DCU Comic Book Reviews

NIGHTWING #141

Freefall, Part Two

April 2008

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Rags Morales

Inks by Michael Bair

Cover by Rags Morales and Michael Bair

Synopsis

Superman and Nightwing discuss the string of tomb raids along the east coast, including the French Knight that Nightwing witnessed and Black Condor that Superman found.   Elsewhere, Doctor Kendall provides a list of corpses that he wants delivered to him within three days.  Meanwhile, Dick announces the Cloisters, for which he is the new curator, will be closed for renovations.  The Justice Society of America helps with the construction.  Later, Dick goes to a baseball game with a woman he met in the museum, leases an apartment from her brother, convinces Bruce Wayne to buy several buildings in New York City to help Nightwing move easier around town, and enjoys a visit from Wally west (aka the Flash).  After a quick visit to Gotham City, Nightwing notices gave robbers at Saint Stanisus Cemetery digging up the Vigilante.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I don’t often do this, but I’ll direct you to my review of the recent issue of the Justice Society of America, which happened to come out the very same week as this issue.  A lot of what I said in that review also applies to this issue.  The two issues share a similar outline in that there is very little plot development (and indeed most of it is saved for the cliffhanger) and more focus on character development.  The difference between the two, and why this issue works better than JSofA, is that Nightwing is about one character and, therefore, feels more fulfilling as we see Nightwing interacting with other heroes or Dick interacting with various people.  Actually, it is the former that is the most compelling, especially the reunion with Wally that is touching and funny as they catch up with each other and share a moment for Bart.  We also see how much other heroes respect Nightwing, from Superman willingly letting him take over the task of finding the grave robbers or Batman conceding the brilliance of Nightwing’s plans by purchasing the requested buildings.  Tomasi treats Nightwing as a veteran of the sueprhero gig and treats Nightwing as someone who has been doing his job as a hero for a long time. Never mind the age difference, what really matters is the experience, which Nightwing has.

I applaud Tomasi for including a brief call back to what Dick had been doing in only a few previous issues with the mention of the gymnasium Bones and Dick’s work with kids.  Moreover, Tomasi made sure to let the reader know that not only had he not dropped it, but Dick was still interested in working with kids.  It is a small attention to character details, but I like it. 

 

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