Nightwing has been one of my favorite characters since his first appearance in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 when Dick Grayson took the moniker in homage partly to Batman, but more to the Kandorian duo of Nightwing and Flamebird. If you are unfamiliar with these Kryptonian heroes I definitely suggest digging into their origin story; a good starting point would be Superman #158. Now back to our regular scheduled review. This issue of Nightwing continues the tale of a ragtag group of disgruntled Bludhaven police offiers who have donned Dick Grayson’s discarded Nightwing costumes. This divisive plot began when KGBeast shot Dick Grayson in the head in Tom King’s Batman, from their things got worse, for Dick and for us. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Batman guy, a huge DC guy in general and a fan of Tom King’s work. Now with that as a preface I must add that anyone who knows me also knows I am not a fan of Tom King’s Batman run, That feeling has spilled over into Nightwing and now I find myself in the unenviable situation of not enjoying my two favorite books. With one bullet Tom King fired a shot that has echoed through the entire DC Universe, or most of it anyway especially if you take into account the questionable antics taking place in Heroes in Crisis. With all of that said let us take a look at this current issue of Nightwing.
The “Nightwings” find themselves outclassed by a big Gotham baddie, namely Jonathan Crane aka the Scarecrow. Crane had been using the alias Dr Gruidae, which is a thinly veiled reference to the family of birds cranes belong to, under this nom de guerre Crane posed as a therapist working in Bludhaven. The jig as they say, is up however when the very astute detective Elise Svoboda suspects Gruidae of not being who he claims. This issue begins as Scarecrow releases a cloud of fear toxin aimed at the newly formed team of would-be vigilantes. The team however is well prepared, with breathing masks in place they taunt the sinister Scarecrow who retaliates sending forth an army of fear crazed fiends. The action is not the real problem with this issue, it’s the overarching plot, let’s call it the ballad of Ric Grayson. This is not Nightwing, neither is it Dick Grayson for that matter. This is a guy who doesn’t quite know who he is and neither do we. The one thing I can say for Ric Grayson is I feel pity for him. Yes, the once heroic Nightwing is now reduced to this pathetic, goofball meandering around Bludhaven in his taxi cab. I mean the guy is one step above Jim Ignatowski at this point for crying out loud. His former personality and abilities come back to him in flashes and apparently his uncanny good looks are still working on the ladies, but this is a far cry from the Nightwing we all know and love, the Nightwing who was once Robin, trained by Batman. This guy, this Ric Grayson is lucky to be able to lace his boots up correctly without tying his feet together. The fact that Ric Grayson is so problematic as a character, let alone a super hero is not the fault of the writers, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza, plot and script respectively, but as I said before it all goes back to Tom King. I don’t know how much of this disaster was cobbled together as a group, but I believe King has handcuffed, not only the writers of Nightwing, but to an even greater extent the Titans book has been effected by this one ill-conceived story beat. Thus goes the Ballad of Ric Grayson.
On its own merits, this is still not a great story. The absence of a true protagonist makes investing any real emotion in these characters extremely difficult. All the reasons I love Nightwing have evaporated in this book. I do appreciate Lobdell’s attempts to rectify the damage done sooner rather than later, however the fact remains that Dick Grayson has been used in this manner to begin with. I fail to see why beyond Dan Didio and apparently Tom King’s dislike of the character. Didio has gone on record many times expressing his desire to eliminate Dick Grayson for some half assed aging dilemma he feels Grayson presents for the entire DCU. Tom King’s machinations appear to be much more sinister as they affect many more beloved DC heroes than just Nightwing. The fate of Ric Grayson seems as though it’s about to be revealed with the conclusion of this arc, but I fear the damage has already been inflicted. Whether or not the status quo of one of DC’s most beloved and enduring heroes is reset or these somewhat ridiculous changes are brought to bear one thing is certain, this was a bad editorial decision. To flagrantly thumb your nose at a legion of loyal fans is never a good idea, however in this case the ramifications have been multiplied. The most immediate and obvious of which we see right here in Nightwing proper, a convoluted and ultimately mediocre, at best narrative with unwanted and undeserved results. The craft of Nightwing #56 is solid, both writers are prolific, professionals with myriad amazing stories to their collective credit. That is what makes this so much more vexing, whats more I really want to like this book. If this was another character I might feel differently, I don’t think the emotions would run as high, but this is the terrain in which we currently find ourselves deployed.
Visually, the book is at its strongest. Artist David Gianfelice, perhaps best known for his work on Conan and Brian Wood’s viking epic Northlanders, brings his frenetic style to Bludhaven to extremely effective results. His sketchy line work conveys the erratic sense of Ric Grayson’s current mindset. There is an undeniable 90’s aesthetic at work here that works so well with the tone of this narrative. It’s dark yet extremely vibrant at once like the world seen through the eyes of a jittery over-caffieinated hipster. The character designs are first-rate, even without the benefit of the different Nightwing costumes, Gianfelice does a fantastic job of creating individual facial features for each character. Not an easy job to do and even more difficult do well. Nick Filardi’s coloring enhances the energetic quality of Gianfelice’s work. Filardi is a perfect fit for this kind of imagery, his deep understanding of color is evident in the choices he makes in this issue, bringing an electricity to the images, making the action jump off the page.
Overall this is a tough one to call. As I said the craft is truly and completely solid, but the plot is just so problematic. I don’t feel the book is utterly without merit, however I can’t in good faith recommend anyone add Nightwing to their pull list at this time. I am staying put for now as I want to see where things shake out after next issue’s conclusion to this arc, but it’s not because of any suspense that may have consequently been built up in the Scarecrow confrontation, its solely to see if Dick Grayson is still somewhere under all this flotsam and jetsam. My rating reflects the book as a whole. 3/5
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writers- Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza
Artist- David Gianfelice
Colors- Nick Filardi
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