Category Nightwing

Mar 23 2012

Nightwing 7

Today, Patrick and Peter are discussing Nightwing 7, originally released March 21st, 2012.

Patrick: Drew and I like identifying themes. Oh the curse of the liberally educated! When we first started this comic-review-practice, we both quickly picked out the theme of “you can never go back” from the pages of Nightwing. It’s a potent concept and one that hits double-hard for recent college grads that insist and transplanting themselves thousands of miles away from their friends an families. Boo hoo, Patrick, we all have problems. Since our initial 3-issue write-up, the thematic and narrative focuses have broadened, usually to the detriment of the storytelling. But Nightwing #7 reclaims the series’ former glory by addressing its central mystery and staying emotionally on-point. Oh and a cameo from the Batman don’t hurt none, either.

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Feb 20 2012

Nightwing 5-6

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Nightwing 5-6, originally released January 18th, 2012, and February 15th, 2012.

Patrick: I realize that I know a lot about Dick Grayson, but I don’t know all that much about Nightwing. I’m comfortable with him in the Robin role – that’s the Batman I was raised on, after all. And Dick wearing the Batman cowl is a compelling enough story that even with my limited exposure to that arc, I feel like I get it. But I don’t have a solid grasp on how Nightwing operates, what he stands for or what the world’s perception of him is. I don’t know who his rogues are (unless he’s borrowing from Batman’s incredibly deep bench), and I don’t really know where he usually fights crime (venturing a guess: Gotham and Blüdhaven? Wait, which one is Blüdhaven?). Relying only on this series, I’m not totally convinced I know what tone the Nightwing character is supposed to strike. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Nightwing 4

Originally Published January 6, 2011

may nobody question our nerddom againDC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Patrick Ehlers and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Patrick’s Blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of Nightiwng, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Aquaman.

Drew:  The biggest problem I’m having with the New 52 is that whatever title I’ve just read is always my favorite. Don’t get me wrong — if I could have any problem with the relaunch, this would be it — but it does occasionally make me insecure as a critic. Is my love for comics in general getting in the way of my ability to view them objectively? This isn’t really an issue I want to get into here, so I guess this is just a way of saying that, like Animal Man, Batman, Batgirl, The Flash, and Wonder Woman, I’m enjoying the hell out of Nightwing. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Nightwing 1-3

Originally Published November 25, 2011

DC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Drew Baumgartner and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Drew’s blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of Nigtwing while Drew is hosting the discussion of Green Lantern Corps.

Patrick: I never read a Nightwing title before the new 52.  Much like my experience with Batgirl, I knew Nightwing from his various appearances in other comics I was reading anyway or other Batman media.  Nightwing – for those that don’t know – is Dick Grayson and was the original Robin.  I may not have known that much about Nightwing, but I know Dick Grayson – he’s sort of been the go-to Robin when depicting the dynamic duo on screen.  Dick’s origin story and Bruce Wayne’s origin story share one huge commonality – that of losing both parents at a young age at the hand of a petty criminal.  But while this loss drives Bruce to obsessively reform the city and take impossible revenge, Dick’s reaction to the loss has always been a bit more mysterious.  Does he fight crime to right some cosmic wrong?  It’s always been hard to nail down what exactly Dick fights for.  By this point in his run, he’s been Robin, Nightwing, Batman, and now he’s Nightwing.  I suspect that he fights crime because that’s basically the only life he knows anymore. Continue reading →