Nightwing #6: OK, honestly? This Saiko story is not as interesting as Higgins thinks it is. Unless he pulls some amazing rabbit from his hat, this story looks set to conclude next issue with the revelation that Raymond hated Dick because he left him to die. It's unclear who exactly tortured and killed him (and, more to the point, who resurrected him), but I can't say I really care. Higgins hasn't give us any hints that this entire Saiko plot has been anything more than a revenge fantasy, and the supernatural elements to it don't automatically make it interesting. More to the point, the revenge fantasy itself is difficult to believe. Raya and Raymond are mad at Dick because...he left the circus...you know, when his parents died? I mean, it's not like he just quit the circus, told his parents "I don't want your life!" and got some rich guy in Gotham to adopt him. His parents died. Rather than blaming Dick for disappearing, did any of them visit him? I mean, presumably Raya or Raymond could've been, "Hey, you know, our ol' friend Dick's parents died and he lives with some creepy millionaire in a huge mansion. Maybe he's lonely. Let's give him a ring." Again, maybe Higgins has a card or two up his sleeve, but, right now, I don't buy Raya or Raymond's motivations here. Moreover, even if he does have a card up his sleeve, it's a little late to present it. I mean, we're six issues into this arc and we pretty much have no information about the killer and his motivations (assuming they're somewhat more nuanced than "revenge"). It's time to bring this one home. Actually, in writing this review, I'm realizing that it might be wishful thinking that Higgins is going to bring the Saiko arc to a close, given that it looks like he's also framing Dick for murders he's committing, something I guess that could last beyond this arc. I seriously hope it doesn't. Honestly, if this title involved anyone other than Dick, I would've dropped it by now. As it is, Higgins is getting me to consider the unthinkable, that I might drop it at some point, which really starts to speak to how the good will I feel for the character is failing to compensate for the fact that this series is simply boring.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #6: This issue was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, Lobdell does a good job of showing us some aspects of Jason's relationship with Bruce and Jason in the DCnU. It looks similar, but it feels different. Combined with the end of issue #3, where Jason leaves behind his cherished memory of Bruce, Lobdell seems to be putting forward an argument that Jason, at the end of the day, feels that he wasn't truly loved by Bruce or Dick, and he resents their attempts to pretend otherwise. It's actually a more nuanced argument than we got in the DCU, where he was fueled almost exclusively by his rage over their failure to avenge him. His rage is still present here, but it doesn't take top billing; it's that sense of not being loved that does, and, to be honest, it rings more true, to me. In this way, I think Lodbell is doing some great work with Jason, the type of work that an author handling a monthly comic dedicated to him can do and that Jason desperately needed to move past being a one-trick pony. I'm not saying it's not difficult to read. I mean, it's Batman. I, of course, want to believe that he did love Jason and that he just needs to convince Jason of that. I really do want Jason to "hug it out" with Bruce and Dick. But, it's not like Jason doesn't have a totally valid point. Maybe Bruce is a crazed vigilante who pretended to love him like a son. I'm pretty sure it might actually be a valid point, and Jason would definitely be the one most qualified to make it. We may never really see them bridge the gap between them. But, Jason is starting to put the fact that a gap exists behind him, something that allows him to develop as a character. In this regard, I felt like the issue really delivered. (Also, it doesn't hurt that Jason spends the entire issue essentially naked. But, really, that's just icing on the cake.)
Unfortunately, not everything about this issue made as much sense as Jason's feelings about Bruce and Dick. For example, I'm not sure why Starfire took in Jason, particularly if she was trying to hide from humanity. Was it because the naked guy who washed onto the shore looked like Dick? (I don't really need to know just how much they look alike, though I swear I thought Lobdell was going there.) Also, we haven't really been told why she was hiding in the first place or why she doesn't remember anything about her past. Moreover, moving beyond this issue, I still feel like this series, as a whole, is pretty adrift. I love a good character-development issue, but we've still got the Untitled nonsense unresolved, and I'm pretty sure they haven't decided what they're going to do with Crux. This book still feels a lot different from the book I hoped I'd be reading, and it's not really a good thing. I actually want to see more of the team do what Jason was doing briefly at the start of this book -- taking out bad guys -- and less of them fighting demons and monsters. We shall see. I'm still here for Jason, and Lodbell so far hasn't made me regret that, even though I wish we were getting better plots.
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