Saturday, March 2, 2013

Nightwing #17 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

We continue the aftermath of "Death of the Family" in this issue and, unfortunately, seem to veer into the next episode of the soap opera that the Bat-books have become.  (Spoilers related to "Batman Incorporated" #8 below.  You've been warned.)

Higgins does a great job showing the repercussions of "Death of the Family" here, as Dick struggles to be everything to everyone as he usually does.  He tries to comfort the victims of Joker's attack at Haly's Circus, be strong at the funerals of Jimmy and Reya, and weather the loss of his fortune as he's forced to shutter the Circus.  He assures concerned Alfred, Barbara, and Sonia that he's fine, but it's Damian, who observes him all week from the shadows, who's there to stop him from taking out his pent-up aggression on some thugs trying to steal mementos from the Circus site.  (I will say that Higgins doesn't really establish how Dick knew that the thugs would be there, but I guess we can assume that he'd be around the site anyway.)

The moment with Damian is lovely, a rare DCnU acknowledgement of their previous DCU partnership.  Had I not known about "Batman Incorporated" #8, I would've been thrilled to see it.  Instead, the moment is cheapened because it's obviously intended simply to remind us of their partnership to heighten the impact of Damian's death in that issue.

In the Channel 52 feature at the back of every DC comic, it's spoiled that Dick is moving to Chicago, leaving Gotham.  (Well done, asshats.)  Initially, I was annoyed, but, at this point, I just welcome the change, simply to escape the constant drama that the books featuring Batman himself have become.

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