COMICS REVIEW: NIGHTWING #11
Nightwing 11 continues last issue’s battle with “Paragon,” yet another character who thinks the heroes have failed Gotham so he’s taking matters into his own hands (see Batgirl among others). Whereas Batgirl’s Knightfall is recruiting supers, Paragon seems to be focusing on the common man to try and build an army of sorts. “Tomorrow Can’t Wait” is largely a fight, with some bits of mystery thrown in.
Basically, a little while back, two thugs were found beaten to death with one of Nightwing’s escrima sticks (handily marked with his symbol which I’ve never seen on one before or since) lying nearby. This mystery certainly has suspects– Detective Nie of the Gotham PD seems to have it in for Nightwing, Nightwing himself isn’t sure who’s behind the frame up, Paragon and his minions seem to believe Nightwing did it… it’s a bit of a mess with some intriguing possibilities.
I found it a very uneven issue. There were some great character moments in it. After losing to Nightwing, and nearly killing many civilians (and destroying part of the clock tower I commented on last issue), Paragon’s men speak up against him– they truly are interested in the general good of Gotham, which was nice to see. Of course, Paragon reverts to cliche and kills them, but the men speaking up was a nice touch. Detective Nie isn’t framing Nightwing, he honestly believes ‘Wing killed the thugs. His hate-on for Nightwing isn’t the stereotype of cop vs. vigilante– a cop who died back in Nightwing 1 was Nie’s lover, and he blames Nightwing for Saiko killing the officer.
Nightwing #11
Sonia Zucco, daughter of the man who killed Dick’s parents, is trying to raise finances for Dick’s plan for the circus. The bank went against Dick, who blamed Sonia, but she actually supported him, leaving Dick looking a bit foolish for his assumption. When Dick confronts Nie, there’s a scene right out of Person of Interest (a fantastic show, for those who don’t watch) and he uses his talk with Nie to distract him while Dick’s gear hacks into his cell phone. Sonia’s an interesting choice, and playing on Dick’s origin like that is an interesting choice. Personally, I’m betting they end up in bed eventually.
As to what I didn’t like, there was a bit of that as well. What really threw me totally out of the story, thankfully only on page three, was a great example of quality control ( /sarcasm ). Nightwing is trying to persuade Paragon they are on the same side, and says “We’re both trying to solve who killed the your friends.” This made it past a professional writer and an editor at the least before it got into print. Way to proof read, guys.
I commented on the clock tower last issue seeming to help cement the erasure of the previous Birds of Prey stories. Just to help reinforce the image, the clock face gets destroyed this issue, really stretching the metaphor. I hope that was incidental, but with a lot of DC’s decisions of late, especially about Steph Brown and Tim Drake, I tend to doubt it.
Dick leaping to conclusions about Sonia seems a bit out of character, and sloppy for a master detective. Paragon killing his men for daring to speak up against him is a bit cliche. I’ll call the scene with Damian a wash– I loathe the character but he actually was almost both helpful and respectful to Dick, so it evens out to me.
Overall, a decent issue with some problems. Nightwing is my favorite character, so I’m likely to be sticking with the series almost no matter what, and he hasn’t fared overly badly since the reboot. Admittedly, I don’t see the logic of his costume change (I move in the shadows, I am a master of stealth, I wear BRIGHT RED on my chest), but he’s doing okay aside from losing his Titans history.
I’m looking forward to next issue where we are supposed to learn who actually is framing him.
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