Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist/Cover: Will Conrad & Cliff Richards / Will Conrad
Colorist: Pete Pantazis
ZERO YEAR: ONE DARK CITY NIGHT
Dick Grayson is the rising star of the young acrobatic group of Haley’s circus. He is skilled and capable of doing most tricky moves. He enters a dark Gotham on movie night. He must find his way back home but he must first defeat Amygdala!
The Ups: Higgins presents us with an over achieving Dick Grayson. He is quickly becoming the star of the circus which is not helping him make friends with his colleagues. It was interesting to see a less popular Dick since readers are familiar with the character being popular. The plot was an expecting pleasure. The previous Zero Year tie-ins are usually about the character trying to become the hero but not this book. Higgins goes with a different direction. We see a Dick Grayson that is looking for a way home and his main concern is survival. There were no gesture of Dick wanting/thinking of being a hero. It made the character more relatable. The interaction of Dick’s parents was a nice touch. They had bigger presence here that was not about their death. It was a great insight on Dick’s life before tragedy strikes that really made me like this issue. Conrad has been doing an incredible job on art since he took over. The characters’ facial expressions were on point as you can clearly see reactions and emotions. Conrad has a handle on Dick’s acrobatic movement. The panels of Dick scaling the fire escape is a stunning imagery. Pantazis complements Conrad’s pencil with darker colors that brings the tone of the story to life.
The Downs: I felt the big villain was unnecessary. There is no character development for Amygdala. He is just a villain who goes on a rage trip during the city’s moment of weakness. He has very little dialogue and I have no idea why he is attacking. Amygdala could have been easily replace by a teenage/adult gang which would have made the plot more sensible.
Overall: Higgins writes an interesting Zero Year issue. Exploring a young Dick Grayson was a fun read. Conrad and Pantazis keep producing visually great issue after issue after issue. If you left the series before now is the perfect time to come back. Pick up this issue!
Grade 4 of 5
ComicsRefueled 