DCU Comic Book Reviews

NIGHTWING #149

The Great Leap, Part Three

December 2008

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Don Kramer

Inks by Jay Leisten

Cover by Rags Morales and Michael Bair

Synopsis

After getting shot by a bullet laced with the Scarecrow’s fear toxin, Nightwing imagines all of the Batman villains have come to abduct Carol Bermingham, whom he was asked to protect by Two-Face.  Nightwing fights his way through the villains, only to realize they were henchmen, hired by Two-Face.  Nightwing tries to talk Two-Face into saving Carol, but the flip of the coin decides her fate:  Two-Face shoots her.  After he leaves, Nightwing tries to save Carol, but she dies from too much blood loss.  Later, Two-Face meets with the man who hired him to kill her.  When Two-Face learns that Carol his dead, he gets angry that Nightwing failed to protect her….from him. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Too much.  The fight was waaay too much and it took away from the ending, which was awesome for the inventive way Tomasi shows the duality of Two-Face.  I am a little uncertain about the fact that neither side seems to know what the other is doing (which doesn’t jibe with the way Two-Face has been portrayed before), but I like the way Tomasi is doing it, so I can let it slide.  I mean, how cool is it that Two-Face both wanted to protect and kill Carol.  Neat plot device and the ending to this issue works.  Sadly, it is the rest of the issue that fails.  The fight, which only exists in Nightwing’s mind for the most part, occupies too much space of this comic.  As a reader, we know that what he is seeing is not real, so we know that at some point he will break out of it and into the “real world.”  So, the longer the fight continues, the more apt we are to become jittery and annoyed, waiting for what we know will be coming.  Moreover, the action and the dialogue are so far over the top that I actually was laughing at some of the stuff (like Poison Ivy’s comment about the ceiling or what Nightwing does with Freeze’s gun).  In some respects this is good because I enjoyed it so much, but I am not sure Tomasi was going for the “it’s so bad, it’s good” style of writing.  But in this case it works, since it fits in with Nightwing’s imagination and matches so well to the art.  I must give kudos to Kramer’s art, which manages to invoke the hallucinatory aspect of the scene, giving it the right surreal feel to it that it needed.   

 

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.