The final revelation is in the final panel. A photo found by Nightwing in Raptor's quarters shows Mary Grayson, Dick's mother, in the company of a young Raptor. Mary wears her trapeze outfit, while Raptor appears to be a clown of some type. Who is this villain? Is he Dick's Uncle George from long ago? A former boyfriend of Mary? An anti-hero with relatively poor social skills? It is one of the most intriguing mysteries Nightwing has faced in many years. A regular circus of shadows. Read Full Review

We get back to the Raptor story line with Nightwing after the briefest of hiatus. But the claw is back and he holds court over this book in a mesmerizing way. Read Full Review

This is one of the best Bat-books for your buck. Read Full Review

This arc is off to a great start. There's some complexity to both the emotional and physical conflict that Dick will face as he attempts to rescue Bruce and take down Raptor all while learning about his mother's life. Read Full Review

Solid fun from beginning to end. With snappy dialogue, great visuals, and phenomenal character work, Nightwing continues to be a grand swashbuckler of a superhero book. The main criticism I have is that this feels less like the start of a new arc and more like the interrupted epilogue of the previous story. Regardless, it's a great read, further proof that Nightwing is one of the most solid books DC is publishing today. Read Full Review

Overall, a strong solid issue setting up the new story arc. I look forward to Part 2! Read Full Review

While there are a ton of Batman books on the market, this is definitely one going for a different feel, as well as an attempt to flip the script on how to approach a long-standing character, and it's definitely worth your money. Read Full Review

I liked this issue more than previous Raptor appearances because Seeley seems to finally be moving the character into a better antagonist position. He's still the same obnoxious character, and is even more obnoxious now that he's being pitted against Batman himself, but that obnoxiousness is more palatable with him as an outright villain than as some kind of anti-hero. It still just bugs me that he so easily gets under Nightwing's skin with little effort, but I can be OK with that when Nightwing starts kicking his butt. Also, I find the link that Raptor knew Nightwing's mom back in their circus days to be pretty interesting. Hopefully Seeley has some good ideas for that, and not something ridiculous like Raptor might be Nightwing's real dad. Read Full Review

Overall – I'll give this a 6.5 out of 10 – it's got some high points and is trying to come back to solid ground, but it's just not there yet. Read Full Review

While I can't say that this issue will blow anyone away, it is a welcome addition after all that Monster Men nonsense that we've been dealing with and actually leads to some interesting things.  It's just too bad that I'm still not a fan of the art in this book because even if the story becomes something that I'm all about, I won't like looking at it. Read Full Review

Nightwing #7 continues the disappointing trend of having too much Raptor. And that is a real shame, since other aspects of the book: the art or supporting cast are fun. If Seeley would just ease the spotlight off of Raptor, the book would be more enjoyable (like during the Raptor-less “Night of the Monster Men” tie-in issues). Unfortunately, given the storyline's title is “Rise of Raptor”, readersshould expect more of the same. Read Full Review

Good to see the series is keeping well I have decided to make this a regular read.

The further elaboration on Raptor only makes the character more and more interesting as this series goes. This is probably Seeley's best issue of Nightwing yet as Dick Grayson's conflict just reached a whole new level. We learn some more about Raptor's relationship with Dick too.

Whoa! Feel sorry for Dick. But Raptor keeps getting more interesting as an opponent.

Will be looking forward to the next issue.

Nightwing is one of the more consistent comics within the Rebirth era of DC, with this comic maintaining my interest and attention with every issue. I really enjoy the mystery around Raptor, as well as his connection to Grayson.

Raptor is an excellent foil for Nightwing! . . . . . . . . . Tim Seeley has an excellent voice for the characters. . . . . . . . . . i'm happy this series is back on track after that Cross-Over fiasco.