Nightwing #148 Review

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Rags Morales

After last issue's extremely dubious advertisement as a crossover to the R.I.P. storyline, Nightwing #148 finally delivers on its promise of being a tie-in. However, it is not a tie-in in the way one might expect. Like Robin #177, this issue takes place after the events of R.I.P., in which the climactic events of R.I.P. have already taken place and Bruce Wayne has since retired as Batman. This has a curious result, and one that I'm not sure is such a good thing: it in effect spoils the ending of R.I.P. True, we do not know what exactly happened at Arkham Asylum, but now we know that just about every major character comes out of R.I.P. alive, although perhaps not unscathed. Robin survived, as we know from his book, and now we discover that both Nightwing and Alfred also survived the encounter. While one can never really expect a major character will get killed, Dick Grayson's fate has always been up in the air ever since we learned there was originally a plan to kill him off in Infinite Crisis #7. If anyone was going to be killed or seriously hurt, it was him (well, maybe Alfred). Now we know that they are both perfectly fine. No matter what happens in the rest of R.I.P., some of the tension of the story has been irrevocably lost, and that is not a positive thing.

This book does, though, reveal that something indeed may be up with Alfred in R.I.P. At one point in this book, Dick Grayson asks Alfred, "Nnn--when did you learn arthroscopic surgery?". That's a really good question, and Alfred's answer of "osmosis" doesn't really sound plausible. If Alfred is a doctor, who is he really? I doubt he is Thomas Wayne, but there is some implication here that he is a lot more than simply the former actor turned butler that we all believed he is. One positive element of this book is that, while it spoils some of the ending of R.I.P., it actually has the effect of adding to some of its mystery. Aside from Alfred's strange and sudden medical skills, there is also a very interesting scene where he washes the blood from his hands and for some reason splashes a little on the case holding Jason Todd's old uniform. Clearly, something happened involving Alfred in R.I.P., and this book is quite clever in giving us some hints but really no answers.

In terms of the story itself, this book has several promising elements. It is an interesting story in which Nightwing has to protect Carol, Two-Face's old flame, from people trying to kill her because she is a witness in a crime. Moreover, somehow the crime itself is becoming more interesting. The potential assassins have somehow gotten a hold on Scarecrow's fear serum, using it to cause Nightwing to start hallucinating. If they have access to that, who are they involved with really? The story has been suitably vague and in leaving it a mystery. If the story somehow involves Scarecrow, could Hush also be involved? They are working together over in Detective Comics. At this point, we don't know, but the conspiracy behind the attempted assassination has moved from being a plot device to a real mystery, and the book is stronger for it.

Unfortunately, Don Kramer is no longer the penciller on Nightwing. His visuals were one of the best things about the last issue, as he draws some of the best action sequences I have ever seen. Instead, Morales' strength seems to be his character elements, writing suitably ambiguous expressions on people's face, so that we aren't sure, for example, what Alfred is thinking or what Carol thinks of Nightwing. There is a nice moment in the book when Nightwing leaves Carol, yet again, in the safehouse (located at the Cloisters in Manhattan, which I found rather a clever idea). She asks him if he promises to come back, almost like a little kid might ask a parent when feeling a little insecure. It is a nice moment, because it reminds us that normal people don't actually encounter superheroes on a regular basis, and she is so impressed with him, she's starting to regress a little. I wonder if perhaps she won't become a love interest for Nightwing in the long run, which would be interesting since Two-Face is still in love with her. There's a lot of potential to this character, and I hope we see her again. However, because Rags isn't quite as strong in drawing action as Kramer, there is more dialogue than action in this book, and I miss the pacing of the last issue.

Overall, then, this is a solid issue of Nightwing. There are a lot of nice character moments and, despite spoiling some of the outcome of R.I.P, it also finds a way to add to the mystery.

B

Nightwing #147 Review

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Don Kramer

Nightwing #147 represents a truly infuriating trend in recent comic books. It is marketed as a part of the "R.I.P." storyline taking place in the other Batman comics, but has absolutely nothing to do with it. This continues the pattern of soliciting comics as being a part of a larger story and then having it have nothing to do with the story at all. I believe this trend started with the "Avengers Disassembled" story line four years ago, in which both Thor and the Fantastic Four were solicited as a part of the story, but had nothing to do with it. It culminated with the disastrous Countdown to Final Crisis, which not only had nothing to do with Final Crisis but contradicted so many elements in it that it made Final Crisis even harder to read. Even if Nightwing turns out to be a part of the R.I.P. story in the end (is the guy falling into a cloud of bats a part of R.I.P.?), I have lost all faith that it will be.

So, Nightwing #175 puts me in an awkward position. Tomasi just wrote one of my favourite books ever, the wonderful Final Crisis: Requiem, and I want to read more of his work. On the other hand, I feel almost morally obliged to drop Nightwing immediately so as not to find myself taken advantage of. Since I am interested in both Tomasi and Nightwing, I will give this series a shot, and hold my nose at the stench of DC marketing.

Despite all of these concerns, Nightwing #147 is actually a pretty good book. It isn't especially insightful or moving, but is a well-paced, well-told action story in which Nightwing has to protect Two Face's ex-paramour from unnamed assassins. Every part of the action is well described and clear, and between the fight in the car, the battle on the rooftop and a mad leap through a crashing helicopter. Kramer has a great sense of visual storytelling that makes every scene seem like it is in motion.

The rooftop scene with Two-Face and Nightwing is a lot of fun. Two-Face has such a bizarre moral code that Nightwing can only laugh at him. However, he did love the assassin's target, and now he wants to save her life. Somehow, Two-Face blends not being willing to actually follow through on the affair because of his wife with dropping innocent people in a silo filling with sugar, and makes it seem sort of plausible.

Some of the elements are a little implausible, even from the standpoint of a comic book. The sniper on the roof battle is perhaps the worst sniper who ever lived. He literally kills every single person except for his intended target. However, no matter how implausible the occasional element became, the sense of desperation in the scenes made every dangerous decision people took make sense.

The cliffhanger has all the wind taken out of its sails by the fact that we know Nightwing will soon be in Gotham, perfectly healthy, and captured by the Black Glove. If this hadn't been marketed as a part of R.I.P., it would work well as an independent story, but since it is supposedly a part of R.I.P., it must happen before Batman #678, so we know that Nightwing gets up from his injury so fast, it seems like it happened two months ago. Not only is the marketing dishonest, but it actually hurts the story.

I'm not sure how to grade this comic. I want to fail it, because I want to punish DC, but I suppose at the end of the day, a grade isn't a weapon but a description of the quality of the book, independent of such considerations.

B-