Nightwing #19
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Brett Booth
DC Comics, $2.99, color, 20 pages
This is a revamp, but a minor one that's a bit clumsy as well.
Nightwing is now in Chicago, on the trail of Boss Zucco, the guy who killed his parents and was thought dead, but is now thought maybe less dead. This is related in a fashion to "Death of a Family," in that Dick Grayson is now peeved at Bruce Wayne, and a road trip seems like a good idea. Grayson refers to the trip as temporary, but one suspects the relocation will be permanent if the new status quo proves popular.
Will it? Well, here's what's established in this issue: Chicago is aggressively anti-cape, so Nightwing is on the run from the cops from the get-go. We're introduced to two characters, a gamble-on-anything guy named Johnny Spade and a "mimic" named Mali, who are obviously meant to be quirky enough that we are intrigued by them and want to see more. Grayson is forced to have a roommate (because he's suddenly broke), whom we meet briefly. We meet a new Prankster. Oh, and the mayor's chauffeur is named "Tony," so we may have spotted the elusive Mr. Zucco already -- or not.
Out of all of these developments, I find only the Zucco mystery interesting. Is that really Zucco? Is he the reason the mayor hates superheroes? And why is a criminal gang boss acting like a chauffeur, anyway? I love a mystery!
But the rest ... meh. The cops chasing a Bat-character is nothing we haven't seen before. I found the introductions of Johnny Spade and Mali so ham-handed that they irritated me. The roommate made zero impression, aside from being an implausible imposition by the writer. (Dick Grayson broke? Riiiiight.) The new Prankster is way too similar to The Joker so far -- he will do anything for a good prank! -- but less lethal, so sort-of a Joker Lite.
Maybe these ideas are better than I'm presenting them, but I felt they were delivered in such a clumsy fashion that I was turned off. Nor was the art any more impressive; for the most part it's generic DC house style (Jim Lee Lite), while for some reason Booth rounds off everyone's chin so that everyone looks about 14.
At this point, I must confess to not being much of a Nightwing fan. I like the character well enough, but more as a team player than a solo act.
For one thing, I don't think he's impressive enough as a superhero to exist on his own. Those familiar with my reviews have probably heard me joke about Green Arrow and Hawkeye often enough, that these characters should be dead by page two in most stories because they persist in bringing bows and arrows to gunfights. So imagine how I feel about Nightwing, who brings sticks to gunfights!
Further, I know he's a great acrobat, but if you examine the artwork, he is drawn crouching and jumping and dodging bullets at a Spider-Man level, and I just don't believe any amount of training can do that. I can believe a lot of impossible things before breakfast, but a circus acrobat -- no matter well trained -- dodging in mid-air automatic weapons fire from a helicopter gunship isn't one of them.
So, for this reader at least, a Nightwing title has a littler farther to go than most titles in convincing me it's worth my time. This revamp doesn't do it for me, but if you're a Nightwing fan already, there may be enough here for you.
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