Review – Nightwing #70: Minds and Madness

Nightwing #70 – Dan Jurgens, Writer; Ryan Benjamin, Penciller; Scott Hanna, Inker; Rain Beredo, Colorist

Ratings:

Ray – 8/10

Ray: In Nightwing #70, now that the Ric Grayson era is almost over and the Talon threat has been neutralized, Dick can almost relax and work on getting his mind back together – if it wasn’t for that clown lurking around the fringes.

When we last left off, the sinister doctor who brainwashed him was killed, leaving Dick with a split mind and the crystal responsible in his possession. He’s heading back to Bludhaven, with the place in chaos and many unanswered questions. He takes out some random criminals, then finds his way back to Bea who continues coming up with reasonable suggestions that he shoots down. Wouldn’t it make sense to get the Bat-family back in on this so they can help Dick sort out the real memories from the false ones? But alas, Dick is stubborn and it seems like the brain problems will persist for a little while longer. But that’s the least of the city’s problems right now.

The other Nightwings, who have been keeping the city safe for a while, are starting to wind down operations. Zak and Colleen have decided to get out of the game, while Hutch wants their help to talk Sapienza down from the edge. Sapienza has always been the most obsessed of the quartet, and that obsession leads him into dangerous quarters – right into the hands of the Joker, who wastes no time torturing him to try to find out Nightwing’s location.

This scene in Nightwing #70 is one of the most brutal in the series in a while, and it’s not clear if Sapienza will escape. Joker lurks around the fringes of this issue, terrorizing everyone in Bludhaven on his way to stalking Nightwing and getting the power to manipulate his mind. Ryan Benjamin, guest-drawing on this issue, draws a suitably creepy Joker. Things seem to be getting back to normal for Nightwing slowly, but that doesn’t mean the stakes are any lower.

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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.