Nightwing has a new partner now, whether he likes him or not. The tricky part is......you kind of like him, right?

Raptor, a mercenary for hire that has been in the employ of the Parliament of Owls for some time has now been "assigned" to work with Dick Grayson in carrying out the bidding of the nefarious crime syndicate because there are concerns that Nightwing hasn't been as......dedicated to the cause as he should be.

Of course, he's not because he's trying to bring the Owls down, a fact that Grayson feels the presence of Raptor will only serve to make more difficult. Or will he?

In this issue of the series, the two come across a ship of human refugees for the Owls, one in which also contains some "shady" experimentations being done on people en masse as well. Dick of course is loathe to allow any of this continue and he wrestles with the decision of what to do throughout the rest of the issue. In the midst of that struggle, it seems like Raptor isn't entirely on the side of the Owls either, presenting himself not only as a mercenary for hire but also someone that might have some measure of "morality" within him after all.

It's hard for someone like Dick to trust a guy like Raptor of course considering his methods, his mindset and who he's working for, but that question is clearly starting to be raised in his mind concerning who this guy really is what he wants in regards to Dick's ultimate plan for bringing the Owls down. Is Raptor someone he can trust with that plan or should he consider him as untrustworthy as he already does just to be safe?

One of my favorite things about this series is the introspection we get from Dick throughout and it's something I'm noticing with the "smaller" characters and heroes in DC Rebirth, basically anyone that was a former Robin or sidekick to the Dark Knight himself. It's great though because it really gives you the best possible angle into what Dick wants to do and how he's approaching this entire situation with his plan.

So the question now is, how far can Raptor be trusted if he can be trusted at all? Will Dick eventually let him in on the grand master plan to take down the Parliament of Owls now that Damian Wayne is no longer in jeopardy from them? How much longer do we have on this arc before the series joins the "Monster Men" crossover in a matter of weeks? Nightwing isn't one of the top series in DC Rebirth in my opinion, but it is definitely one of the better ones in about the middle range, just because it's intent on building its own story without the requirement of other capital heroes to support it throughout. It stands on it's own right now and does a solid job of it.

4 out of 5 stars - DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH - Nightwing #2

This series runs twice a month, next issue due out August 17.