Nightwing #51 Preview/Discussion

[Oberon]

Says Barbara will have some competition in this new story.


[please be Bette Kane/Flamebird, please be Bette!]

[Rakzo]

Nightwing has been a victim of editorial mandates pretty much since his creation so this new direction doesn't really come as a surprise. Is still pretty abrupt, transparent and people have the right to complaint about it considering that Dick's status quo barely stays enough time to be considered a status quo.

That being said, I think both Lobdell and Nicieza did a decent job in this opening chapter by implementing Dick's loss of memory in interesting ways and creating new intriguing sub-plots like the appearance of classic villains and new characters that could break Nightwing's world.

Art was nice although the different styles kinda clashed. Not a bad beginning overall.

[Badou]

Barbara's "competition" will be someone in Bludhaven. So probably a random new love interest (one of the girls at the bar probably) that no one will care about, or they will bring back Shawn if they want to try and tie in some older stories, but that is unlikely probably.

[Godlike13]

This was what it was I guess. Personally i don’t need every single thing he does to be narrated to me, and honestly I just don’t find Ric driving around in a cab very compelling. And about the cab, is he gonna invest in a Blockbuster video while he’s at it. Also last issue he took down a guy with a coffee cup, but now he’s shocked by what he can do. Um, ok. Oh and Superheavy wasn’t that long ago. Whatever though, at least we got a couple pages of good art before that went sideways too.

[oasis1313]

Barbara's "competition" will be someone in Bludhaven. So probably a random new love interest (one of the girls at the bar probably) that no one will care about, or they will bring back Shawn if they want to try and tie in some older stories, but that is unlikely probably.

I think Rico should fall for Grace (Orca)--show the world he has no problem with aesthetically challenged ladies.

[Arsenal]

This was what it was I guess. Personally i don’t need every single thing he does to be narrated to me, and honestly I just don’t find Ric driving around in a cab very compelling. And about the cab, is he gonna invest in a Blockbuster video while he’s at it. Also last issue he took down a guy with a coffee cup, but now he’s shocked by what he can do. Um, ok. Oh and Superheavy wasn’t that long ago. Whatever though, at least we got a couple pages of good art before that went sideways too.

So we just gonna pretend those scenarios are even remotely similar? He was in complete control of the situation at the diner and everything he did was planned. Not so much when somebody snuck up behind him and put a gun to his head yet was still able to take him out with a complex series of moves in a matter of seconds off instinct alone.

That’s like comparing riding a scoot to flying plane and assuming they’re the same thing because both have wheels.

[Godlike13]

Dude in the diner came up from behind him and put a gun to his head too. Ric even pulls the exact same move of here, take the money. These two situations were not at all dissimilar. In fact all this issue did with Ric is reillustrate what the last issue did with him.

[Arsenal]

Dude in the diner came up from behind him and put a gun to his head too. Ric even pulls the exact same move of here, take the money. These two situations were not at all dissimilar. In fact all this issue did with Ric is reillustrate what the last issue did with him.

um no he doesn't...

In issue 50 the robber completely ignores Dick until Dick draws attention to himself by offering his wallet than proceeds to throw the cup of coffee at him while he runs off, ultimately knocking him out. He clearly planned that entire sequence out and was in complete control the entire time.
.
In issue 51 he's zoning out until he's brought back to reality by a guy mugging him while pointing a gun to his head. Sure Dick tried to offer the mugger his wallet, but this time he didn't bite. Instead he threatens to kill him and it seems like he was going to based on the close up of his hand. The only reason Dick didn't die is because he managed to turn around and remove the gun from his head before dropping him with a combination. So in a couple of seconds he went from almost being shot in the head (again) to knocking the mugger out using moves he has no idea he could do.

It's really not that hard to buy Dick's confusion afterwards.

[OWL45]

Dude in the diner came up from behind him and put a gun to his head too. Ric even pulls the exact same move of here, take the money. These two situations were not at all dissimilar. In fact all this issue did with Ric is reillustrate what the last issue did with him.

They were not the same. The guy in the bar no longer posed a threat and was leaving. He had time to think. In this issue the robber had posed an immediate threat and he actually was in the process of pulling the trigger. The pictures of him reacting in various ways illustrated that Grayson was processing how to deal with the attack subconsciously but I could be wrong.

[Godlike13]

You guys are splitting hairs. Both muggers had their gun pointed at the back of his head, both times he pulls the same move to try a defuse the situation, these scenes are not at all dissimilar. Going from confidently taking down a mugger with a cup, to shocked he can do it with Kung fu moves is just silly.

[BloodOps]

this actually wasn't too bad

much better than that travesty of Batman 57, jesus what a dumpster fire that book has become.

[oasis1313]

this actually wasn't too bad

much better than that travesty of Batman 57, jesus what a dumpster fire that book has become.

Wow--what's going on over there?

[Badou]

I'm still waiting for an explanation for why he would go back to Bludhaven if he only remembers up to his time in the circus. Other than the story demands he be there just because that is where DC wants to isolate him. This feels like a fundamental flaw in the way they are trying to approach this story arc. Even those that are enjoying this or don't think it is bad this feels like a big flaw.

I mean it is clear that they are trying to have him cut off everything that is associated with his life from when Bruce entered his life to when he got shot in the head. Pushing away the Batman family, wanting nothing to do with being a hero, and so on, but then he shouldn't be going back to Bludhaven, which is associated with those things he is trying to get away from. If they were approaching this properly the first place he would have gone would be back to Haly's Circus. I guess they are saying he is only looking forward, even though Bludhaven is in his past, so it doesn't really fit as a reason for not doing that.

Logically he would have gone back to Haly's Circus, the place his memories cut off, but judging by the reference to the forgettable New 52 Nightwing story about Dick giving his mom that bracelet it seems the New 52 history is still canon. So that would mean that Haly's Circus is still destroyed. Now it was destroyed in part because Dick's association with being a hero. This would have been a good way to explain why he wants nothing to do with his old life and the Batman family. His old life lead to the destruction of the only memories he has left. So of course he wants to move away from that. Then his next step would be to do what he is most familiar with, which would be to go travel.

That feels like how this story should have been setup if they were going down this amnesia path. Really delve into who the character is, but they aren't doing that. He runs off to Bludhaven immediately, acts mostly indifferent to everyone that is reaching out to him, get a job as a cab driver, burns all his old costumes, some cop no one cares about decides to become the new Nightwing, he's going to be forced to act as a hero when the cop is in over his head, and the Scarecrow is after him causing problems in Bludhaven for an arc and then will go back to Gotham. I dunno, all this just doesn't really feel like there is a plan in place to really change the character. It feels like like a by-the-numbers amnesia plot while they wait to relaunch the book sometime next year after all DC's big stories like HiC and maybe Doomsday Clock are finished.

[RedBird]

this actually wasn't too bad

much better than that travesty of Batman 57, jesus what a dumpster fire that book has become.

Yeah pretty much this. It is what it is, and the book whilst nothing great, aside from a scene with Alfred that I found really touching, was fine and at least relatively inoffensive. It's pretty much the same stuff carried over from issue 50, just with added anxiety to Dicks new identity thanks to his 'nightmares' and with imposterWing being set up. Travis Moore's art is still on point too, even if he had to share the spotlight this time.

[byrd156]

I'm still waiting for an explanation for why he would go back to Bludhaven if he only remembers up to his time in the circus. Other than the story demands he be there just because that is where DC wants to isolate him. This feels like a fundamental flaw in the way they are trying to approach this story arc. Even those that are enjoying this or don't think it is bad this feels like a big flaw.

I mean it is clear that they are trying to have him cut off everything that is associated with his life from when Bruce entered his life to when he got shot in the head. Pushing away the Batman family, wanting nothing to do with being a hero, and so on, but then he shouldn't be going back to Bludhaven, which is associated with those things he is trying to get away from. If they were approaching this properly the first place he would have gone would be back to Haly's Circus. I guess they are saying he is only looking forward, even though Bludhaven is in his past, so it doesn't really fit as a reason for not doing that.

Logically he would have gone back to Haly's Circus, the place his memories cut off, but judging by the reference to the forgettable New 52 Nightwing story about Dick giving his mom that bracelet it seems the New 52 history is still canon. So that would mean that Haly's Circus is still destroyed. Now it was destroyed in part because Dick's association with being a hero. This would have been a good way to explain why he wants nothing to do with his old life and the Batman family. His old life lead to the destruction of the only memories he has left. So of course he wants to move away from that. Then his next step would be to do what he is most familiar with, which would be to go travel.

That feels like how this story should have been setup if they were going down this amnesia path. Really delve into who the character is, but they aren't doing that. He runs off to Bludhaven immediately, acts mostly indifferent to everyone that is reaching out to him, get a job as a cab driver, burns all his old costumes, some cop no one cares about decides to become the new Nightwing, he's going to be forced to act as a hero when the cop is in over his head, and the Scarecrow is after him causing problems in Bludhaven for an arc and then will go back to Gotham. I dunno, all this just doesn't really feel like there is a plan in place to really change the character. It feels like like a by-the-numbers amnesia plot while they wait to relaunch the book sometime next year after all DC's big stories like HiC and maybe Doomsday Clock are finished.

This sounds leagues above what we got.