Written By: David Walker
Artist(s): Ramon Villalobos
Color Artist: Tamra Bonvillain
Cover: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz and Chris Sotomayor
Release Date: 8/26/16
Price: $3.99
The vigilante Nighthawk works out of Chicago trying to aid the city towards greatness as it struggles with racial problems and police brutality. Can one man help a city to find peace and balance?
Plot
Nighthawk is currently dealing with multiple threats; he has the police on his trail trying to capture him for being a vigilante, he is dealing with the white supremacists and corrupt cops killing colored people in the city, and on top of all this, he’s chasing down serial murdered, The Revelator.
Writing
David Walker has been absolutely nailing the books he’s been working on and is one of the best writers Marvel currently has. His work on Nighthawk has been super fun to read and gives readers a more honest take on how Batman would operate in real life. Nighthawk is Marvel’s Batman but they allow Walker to really go further and have the character be ruthless and kill bad people. It’s a really interesting dynamic, but it’s easy to understand and get behind his quest. The story has been really fun to read through the first four issues because there are a lot of fun factors that go into this detective crime book.
Aside from having a tougher hero to follow around, the story allows us to follow the one cop on the force that believes in what Nighthawk is doing because he was saved by the vigilante; Burrell. The character is a good one to incorporate because it allows for readers to have a tie with the police force and see that not all police are corrupt. It’s enjoyable to read along with his character trying to get additional info on who is corrupt in the force.
The writing really carries Nighthawk because it is tackling a delicate, but very important, subject right now in the country. There is a lot of racial divide because of wrongful killings by police abusing their power, and Walker isn’t afraid to dive into those subjects with Nighthawk. Walker’s writing really does a great job of getting in touch with the personalities and motives of characters, which really rounds them out. He allows readers to really see why these individuals are good or bad and the foundation for their beliefs, which is why he is the perfect writer for a book like Nighthawk.
Art
The artwork in Nighthawk is awesome, mainly because it involves a lot of pencil detail and fun colors set against nighttime scenes. All of the panels that cut to TJ back in the Nest are really great ways to break up from the normal blackness of the streets at night. The vibrant background colors and silhouetted character are a great blend that feel so fitting for the style of this book.
The surprising thing about Nighthawk is how brutal the action and violence is for a comic. It’s great to see some more adult scenes incorporated into a Marvel comic because it really shows that this character is a true vigilante. The art is pretty intense though because Nighthawk is just blowing the bad guys away left and right. There are a lot of scenes where he is killing the villains and Bonvillain uses vibrant pinks to display blood or guts and never hesitates to show the brutality of the scene.
Verdict
Nighthawk is an absolute blast so far through four issues and is definitely worth reading if you’re looking for something similar to Batman. David Walker is a great writer and he really seems to understand the characters he chooses to write about. The book has great ties to important real world events and Nighthawk is just a cool hero.