All right, it has finally happened. Bruce Jones’ run on Nightwing is over! Marv Wolfman makes his debut on this title with Nightwing #125. I am thrilled. Will Nightwing #125 be a good read? I don’t know. What I do know is that Wolfman can’t do any worse than the garbage that Jones gave us during his run. Let’s hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Norm Rapmund
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: This issue begins with Nightwing tangling with an armored villain known as the Raptor. The Raptor ends up fighting off Nightwing and making an escape. Nightwing hurts his shoulder during the brawl. As Raptor is escaping, Nightwing hears a voice in his head that says “Richard Grayson. You were supposed to die.” Nightwing then continues to pursue the Raptor.
We cut to Biotech Pharmaceuticals where we see the Raptor in a lab at a computer next to the charred body of a scientist. Once again, the Raptor manages to escape from Nightwing.
We shift to Dick entering his apartment building. In the lobby, two women approach Dick. One starts checking out Dick’s body telling him that his muscles are tight and that he has injured his soldiers. The other girl simply checks out Dick’s butt. The girl diagnosing Dick’s injuries is Ryan Diaz. She lives on the second floor. She is professional masseuse studying to be an osteopath. The other girl is her friend Zen. Ryan then performs a quick spinal manipulation on Dick and tells him to come visit her at her spa.
We shift to Dick at a coffee house doing an online search for a job. We then cut to the Raptor looking at a lists of scientists. The Raptor talks about a person who is killing scientists. That that person killed Rossi at Biotech Pharmaceuticals. The Raptor is determined to get to the next scientist, Lichner, before the other person kills Lichner.
We cut back to Dick searching for a job at the coffee house. Ryan and Zen walk into the coffee house. Ryan then tells Dick to come with her to her spa. Ryan gives Dick a therapeutic massage. During this massage, Dick realizes that the Raptor didn’t kill the scientist at Biotech Pharmaceuticals. That the Raptor was trying to get information from the computer. Ryan then invites Dick to her party this evening. Dick tells Ryan that he will have to take a rain check.
We shift to Nightwing investigating the computer at Biotech Pharmaceuticals. Biotech used to be owned by LexCorp. That the dead scientists were all former LexCorp weapons developers. Nightwing notices that Lichner is the next former weapons developer on the list. Nightwing realizes that the Raptor is hunting down scientists who used to work for LexCorp.
We cut to the Raptor threatening Lichner. Lichner tells the Raptor that he can’t help him. That “they” will kill him if he tries. Nightwing then bursts onto the scene. The raptor and Nightwing tangle once again. And once again, the Raptor makes his great escape. The police arrive on the scene. Nightwing and the police go back to Lichner’s apartment and find Lichner’s charred corpse. Someone killed him while Nightwing was battling the Raptor.
We cut to the Raptor back at his home. The Raptor says that the scientists keep getting killed, but that he must find one of them. That there has to be a cure. That if there isn’t he is going to die. The Raptor takes off his helmet and his face looks horribly burned and disfigured.
We shift to Dick back at his loft. He takes a shower and then passes out on his bed. Ryan and Zen come knocking on his door, but Dick is dead asleep and doesn’t hear them. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appears next to Dick’s bed. The figure says that Dick was supposed to die in the Crisis, but he somehow survived. The figure then says “That will have to be corrected.”
Comments
The Good: Nightwing #125 was an O.K. read. It wasn’t anything great, but it certainly was better than Bruce Jones’ run on Nightwing. Wolfman definitely has a better feel for Dick Grayson’s character than Bruce Jones ever did. Wolfman’s Dick Grayson is much more along the Dick Grayson that I know and like.
This issue moved along at a nice pace. Wolfman wasted no time getting his run on this title up and moving. Wolfman also created some solid dialogue. I liked the interplay between Dick and Ryan. It moved quickly and was humorous. I guess Ryan is the new flavor of the week in Dick’s life.
I am thrilled that we are finally seeing DC’s promise to make Dick a more central character in the DCU take place. I love the plotline involving the Monitors. I can’t wait to see where Wolfman takes this plotline. Hopefully, this will lead to some quality character development for Dick and re-shape this title into a much more compelling read as Nightwing is finally established as a major player in this New Earth.
Jurgens’ artwork is dependable. It doesn’t blow me away, but Jurgens’ old school style gets the job done. I would still prefer a more exciting and dynamic artist on this title; however Jurgens will do a solid professional job. Jurgens art may not add much to Wolfman’s story, but it certainly won’t get in the way.
The Bad: Nightwing still lacks some “pop.” There isn’t much buzz or excitement with this issue. I find the Raptor to be a rather generic villain and his plotline doesn’t particularly interest me. The overall plot involving the Raptor just feels more like a “paint by numbers” plotline that you find in a filler issue.
I still think that Dick needs to return to Gotham. New York just isn’t Dick’s element. Dick needs to return back to his roots. Back to the Bat-family of characters. The Bat-family of characters offer much stronger supporting characters than any that we have seen on Nightwing in a very long time. A lack of strong supporting characters has been a huge weakness of this title.
Overall: Nightwing #125 is definitely a step in the right direction. I think that Wolfman will do a good job on this title. It is definitely better than the stuff we got from Bruce Jones. Even though I think that Wolfman will eventually be successful on Nightwing, but it isn’t going to happen over night. It is going to take Wolfman several issues to get his legs under him and really get this title rolling in the right direction. This probably is a great time for new readers to hop onto this title and give Nightwing a chance.