Nightwing 153 - Remembering Batman, the Nightwing way

[icon_uk]

Nightwing 153 was the last issue of the Nightwing monthly series, and a lot of it was spent wrapping up the most recent chapter of Dick's life and sending him back into Gotham City to whatever the next step of his life would be.

I've wanted a page of this issue, and one in particular always appealed to me. This post is to explain why...



So Dick arrives back in Gotham, and Alfred comes to collect him from the railway station (He wanted to take the train rather than fly in, to get a better feel for what Gotham is like, since it's to be his home now)



Note what Dick did in that last page, and where...

He and Tim start to fix the cave up, including getting the giant penny back, which they both wanted (Alfred is less elated as that means he'll be responsible for cleaning the bloody thing again).

Tim, Alfred and Dick have a "moment" or two, and Tim leaves the older folks.. (though he quietly sits halfway up the staircase to the Manor so he can listen) and they what they have lost, and how well Tim is taking it. They also discuss whether Bruce is "really" gone, and both agree that he is (Though they know Tim feels he's alive)

Alfred knows that tonight would be a special night for Bruce, as does Dick. It's THAT night of the year.



Alfred understands, he's upset enough about losing Bruce himself.

Alone in his room a little while later, Dick opens up the wooden box which contains the original candle he used to swear his oath with Batman when he first became Robin. It means a lot to him, as does everything that Bruce provided for him, but he knows that it's the lessons, and responsibilities that Bruce taught him, and that his parents taught Bruce, which are the important thing (though the comfortable lifestyle doesn't hurt)



So Dick, on the night of the anniversary of the Wayne murders, goes to that place. Every year there, Bruce ensures there is NO crime there, and quietly lays two roses for his parents. Now it's time for Dick to honour Bruce and the Wayne's in his own way.



...Crime Alley.

That's the page I wanted (Click on it to see the original inked page on my CAF page (smug grin) ), Dick doesn't have the same emotional connection to the place, but wants to honour Bruce. Aside from the casual acrobatics, which are nicely done, this emphasises that, just as Robin brought, for wont of a better term "light", to the darkness of Batman crusade, so he does here rather more literally; Bruce Wayne guards the shadows, but Dick Grayson brings light where it's needed. Even that means just making sure the streetlights are all fixed so people can walk more safely. (Note that Dick checked the broken lights on the drive in with Alfred)

Kudos to Peter J. Tomasi, Don Kramer on pencils and Jay Leisten on inks for a lovely subtle way of emphasising Dick's different approach to his mentors mission.

And this is the final page...



which is, in itself, both a visual and a written reference to the classic Denny O'Neill written, Dick Giordano drawn and Julie Scwharz edited Detective Comics 457; "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley", a story which first told of Batman's annual pilgrimage to Park Row Crime Alley, and introduced Leslie Thompkins to the Batverse, though a very different version than the one we would come to know years later Hint: That's her in the bottom panel of this page)

Comments

[bluejaybirdie]

You know, all this time, and I thought that the name of the street where Bruce's parents were shot was actually Crime Alley...

[sadoeuphemist]

So did I!

Although in retrospect, that would have been an amazingly shitty decision by the city planning committee. Then again this is the city that decided to put gargoyles on every square inch of building, so who knows.

[aaron_bourque]

Some people's children, I swear . . .

[equinox216]

But it IS! It's just pronounced 'cree-MAY'. It's Italian for 'made of Swiss cheese'.

[anothermoviegeek.blogspot.com]

Heh, I just re-read this last night. Once again icon_uk, it's both creepy and awesome how you and are often on the same page.

So Dick arrives back in Gotham, and Alfred comes to collect him from the railway station (He wanted to take the train rather than fly in, to get a better feel for what Gotham is like, since it's to be his home now)

I loved how this was a shot for shot remake of the same scene from Batman Year One.

[icon_uk]

I loved how this was a shot for shot remake of the same scene from Batman Year One.

I never knew that, interesting thanks! :)

[anothermoviegeek.blogspot.com]

For those curious, I have posted the two pages (Batman 404/Nightwing 153) side by side for comparison here:
http://pics.livejournal.com/akbar56/pic/001qey2k/g145

Granted, it is Gordon in Year One (with Bruce on a plane lamenting he should have taken the train.)

[calvision]

Wow, you have every right to be smug about owning that inked page *___*

[shadowpsykie]

...

.....

*sniffle*
........

i....

don't look at me!

[superfangirl1]

D'aww dick why do you want me to take you home and make you some soup? :)

[icon_uk]

Yeah, he gets that a lot, one way or another

[blackruzsa]

Learn something new everyday.
Park Row, huh?

[bradygirl_12]

That's some lovely symbolism there, Dick coming home and then putting that streetlight up in Crime Alley. He's proven he's his own man, but he's also respectful of family, and he knows where his place is now.

[sistermagpie]

And this is why I love Tomasi.