It's easy to disregard the Bat-books these days, even though they used to be my favorite. I'd say there were a couple years where Nightwing was one of my favorite character, back when Dixon was writing him. Those days arrived again in this first trade by Peter Tomasi. Tomasi immediately starts rounding out Dick Grayson in some neat ways. He gives him a new job, city, girlfriend, and hobby almost instantly, and each of these things immediately establishes how much better adjusted Dick is than Batman. I enjoyed the great relationship and teasing that Nightwing and Robin enjoyed while attacking the Al Ghul installation, again, Nightwing seems like the guy who deserves a cool sidekick. Tomasi did a fantastic job showing how Nightwing interacts with the greater DCU. Superman, the JSA, Flash, and more all show up and are well handled. Superman even poses for a picture with a beat cop! And Flash and Nightwing just sit around and eat dinner and have some beers. This book had everything I want from a DCU hero. Good villains, both new and established and a well-adjusted hero who loves what he does. The main grave-robbing story was interesting, most especially because of how it concludes. Superman mentions a UN charter that meta-bodies must be housed in a special mausoleum under the JLA HQ in DC. Surely Tomasi couldn't have been laying seeds for Blackest Night, could he? I mean, it isn't like he writes Green Lantern Corps too, right (in fact, he does, and I'm sure those bodies will be a factor soon).The art switches between Rags Morales and Don Kramer, and I don't think you could ask for better artists. I hope Rags was pleased at getting to draw a more normal story, since I know he thought Identity Crisis was unnecessarily upsetting. If you are a fan of solid super-heroics, pick up this trade.
Good
No comments:
Post a Comment