I need help. I made the reckless decision to read every issue of Nightwing/Dick Grayson solo lead book and the Nightwing book is not good. I’m 125 issues in and…It’s the only thing I can think about. Why did I do this.
Why
Chuck Dixon’s run was supposed to be classic! But it was boring and like a regular Batman book but without any of the fun things like colorful villains. The closest we got was a guy whose head got turned around and then didn’t even have the decency to put on a costume. Just wore a trenchcoat!
The only good thing is the basket case Tad Ryerson, who accidentally took the same name as Nightwing because he was inspired to come up with the name when he saw an “all-nite” wings place. Nite-Wing is like Casey Jones but even more off kilter and with a real inferiority complex. I genuinely like Tad, one of the few things about this solo run through at least the Wolfman run that is a genuinely fun and good idea.
Devin Grayson’s run is also mostly not good, but for other reasons. There are some nice parts, she quickly jettisons almost all of the stuff Dixon introduced that was boring, but Nightwing remains dour and angry. The books keep telling us Dick is fun and light but his solo until Infinite Crisis causes a time skip is just him getting increasingly more and more grim! At least they kind of address it in the book. Grayson seems to understand who Dick is at his core, but is interested in making him face things that cause him to doubt that core. But after 70 issues of Dixon where the guy was doing a less interesting Batman, it just feels more of the same. At least the art is much better, and there is a creative spark here that didn’t exist in the Dixon era.
Best thing about Grayson’s run is probably the “Daredevil: Born Again” riff she does with Blockbuster, but even that is questionable about how well it works as a Nightwing story. It does stretch him to the breaking point though, and the follow-up story with him infiltrating the mob is a nice journey back for him.
But boy. This stuff is a mess. Anyway, this research project is all in service to a Nightwing article I’ve been percolating for a couple years now but never felt fully equipped to write. With DC Infinite available now to fill in a lot of blanks I am able to dive into it but it is a thankless chore. At least I will soon be the internet’s foremost Dick Grayson Nightwing expert.
I’ve also decided this classic Bob Seeger song is now Dick Grayson’s theme. Officially.
Random Comic Panel of the Week
Stumbled into a Steranko hole a few weeks ago while trying to get some inspiration for some of my art, wanting to evoke some of the pop art he brought to the book. Steranko aged into a right wing goon but his impact on comics is undeniable. It was hard to find one panel that I felt captured the cool energy of his work that wasn’t also a full page spread.
Comic News
Did you guys hear Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a Superman movie?? Trying not to get ahead of myself with excitement, but Coates is one of the greatest writers alive today and I think he could do some very interesting and emotionally engaging stuff with Superman.
In other Superman news, did you catch the premiere of Superman and Lois on the CW? It was a great premiere episode. I don’t know if it’ll keep up the quality, but it made me optimistic, and as a 30-something expectant father who misses his parents, I found it emotionally resonant and moving.
Super Hero Static Shock (woop woop)
The new digital-first book Static: Season One will be written by Vita Ayala (who is doing well-regarded stuff in the X-Men universe, but unfortunately I haven’t had the time to check most of it out, but they wrote some of the great Storm moments in Marauders during the otherwise dull X of Swords.) Art duties fall to ChrisCross and Niklas Draper-Ivey. Covers by Khary Randolph. Here are a few of the preview images from DC.