Tag Archives: Nightwing

May 7 2012

Detective Comics 9

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Detective Comics 9, originally released May 2nd, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage. Not caught up on Detective Comics? No problem! Get up to speed with our video Cram Session.


Patrick: If I had to put my finger on the one thing that made me like Detective Comics less than the rest of the Batman series, I’d say it’s the pointless darkness. In other titles, dark themes and images reflect the twisted nature of Bruce’s obsession with justice or the strained relationship between Bruce and Damian. But every time DetCon reaches for that same darkness, it comes off like precocious child that has borrowed his dad’s power tools. It has all the pieces of something I love – including unlimited access to Batman’s rogues gallery – but cobbles them together into a largely incompetent whole. You almost get the sense that with a little guidance from someone who knows better, Tony Daniel would be able to wield these tools more effectively. With the guiding light of Scott Snyder’s Night of the Owls cross-over, this sense is proven only marginally true.   
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Apr 19 2012

Batman 8

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 8, originally released April 18th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.

Drew: Batman 8 begins with a tight shot on a Gotham City manhole cover. As the camera pulls up and out, revealing the city around it, Bruce’s voiceover questions whether his attention to detail has prevented him from seeing the bigger picture. This attention to detail explains why Bruce could have  been unaware of the presence of the Court of Owls in what he thought was his city, but it also acts as a cutting interrogation of our own experiences with Batman (and superheroes in general). I’ve long lamented the favoring of point-by-point plot details over “bigger picture” concepts like character and theme, but writer Scott Snyder seems to suggest that the devotion to the minutia may actually prevent us from truly understanding what is going on. It’s a bold suggestion, and one that would risk alienating fanboys if it weren’t so deftly handled. Continue reading →

Apr 9 2012

Batwing 8


Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Batwing 8, originally released April 4th, 2012.

Patrick: At its outset, Batwing was something incredibly new for the DC Universe. David Zavimbe is the first to open a Batman Inc. franchise and his is the first series to take place in Africa. The early issues explored dark dark dark themes, toeing the line of exploitation, but this gave these early issues a relevant, almost dangerous feel to them. With two whole issues in Gotham and in the presence of Batman, Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl, Batwing loses its identity, becoming a bland, by-the-numbers comic book adventure. Continue reading →

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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Mar 22 2012

Batman 7

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 6, originally released February 15th, 2012.

Drew: Batman 7 begins in a pivotal moment in Bruce’s history; as he sits, broken and bleeding in his own library, considering the bat that has just broken through the window and lit on his father’s bust. It feels like familiar territory, but as the bat flies off into the night, creating an oh-so-familiar silhouette against the full moon, something…changes. Continue reading →

Mar 8 2012

Batwing 7

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batwing 7, originally released March 7th, 2012.

Drew: At the end of issue 6, I had mixed feelings about this title. I liked the stylized art, particularly Brian Reber’s atmospheric, almost dusty colors, and I appreciated the idea of distilling the idea of Batman down to it’s essence and seeing how it plays in different cultures. At the same time, I wasn’t sure I actually liked the approach writer Judd Winick had applied to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I complained that the title was exploitative, but it really isn’t guilty of doing anything any frank (or, more importantly, action-focused) depiction of subsaharan Africa wouldn’t do. I’m still not convinced that this title isn’t exploitative, but this month’s issue comes a long way in making me more comfortable with the world David Zavimbe inhabits. Continue reading →

Mar 7 2012

Chat Cave: The Five Year Rule

When DC re-launched its entire line in September, they allowed individual writers and artists creative control over just how hard they wanted to throw the reset switch. With one exception: DC management decreed that in the “present” of all the books, no superhero had been active for more than five years. This holy edict seems to have served some characters better than others, and it also upsets some fans more than others. The Retcon Punchers weigh in on this universal change. Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Shelby: You know, I really don’t think about this all that much. Honestly, my first reaction to Patrick’s posing the question was, “Wait, what?” I kind of forgot; it just doesn’t enter into my brain while I’m reading. Continue reading →

Mar 6 2012

Birds of Prey 1-6

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Birds of Prey 1-6, originally released September 21st, October 19th, November 16th, December 21st, 2011, January 18th, and February 15th, 2012.

Patrick: You know how the common perception of Aquaman is that he’s lame and talks to fish and is generally useless in a peer group that includes the likes of Superman and Batman? That is exactly how I’ve always seen the Black Canary. Too frequently in the old continuity she was made to function solely as the Green Arrow’s wife or ex-wife or ex-wife-that-still-fucks-him-from-time-to-time. After being marginalized by a hero as boring as Green Arrow, the very mention of the character’s name signaled petty, tedious bullshit. This largely-domestic history, coupled with a super-sonic scream super-power, paints the image of the ultimate shrew. I never imagined that I’d be reading a book that features the character so prominently. And I certainly never thought I’d be enjoying it this much. Continue reading →

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 →