Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Batman, bernard chang, dc comics, dick grayson, HRL, nightwing, sam humphries, superheroes

Nightwing #35 Review: Oddly Mean-Spirited for Nightwing

A man convinces a woman to kill a dealer in a Bludhaven casino, and a gold-plated limousine is running down people in the streets. It's up to Nightwing to halt these criminals.

However, there are some familiar aspects to the first crime, and it may bring Nightwing face-to-face with an old foe.

Yeah, this one's a couple of weeks old. It's Nightwing, and it's Sam Humphries, so I'm still reviewing it.

Actually, the fact that it's Nightwing and Humphries is what's so odd about this one.

This comic is oddly mean-spirited. The woman in the beginning is drawn extra fat and disgusting. There is the pitiable Guppy character, for whom Dick has very little sympathy. There's a loud and obnoxious customer at his cross-training studio.

There's also the fact that…Nightwing may have casually killed someone? There is a woman who tosses a grenade at him from inside the limousine. Dick just knocks it back at her. It explodes, taking out the back of the car. We never see her again. You're left to assume she blew the hell up.

There is a big build-up to this Judge character that feels unwarranted. He seems like he may be a Purple Man type character with the ability to control people with commands. However, looking him up, he may be a pre-existing character who hasn't been used since the 1970s. In other words, this intimidating introduction kind of falls flat. He seems like a bad guy, but we're not given enough to really get the gravitas yet.

There are some fun parts to this comic, of course. Dick is still mostly charming and fun. The fight in the limousine is pretty cool, possibly manslaughter aside. I actually do like Guppy.

Bernard Chang's artwork is pretty good. There are some odd angles on faces that make them look disconnected from their surroundings, but those moments are seldom. Marcelo Maiolo's color art is good too. The colors contrast well between the deep darks and the neons.

Nightwing #35 isn't what I hoped it would be. I had high expectations of Sam Humphries's introduction to the title after his phenomenal work on Green Lanterns. Where that book was heartfelt and fun, this one feels mean-spirited and cruel. I can tentatively recommend it to the die-hard Dick Grayson fan, but I would wait and check out next issue if I were you.

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