DCU Comic Book Reviews

NIGHTWING #126

Targets, Part 2

January 2007

Written by Marv Wolfman

Pencils by Dan Jurgens

Inks by Norm Rapmund

Cover by J. G. Jones

Synopsis

While Nightwing watches the residence of Dr. Slater, a former LexCorp scientist and the only one still alive, the Jace Lorens (aka Raptor) is being chased by an unknown assassin.  Later, Nightwing returns to the apartment of J.J., where Dr. Slater is being kept safe from the Raptor.  Unable to determine who would target the scientists for death, Nightwing decides to take his mind off the case by getting the case.  At the gym, he encounters a young acrobat and decides instead to provide some help.  At J.J.’s apartment, the unknown assassin kills Dr. Slater.  J.J. is able to get away and find Nightwing.   Elsewhere, the unknown assassin finds and kills the Raptor.  At the funeral, Nightwing attempts to gather some information from the Raptor’s widow.  Watching in the distance, the unknown assassin is given six million dollars to kill Nightwing.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There are some good things with this issue and some bad things and a lot of the good and bad often occurs within the same scene.  For instance, I liked the fact that Nightwing still has a relationship with Alfred, but the dialogue and general bitchiness does not sound like Nightwing (at least to me; your mileage may vary).  I found the character of J.J. to be different in that sense that he has a personality that leaps off the page and I would like to know more about him, but it also felt like this is a character that I should already know, like a recurring character in the DCU, but for the life of me I do not recall who he is at all.  The scene in the gym with Dick and the acrobat was good and shows just how talented Dick really is, but it also felt like it was stuffed in there just to remind us of Dick’s origins, to show us where he came from.  The mystery assassin is providing some cool moments and upcoming dread of what he can do, but the character does not come across as powerful enough or sinister enough to make him jump off the page as a great villain.  Plus, the fact that the character is stuck in the shadows suggests a big reveal down the road which will either be really lame or will be one of the Monitors. 

Ultimately, Wolfman is attempting to revitalize the character of Nightwing within the DCU and I think this mission is very noticeable in this issue.  Bits and pieces of the story are designed to show aspects of Nightwing.  This forced type of writing hurts the overall storyline, which is standard and somewhat lackluster.  Hopefully, once Wolfman is able to get past the need to re-establish Nightwing and can focus on the characters and stories, I think this book can really shine.  At the moment, however, it is a mixed bag.

 

ïPREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.