DCU Comic Book Reviews

NIGHTWING #134

321 Days, Part Two

September 2007

Written by Marv Wolfman

Pencils by Jamal Igle

Inks by Keith Champagne

Cover by Ryan Sook

Synopsis

Then...Dick Grayson decides he has had enough of Batman and walks out to be on his own.  Now...Nightwing follows former girlfriend and former criminal Liu, wondering if she is lying to him or not.  He tracks her to Eddie.  Dick recalls when he first met Eddie when he was teaching a group of teenager at a shelter about self-reliance.  Watching them now, Nightwing realizes he is not alone. Nearby Vigilante shots at Eddie.  Nightwing tries to capture Vigilante, but he gets away.  Later, Dick enjoys dinner with Liu and Eddie.  Dick forgives Eddie for what he had done in the past.  Afterwards, Eddie tells Liu that Dick will lead them to where they want to go:  WayneTech.  However, when Dick returns home, Vigilante is waiting for him.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Wolfman and Igle are hitting their stride; this was another very good issue and easily builds upon the first issue of this story so that I am hooked to see where it goes next.  The fight scene, in particular, was handled well and I liked the way it moved from location to location as Vigilante keeps attempting to make his get away.  Neither man gets beaten and I think it makes them both stronger characters because of it.  I also liked the ending sequence as we listen to Eddie describing his plans and why he thinks it will work.  Not only does it seem in character given what we saw earlier in this issue, but the scenes with Dick fighting the abusive boyfriend perfectly counters what Eddie is saying. 

I couldn’t help but notice that this storyline has a passing resemblance in terms of structure to the Bride and Groom story.  In both cases, there is a flashback offering hints of the past that has lead to the situations in the present.  The difference between the two is that the villains of this story are interacting with Dick and the flashbacks are connected to Dick.  The Bride and Groom were separate from whatever was going on Dick’s life.  Eddie and Liu are integral, not only to Dick’s life now, but also to his life in the past.  In this case it helps us as readers to be invested in what is going on and it makes everything that happens seem connected.  It gives the story weight and intrigue and that is one of the reasons why I like it. 

It is interesting to note how much Dick Grayson and Nightwing/Robin come across as two different people.  Eddie and Liu were caught by Robin and recognize that he is Nightwing, but they are really after Dick Grayson and his connection to Bruce Wayne.  Vigilante is stopped by Nightwing, but goes after Dick Grayson only because he was eating dinner with Eddie.  It should be interesting if Dick and Nightwing remain separate or not.

 

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