Nightwing #83 Preview

[phonogram12]

Eh, thinking that teaching kids about AIDS because it leads to immoral (read homosexual) relationships isn't a harmless conservative view.

Wow. That's absolutely vile.

[hairys]

Eh, thinking that teaching kids about AIDS because it leads to immoral (read homosexual) relationships isn't a harmless conservative view.

Link me please, as something is very off about the logic in your allegation. I'm sure whatever he said is fine and, at worst, just dumb not harmful. I've interacted with Chuck at conventions and heard him on podcasts for years, and he's just a normal dude. I don't trust it when left-wingers characterize right-wingers; it's very often exaggerated or misleading. (The reverse can also be true).

[Aahz]

I guess, but I would rather take the risk and have a story told the way the writer intends rather than assume the worst. Taylors run feels more like TV show pacing which I feel is a positive. The main plot of this first arc was Dick figuring out how he wanted to use the money and Dick Grayson "stepping into the light". This was accomplished. This style of plotting also feels very similar the Dixon.

Dixon think had at least two stories that concluded within the the first issues. He rescued the "kids" of Mrs. Min Minh, and saves the Reeds from Lady Vic.

Dick figuring out what do with the money is nice, but honestly a plot that keeps me at the edge of my seat for 6 issues.

[thwhtGuardian]

Dixon think had at least two stories that concluded within the the first issues. He rescued the "kids" of Mrs. Min Minh, and saves the Reeds from Lady Vic.

Dick figuring out what do with the money is nice, but honestly a plot that keeps me at the edge of my seat for 6 issues.

I think it's been more about character moments than fast moving plot points and those moments have been fantastic so I'd be happy with more of what we've gotten so far.

[Daedalus]

I think it's been more about character moments than fast moving plot points and those moments have been fantastic so I'd be happy with more of what we've gotten so far.

I echo this. The plot can take its time, if in the meantime we get the wonderful character work that we are getting. And there have been plenty of plot points, and Taylor clearly has a direction in mind. I'm happy he is taking his time and allowing everything to be paced well.

Besides, it's not like nothing happens. So much was packed into this issue, and it still reads like a well-paced story. Props to Taylor, that's hard to do.

[mrswing]

Wow. What an issue. The art is among the best I've ever seen. The character work is spot on. The plot takes its time, true, but it doesn't go where you expect it to. And he had me tearing up (AGAIN - he's done it to me several times in different series) at THAT phone call.

Dick Grayson is currently the most likeable and admirable hero in the entire DCU. Long may this run continue.

[blunt_eastwood]

I'm enjoying this but I hate it when they have ridiculous scenes like where Dick run towards a hail of bullets and doesn't get hit even once.

[Badou]

Redondo's art is just so good. Same with Lucas' colors. I might not like the the story in the book that much but boy is it really nice to look at, haha. I'm really going to miss seeing it for the next 3 months. What worries me is that DC is going to move Redondo on to a more high profile book soon since they don't tend to keep this kind of talent on a Nightwing title. Guess we will see.

So the first arc ends. This feels like one of the better issues in the run so far, but it really feels like you could have eliminated so much in this run and still ended up here. You have 3 stories. The sister plot, the Heartless plot (congrats to those who guessed he is that bully Dick met as a kid), and Dick wanting to use his money to save Bludhaven plot. All 3 feel kind of disconnected to each other which makes the run feel really slow I think, but you really could have eliminated the Heartless and sister plots, which are the two weakest aspects of the series imo, and not have missed much. Maybe kept the Heartless one but I really kind of rather see Dick go up against some bigger villain eventually (not Blockbuster) as it feels like those are the kind of stories that have a better chance at lasting.

The highlight was obviously seeing Superman. It was a little fanservice-y but any reason to see Dick and Clark interact I'll take. I think this was also the first time Dick has been in Metropolis since the New 52 started? It just kind of sucks that Dick never got to meet Jon when he was a kid still. I would have liked to see them interact then, but I don't really have much interest in older teen Jon.

The kissing scene with Babs was fine. Again I am completely over romance in general with comics I think. I'm just so burnt out at this point. Dick and Babs have been in this will they/won't they limbo for 15 years. All the constant teasing with no payoff was just too much as before I didn't mind them together. Maybe if this happened like 10 years ago I'd be more excited, and maybe with Babs being the aggressor here it could actually lead to something, but I still have my doubts in the end.

I'm kind of indifferent to Dick's whole speech as I think most guessed what his plan was going to be. So I'm not bothered by it, but the problem with it is that I don't think those kind of stories work in traditional superhero comics. As others have pointed out Bruce has done the exact same thing before, even naming the foundation after Alfred which I forgot about, and in the end nothing really changed. The reason is that places like Bludhaven or Gotham need to be filled with bad things and villains in order to create stories. So you can't "fix" the cities without drying up your story content. So they are fundamentally designed to be bad places to have things for the heroes to battle against and eventually things will just go back to the old status quo anyway. It's like a dog chasing its tail. He thinks he wants to bite his tail but all he will do is hurt himself in the end. So if you try to actually fix these cities and eliminate the villains you only end up limiting yourself as a writer. It is why characters like the Joker can never be killed off because a DC needs them to sell stories.

The other issue is that civilians in these fictional cities aren't really important at the end of the day. They are just background filler. No reader actually cares about them. So trying to build this whole story where Dick is going to use his money to save them from poverty, homelessness, and ect. is a lot of effort and time going into something that has no real payoff. Dick's whole speech did feel a bit heavy-handed and preachy by Taylor, but I just don't really see any end goal. I could be wrong of course, but if Bludhaven suddenly becomes way safer would anyone notice? Probably not. Since the daily lives of civilians is pretty superficial to the things readers want to see. Which is the hero fighting some villain with some action and mystery thrown in along with some personal life drama. It why a Gotham can get taken over by some villain or destroyed every few months and no one really cares. So trying to have the hero in these traditional superhero stories fight ideas like poverty I don't think work. Guess we will see.

Also I get Taylor wants to go after billionaires, which a lot of Bat writers seem to be focusing on, but when you really try and analyze the whole thing I feel like you have to ignore a lot for this kind of story. Maybe this is me thinking too deeply, although a few stories in the past have tried to deal with this some, but in the DCU there is super advanced technology, space travel, and so much else but on Earth the technology is still what it is in real life because it has to be like that to keep the setting familiar to readers. So you could say the billionaires are hording all this money but in the DCU technology would be more important. Since technology is directly tied to quality of life. Even the superheroes are hording all this technology. The DCU has been exposed to alien and advanced tech for decades now and realistically the world sould be WAY different. Space travel, fully efficient renewable energy, curing nearly every disease, and so many other real world issues would be instantly solved with advanced tech that should already exist in the DCU by this point, but I also understand why writers don't focus on those things because it doesn't really change what the focus of the DC stories are about in the end. Which are heroes fighting villains. So saying that cancer has been eliminated in the DCU doesn't really effect anything, so trying to go after billionaires in in a setting like the DCU I'm not sure works either.

[Restingvoice]

The other issue is that civilians in these fictional cities aren't really important at the end of the day. They are just background filler. No reader actually cares about them. So trying to build this whole story where Dick is going to use his money to save them from poverty, homelessness, and ect. is a lot of effort and time going into something that has no real payoff. Dick's whole speech did feel a bit heavy-handed and preachy by Taylor, but I just don't really see any end goal. I could be wrong of course, but if Bludhaven suddenly becomes way safer would anyone notice? Probably not. Since the daily lives of civilians is pretty superficial to the things readers want to see. Which is the hero fighting some villain with some action and mystery thrown in along with some personal life drama. It why a Gotham can get taken over by some villain or destroyed every few months and no one really cares. So trying to have the hero in these traditional superhero stories fight ideas like poverty I don't think work. Guess we will see.

I think... this is just my guess, looking at how he tells his story so far, Taylor is creating his own audience. He's focusing more on the interpersonal relation and character works than the hero vs villain. Yes, hero vs villain have been the type so far, even including drama and character-driven titles like Batman and Robin and Super Sons, and that's how DC has promoted their story so far, but I've seen a lot of people happy that there's been a Bat family interaction content and don't give a f that there's barely any fighting.

So I wanna see if he's going to keep this type of story telling up in the next arcs. If it does going to be focusing more on drama compared to the action, where he's going to show Dick being a good guy helping people, Bat fam content, and some fighting as spice. Then maybe he's indeed creating or targeting a different kind of audience, the type who's more interested in reading Li'l Gotham or Batman and Robin compared to Batman or Justice League.

[Godlike13]

Eeh, I don’t know. Taylor is using a lot of the classic Nightwing stuff to say he’s creating his own audience. There’s definitely a general audience aim here.

[Rac7d*]

I'm enjoying this but I hate it when they have ridiculous scenes like where Dick run towards a hail of bullets and doesn't get hit even once.

That’s comics and marvel movies
You in the wrong genre friend

[Valentonis]

I'm enjoying this but I hate it when they have ridiculous scenes like where Dick run towards a hail of bullets and doesn't get hit even once.

Dick's just that good

[HsssH]

He's focusing more on the interpersonal relation and character works than the hero vs villain.

I think thats mostly due to story still being in first act. With how Heartless is written it is fairly obvious that Taylor intends to do a lot with him, otherwise he wouldn't connect Heartless to Dick's childhood. Same really for Blockbuster who has very strong ties to Dick's new sister.

That’s comics and marvel movies
You in the wrong genre friend

Nah, there are limits, at least to me. Hero running around and not getting hit by gunfire? Ok. Hero running straight into people shooting at him and everyone missing? Thats a step too far for me.

[Grayson - The Dark Heir]

Running into a hail of bullets is probably the most Nightwing thing in this run so far. He’s Dick Grayson, he should be able to predict the trajectory of each individual bullet before it’s shot and be able to dodge it. You are definitely reading about the wrong character if that’s too much for you lmao, but I don’t blame anyone for forgetting how completely inhuman these characters are given how DC is so inconsistent with these things these days

[thwhtGuardian]

Link me please, as something is very off about the logic in your allegation. I'm sure whatever he said is fine and, at worst, just dumb not harmful. I've interacted with Chuck at conventions and heard him on podcasts for years, and he's just a normal dude. I don't trust it when left-wingers characterize right-wingers; it's very often exaggerated or misleading. (The reverse can also be true).

I mean, if you think homosexuality is something that "kids" shouldn't see in the media then I guess you could say what Dixon said was normal and unharmful but that's a pretty "hot take" for most people. His exact words were:

"It seems to be impossible to be able to shield my kids from the subject of homosexuality, as the media seems intent on bringing it into my home, and nothing short of cutting the electricity and boarding the windows will stop it. I don't want Judd Winnick [Green Lantern] or Grant Morrison [New X-Men] or the nimrod who wrote this Rawhide Kid comic informing my kids about the many facets and lifestyle choices out there in the world. I especially object to them using characters familiar to my kids to present this worldview"

One, kids aren't reading comics much these days so the pearl clutching, "Think of the children!" bit is disingenuous to say the least, so with that out of the way it's more that HE doesn't want to see homosexuals presented in the media which is bad enough, but when he backs up that statement with pining for the days of the comics code when good guys were good and bad guys were bad and they weren't allowed to show "bad" acts in a positive light it becomes more problematic as it clearly equates homsexuality with being inherently "bad" which is indeed harmful.