Nightwing #54 – Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, Writers; Garry Brown, Will Conrad, Artists; Nick Filardi, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 4/10
Corrina Does Not Read This Title Because of the Writer Sexually Harassed a Fellow Creators at a Panel. (And because this premise is absolutely horrible.)
Ray: As this ridiculous new Nightwing run unfolds, the slapped-together nature of the story shows more and more. It’s essentially a split narrative, following the brain-damaged “Ric Grayson” as he explores his new life in Bludhaven while also following the army of Nightwings that Detective Sapienza is putting together.
Both stories fail the test in different ways.
The “multiple Nightwings” plot has more potential on the surface, but the problem is that everyone there is a stock character right out of a 1990s cop drama. You have the grizzled by-the-book cop leading the crew, his wild-card friend who doesn’t play by anyone’s rules, the no-nonsense sexy lady cop, and her fresh-faced younger brother. None of them really get to do anything interesting this issue, and by the time they’re exposed as operating it feels like they’re little more than plot devices to drive Ric’s eventual rediscovery of his identity.
Speaking of Ric, his story is a bit better this issue as we get to see him slip into his new life more comfortably. He’s been undergoing therapy with a disguised Scarecrow, and that’s helped us to explore a little more why he’s willing to let go of his old life. This issue for the first time shows what his recovery right after being shot was like, and those brief scenes inside his head work.
What doesn’t work is the fact that Scarecrow, one of the most famous criminals in the world who has gassed Gotham City dozens of times, just walked across the river and set up a psychiatrist’s office without anyone noticing that he was the same guy and looks exactly the same. This arc seems to be trying to make Scarecrow into a mastermind, but it also somehow makes him dumber and more incompetent. The last scene, with him talking to a Nightwing doll, feels more like a Mad Hatter or Ventriloquist scene. This run – still a complete mess.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
