Nightwing #07 - now with Bruce

[icon_uk]

Though he's not in the page I have scanned.


When the preview was posted, many commented on how tired they were with villains blaming the wrong people for their ills.

Turns out, those posters weren't alone....



Later on, We see the same conversation (more or less) that Dick and Bruce have in Batman, though as one might expect, Bruce has less to say, and Dick a little more (It IS his comic after all)

The punch scene is also there, though it's even less clear that Bruce is punching him on order to facilitate a tooth extraction.

Also, as the story arc ends (with some annoying loose ends, especially the final scene with Raya) we have Dick pondering (rather tritely IMHO); "We're not defined by our tragedies or turning points. We're defined by the choices we make in the face of them"

Aside from this story basically failing to establish Dick's role in the DCnU, in light of the many changes which have been made to his past by the reboot (No Titans for him to have led... A MUCH shorter heroic career... Not owning the Haly Circus already, etc), the theme of this arc has seemed to be that "Dick has always run away from his past towards new things" when the point always was that he doesn't RUN from his past, he's MOVED ON from his past, that's a very different thing;

Bruce is defined by that one tragedy in his life. Dick isn't, mostly BECAUSE of Bruce's involvement in his life. It shaped him, guided him, but it didn't define him.

Still, it's been a very pretty arc (even if I do miss the blue)

Comments

[greenmask]

Still reads as a pretty tired vendetta to me, alas.

It's not like the fact that the one they wanted got away makes it Dick's FAULT that they turned to second best, is it? They're in exactly the same position as before.

I think it might be the action-art clashing with the emotional trauma, for me. It just seems a bit silly.

[icon_uk]

Oh I agree that it IS a tired vendetta, it's just it's nice to see that Nightwing feels that it's a tired vendetta too.

[greenmask]

He's a good boy!

[icon_uk]

One of the things that Morrison did which I liked was note that Dick is in many ways a better crimefighter because he DOESN'T get involved in the complicated head games that the villains use to get under Batman's skin.

As Dick tells the Joker, he figured him out when he was 12 years old (I imagine in much the same way that Terry did in "Return of the Joker"). The Joker's not obsessed with him, so Dick sees him with more objectivity and that gives him an edge.

(Also the reason I suspect Dick had to be sidelined (albeit ineptly) in the Black Glove story, because he'd probably have seen through Hurt's bullcrap almost instantly, whereas Bruce got embroiled in it all.)

[jlbarnett]

I'm tired of all the fate, behind the scenes conspiracy stuff DC is pulling these days

[eyz]

Yeah, it's getting ridiculously way too overused across all their books...

[coldfiredragon]

I was really happy with the resolution of the arc, and with the crossover scene that this issue shared with Batman. Its the first time in a long time I've seen a crossover that's actually handled in both books and done well in my opinion.

[sistermagpie]

I agree with your take on this arc, though I haven't read this issue yet. The idea that Dick "ran away" from the past is just completely ridiculous. He was a kid (even in this arc where they're desperately trying to make him as old as possible because they're scared of Bruce seeming too old) who was orphaned and adopted by a billionaire. His parents' death was a traumatic experience Bruce helped him get through by being a father to him. Not only do I not like Haley's being a front for an assassin's league, I don't like it being filled with people like this. Their friend lost his parents and they see themselves as the real victims. They just suck.

I mean, you *could* do a character who was resentful of Dick's post-circus life and it could be interesting (a different--possibly more interesting--twist on Tommy Eliot). But this arc just made the whole circus rather annoying to me and Haley's should never annoy me.

What's funny is one of the things I've adored about Batman is how old school Batman & Robin it is with Bruce and Dick.

[icon_uk]

Chuck Dixon did try and create an "Anti-Robin" in the form of Shrike (former friend of Dick's who fell in with what turned out to be the League of Assassins and rose up through the ranks), but it was rather poorly handled... instead of an ongoing conflict which could have been fun to retcon in as someone Dick had fought repeatedly over the years, both learning and growing in their respective fields.

But instead we got his debut as the friend in "Robin: Year One", then nothing from him until he suddenly appears years later, as Shrike, in Bludhaven.

[sistermagpie]

Oh right! I remember him now. But yeah, the idea is still a good one, even if it hasn't been done well so far. If someone's going to be like the way Dick could have been if he went the wrong way, he shouldn't be whining about how it's Dick's fault.

[icon_uk]

I do wonder if making Raymond a Talon instead would have been more interesting. In both cases tragedy strikes a child at the Haly Circus, both get taken in by influential millionaires, one being the ward of Bruce Wayne, the other being the ward of the Court of Owls. Both given the opportunity of "being all they can be", and both thriving in their own ways.

There was a story a couple of years back, a follow up to "The Player on the Other Side", a classic story which introduced (and killed) Wrath, an anti-Batman, whose career started the night he was lookout for his criminal parents, who were killed in the course of a committing a robbery by a young Jim Gordon.

The follow-up introduced a new Wrath, who it turns out had originally been the end result of Wraths plan to create a kid sidekick the way Batman had created Robin. Of course, he eventually finds out he'd been something like the sixth attempt, the previous five not having survived Wrath's training regime. He might have been interesting to see back

[sistermagpie]

It would be interesting! I love the idea of the Graysons murder having unforseen consequences to other people there (though I hate it when they pretend the Graysons were "like a family" to some other kid to set Dick up to look selfish for thinking he was an only child) that led to Raymond being a Talon. It would be a great beginning that could make Raymond a really interesting character, especially if he knew Dick was first choice.

[eyz]

I'm actually okay with this book, so far.

[md84]

It's kind of funny that the deaths of Dick and Bruce's parents seem to be the only terrible things the Court DIDN'T mastermind in Gotham. If anything, the deaths of the Flying Graysons and the Waynes threw a monkeywrench in the Court's millenia old plans. The Waynes' demise gave rise to Batman and the Graysons' untimely death deprived them of what could potentially have been their best Talon ever.

[pyrrhocorax]

Now Nightwing's red/black too, I keep getting my bats mixed up!

[junipepper]

I don't know this character. I love Dick Grayson, he's one of my favorite characters ever, but that was the guy that

-was taken in by Bruce Wayne at a young enough age that Bruce and Alfred became his family in a real way, and the Manor became his home
-became Robin at a very young age, faced brutally hard situations and learned from them so that he
-became a team leader in his mid-teens, and managed to garner the respect of nearly everyone, superheroes and regular joes
-went out on his own. Screwed up. Grew up.
-had a long, complicated, sort-of affair with Oracle (remember her?)
-became the big brother to Tim Drake, an important relationship for both of them
-stepped up to be Batman when needed (Yes, I know this version is supposed to have done that, but it's really hard to picture)
-was willing and able to give Damien the time and attention and endless patience needed to help him become a human being (more or less)
-and way too many other things to list

This Dick Grayson -- isn't that guy. He's not even what that guy was at age 21. He doesn't have the depth. I'm sure I'm reading some of this in due to the revised history being on my mind, but then -- I was always reading him with his history in mind, same as any other character.

I just can't fall in love with nU!Dick. The book isn't bad; it just isn't Nightwing. As always, YMMV. This is my opinion.