Nightwing #50 Preview/Discussion

[Godlike13]

You don't take a writer with a bad track record and low sales and put him on an Iconic character whose solo sales figures are higher than that of more than 1/2 of the JL because fast.

But like I said since this is Rick then maybe Lobdell might work out.

As difficult as this issue was I have to commend Percy. This was an honest look at someone struggling and sets up what's to come.

Sure they do. They committed issues to publishers. It's not coincidence the Percy initial story and Lobdells story both involve Scarecrow.

[Moonwix]

In theory, could Zatanna bring Dick his memories back? Or literally another other magic character in the DCU?

Actually Raven his friend and team mate even, ms Martian can sort it out. But that would ruin the main objective; that is, keeping Dick isolated from the DCU. a lame way to keep Dick out.

[willtupper]

I... liked it?

I feel bad saying that, as I've not really followed Nightwing 100% since... um, ever.

But I do have Nightwing stories that I love. Nightwing: Year One, um... an old one, where Dick & Babs got engaged.

Others, I'm sure... that I just can't remember.

But this, I enjoyed. It was very, very, very heavily influenced by Chuck Palahniuk's novel, Fight Club.

Perhaps that's why I liked it (big fan of Palahniuk's).

So, anyway... I hope this marks the beginning of something fun and wonderful for Grayson & Co.

I guess we shall see .

[yohyoi]

My predictions are the next issues will suck more and DiDio gets his chance to kill Dick Grayson. Dick won't get respect in comics for the next years, but the fanbase will grow due to his other media appearances. DiDio will then finally retire and someone more sensible will bring a golden age for Dick Grayson. I will enjoy it when I'm retired and looking back I will laugh at any thoughts of DiDio.

[Restingvoice]

I wonder if all these 'dark directions' are actually building towards some kind of crossroads for the batfam, maybe even in relation to the doomsday clock, or if it really just is an excuse to tell another lonely angsty Batman story.

Bane is the most obvious answer since the idea seems to be breaking Batman's spirit. Doomsday Clock I heard has Bataman alone and rejected by Gotham, so if these are connected, what Bane is doing may lead up to that. Even if only Dick and Selina directly affected right now.

Oh gosh, it's going to be up to Batman #100 before this is over because even when Doomsday Clock's done, or even if they're not connected, they still need to find out Bane's plan before Batman can be... not sad and called his family to help fight Bane's team, because that's when the family will be allowed to be themselves again.

[RedBird]

Bane is the most obvious answer. Doomsday Clock since I heard he's alone and rejected by Gotham, so if these are connected, what Bane is doing may lead up to that. Even if only Dick and Selina directly affected right now.

Oh gosh, it's going to be up to Batman #100 before this is over because even when Doomsday Clock's done, they still need to beat Bane's team and the return lonely and rejected Batman back to the status quo, and that's if he isn't killed by Gotham Girl like it was set up in I Am Gotham.

Oh no. That sounds a bit too accurate. I would humbly like to rephrase my question, I wondered if these dark directions were actually building towards some kind of positive crossroads. That Bane connection doesn't sound good at all, but you're probably right.

SIGH, Batmans only up to #56 this is gonna be a looooong trek. I hope in the meantime Doomsday Clock fixes some of the timeline by time its done, that'll be something to look forward to, for me at least.

[Restingvoice]

Oh no. That sounds a bit too accurate. I would humbly like to rephrase my question, I wondered if these dark directions were actually building towards some kind of positive crossroads. That Bane connection doesn't sound good at all, but you're probably right.

SIGH, Batmans only up to #56 this is gonna be a looooong trek. I hope in the meantime Doomsday Clock fixes some of the timeline by time its done, that'll be something to look forward to, for me at least.

I edited my comment a bit too late above. The positive crossroad will be when/if Batman realized Bane's plan and called his allies, or maybe after that. After they join forces and beat Bane's team.

[RedBird]

I edited my comment a bit too late above. The positive crossroad will be when/if Batman realized Bane's plan and called his allies, or maybe after that. After they join forces and beat Bane's team.

Oh, well in that case, I retract my question

[Godlike13]

Moore’s Batgirl is smoking. Wonder when Ric is gonna start fight club though, lol.

[Supermutant2099]

Okay I just read #50. Oh boy.

spoilers:

The gist of it is that Dick doesn't really remember anything, he is not acting as Nightwing and has forgotten a good chunk of his life, including the people around him. Babs is heartbroken and alongside Bruce and Alfred they seem to be thinking that he may be better off forgetting them and his work all together, like that it may be for the best. Dick is just drifting around and seems to be actively wanting to forget his past, so much so that he burns his old uniforms by the end. I think its more clearer than ever why Percy dropped out. The editorial mandated story seems to be the opposite of what he wanted to do with Dick.

end of spoilers

Sigh. We're really doin this old shtick.

I am glad I am dropping this book. I love nightwing but this might direction ever taken with character. That saying something since they made him james bond a few years ago. I think we should tell DC a huge message everyone drop this book. Time to tell Didio stop treating Dick and Titans like his personal punching bag.

[Badou]

I don't get this thought process though. Square one, are you talking about the status quo? We're talking about Nightwing here, he's never had a real consistent status quo since the New 52. Stories are always about the journey, not the destination if you ask me. Mind you, I don't really have faith that amnesia is going to be a worthwhile journey lol, but complaining about that is odd knowing how well we were off with Grayson. Is Grayson a stupid book because we returned to Nightwing (although the status quos for Nightwing before and after were incredibly different)?

By square one I mean that he is back doing the same thing he was doing before. This whole forced gimmick doesn't accomplish anything. He gains nothing from it. It is trying to fix a broken foundation by covering it over in paint. So he acts like an ******* for a handful of issues until he learns that he should be a hero and get his memories back, but then what? He is still stuck in Bludhaven, has no direction in Bludhaven while Bludhaven continues to be an anchor for the character, has no place or purpose in the DCU, is irrelevant in big DCU stories, is pushed further away from the DCU in general, none of his existing relationships are elevated from this, and it continues to have creators leave the character and book in frequent amounts. This isn't how you build a successful character. It is the opposite and for DC's 3rd most published character he deserves better treatment than this. It is a joke.

Grayson is a proper way to do a new direction change. You take the character and put them in a new challenging environment and you attach creators that are actually interested in and passionate about the new direction they are showcasing. They actually have a story they want to tell. You get an idea of a plan and see what the direction is, but you don't get any semblance of that here. There is no direction beyond DC wanting to use shooting Nightwing in the head in Batman as a shocking gimmick and then dump the aftermath all in the lap of the Nightwing book without any idea what to do with it. It reeks of poor management and a lack of care for the book, creative teams involved, and the character.

I just don't get why people would put up with these kind of things when it is clear that DC doesn't care. It is forcing yourself to read something and buy something that DC has no plan or purpose for with no signs of any of this changing.

[Armor of God]

Yeah, I'm out. I literally see no point of this.

[Supermutant2099]

Yeah, I'm out. I literally see no point of this.

Point of this is Didio hates Nightwing and Titans. Been using them as punching bag since Infinite Crisis. This also goes back to fans backlash over him trying to kill him several times.

[Badou]

So everyone from Bruce, Alfred, Babs and every other hero Dick knows basically just lets him go without his memories? What feels very clear to me is that this feels like an excuse to take Dick's (or should I say Ric's) character off the table. Like they specifically wanted to isolate him in Bludhaven and remove him from appearing in other books or the DCU. Him suddenly being taken off the Titans book (they had to alter a cover with him on it to replace him with Kyle) makes this more clear. The only reason I can think of is that they didn't want him to be involved in Heroes in Crisis and so they decided to shoot him in the head in Batman then contain the character and fallout to just his solo book in Bludhaven to exclude him. Things like this annoy me the most to be honest.

Edit: Also Dick not appearing in the Roy funeral issue in Green Arrow makes this even more apparent. They just didn't want the character involved in this.

[Restingvoice]

By the way, this happens in Nightwing #50. Forever Evil... #7 I think? ..was published at Nightwing's 30th birth year.
So this is kinda their thing.