Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artists: Will Conrad/Cliff Richards
Colorist: Pete Pantazis
SOME STRINGS ATTACHED
Nightwing tries to foil the robbery of a new drug called Kadium from a Chicago hospital, as you might predict, things are more complicated than they seem…
The Ups: This issue introduces a new enemy to Nightwing that is uniquely his and comes from his recent past (if you’ve been reading Nightwing for a while you might be able to guess who). This new adversary of his is entertaining to the reader and competent enough to give Nightwing a serious challenge. In many cases the villain in a comic can be more entertaining than the hero and in the issue that villain steals the show from Nightwing temporarily. Kyle Higgens crafts a delightfully unique and interesting villain while keeping them specific to Nightwing. The art team of Will Conrad and Cliff Richards continue to put out great work in this series. The art in this issue has bold poses and fluid movement that accentuate the action scenes and the characters have enough detail in them to keep the dialogue interesting. Pete Pantazi’s colors are consistent with the rest of the series, a mostly muted pallet to reflect Dick’s past with the Bat-Family with some added bright colors to reflect his theatrical side.
The Downs: This issue isn’t a terribly strong start to a new arc. While it is entertaining and the old and new characters are written well there isn’t too much plot advancement until the very end. Up until that point there was no real indication of a larger story and even that ending isn’t a complete guarantee at a more complex story arc.
Overall: The star of this issue is Nightwing’s new nemesis, whom I’ll let you discover for yourself. In this day and age it’s very easy for a writer to go through DC’s encyclopedia of villains and throw one or two of them at a hero to write a story, but Higgins created something new knowing that Nightwing needed a fresh challenge in his new city and I respect that. While this issue didn’t have much in the way of a tightly woven web of intrigue and plot there was some indication of a larger plot in the works at the end of the issue. This new nemesis is entertaining but I don’t think they can hold a story arc on their shoulders and I am hoping that the plot picks up as the arc goes on.
Grade 4 of 5
ComicsRefueled 