwise, shows Nightwing beating that crap out of Marvel characters.  From left to right: The Punisher, Captain America, and a guy with a Spider-man tattoo.  Just saying, kind of something cool to poke fun at.

Anyway to the book, we start with a complete throw away fight that simply looked really good thanks to Eddy Barrows’s art.  I was useless only to give us a backstory through Dick’s monologue and then we get a guy who had a tie to Saiko.  The only thing essential that we get from the scene is an old phone number of Saiko’s, which is never followed up on and that the project he is working on is personal.  Other than that we lose 5 pages for nothing.

We then skip ahead to a scene that should have started off this issue seeing as it picks up perfectly after the end of issue 5 where we learn that Saiko is really Raymond from Haly’s Circus who was supposed to have been dead for years.  We do also find out that Saiko has been in league with Raya and Bryan Haly from the very beginning and we see that he has decided to do a tribute show for the Flying Graysons, which Dick deduces that Saiko know about and tries to prepare for him.  This was a nice moment here because we see Dick paranoid and being unable to know what was going to happen next.  Which sets up well for what would happen to Dick next.

As he is preparing Dick gets a visit from Alfred who is telling him that despite the situation that he should enjoy the evening because after all it is in honor of his family.  This is good because it shows the relationship between Dick and Alfred but it also allows for Dick to lower his guard a little allowing Saiko to get by while he is making a speech about how the circus is family as well and how important family is.  Raya seems to be a little shaken up by this and she appears as though she will have a bit of a conflict next issue as she seems to be developing true feelings for Dick.

Dick realizes that Saiko is here as well and he becomes Nightwing and fights Saiko.  During the fight Saiko reveals how he is Raymond.  Something a little bit more anit-climactic than the initial reveal which was much more shocking.  He says how he was kidnapped and tortured and that is why his eyes are the way they look, and he blames Dick for this.  Right before he blows up the circus ring.

The book was great except for a few problems here and there that where fairly minor but overall I cannot wait till the next issue to see how it all closes out in time for the “Night of the Owls.”

Score: 4/5