Friday, November 18, 2011

Nightwing #3

Next book on the agenda? The third issue of Nightwing. So far this series(sadly, like many of the new DC books I decided to pick up) hasn't reached the levels I'd hoped it would. But, I am an optimist, and as such I'm hoping this series picks up starting here.

Nightwing #3:

What Happened: Dick Grayson is confronted by Haly's son at Haly's funeral, where Haly's distraught son rants about Dick stealing from him and such. Everybody chalks it up to grief and Dick ends up talking to Raya, who tells Dick a former friend of theirs(Zane) had become a crime booking agent based out of Chicago. Dick(as Nightwing) confronts Zane, and after a battle learns that Zane didn't set up Haly's death. From there Dick heads back to Raya and sleeps with her(what, he IS Dick Grayson!), but not before telling her he was going to stick with Haly's Circus. This one ends with Haly's son talking to Saiko to make sure Saiko was still planning on killing Dick.

The Good: This issue was fast paced and a quick read. The fight between Dick and Zane was fun and energetic. The art was strong. Zane DIDN'T figure out Dick's identity, thus making him the DUMBEST person in the known universe! Dick traveling with the circus gets him away from Gotham and Batman's shadow, which can't hurt.

The Bad: This issue didn't really DO anything... Nothing of any major importance happened, with the exception of Zane getting crossed off the suspect list(which we didn't even know he was on until THIS issue!) and Saiko coming back(which we knew was going to happen). Next issue has that damn Batgirl in it, which has me SERIOUSLY considering not picking it up... So Dick is going to be traveling with the circus, which means Nightwing will probably be constantly appearing around the circus... See the problem there?

The Verdict: To be 100% honest with you, after I put this comic down the first thought that came to mind was simply, “Meh.” This issue didn't accomplish anything. The villain we all knew wasn't dead came back, and the guy we never suspected was involved with Haly's death was cleared of any potential foul play. Was this issue awful? No. Will I remember this issue 3 minutes from now? No. It was the very definition of a forgettable comic book.

Score: 6 out of 10.So Zane could have simply shot Nightwing in the back of the head, but instead elected to beat him with the gun instead... Oooookay then...

9 comments:

  1. some sad messed up shit is going down at marvel there canceling a ton of books

    1.) von Doom (before release)
    2.) destroyers (before release)
    3.) Herc
    4.) ironman 2.0
    5.) Punishermax
    6.) x-23
    7.) DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE
    http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/11/marvel-bringing-daken-dark-wolverine-to-an-end/
    and 1-2 others

    sorry man i know how u liked dakens series........... before the current arc at least.
    good news it still has one big arc left before its done and the aparent plot of it is
    "daken will have his revenge on the man he hates most in this world - Wolverine. and if the entire marvel universe has to Burn for it to happen he is absolutly fine with that!"
    hopefuly the series will shape up for the final arc before the end :)

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  2. Honestly? While I'm a bit saddened by Daken getting canceled, I can't say I'm surprised, Movieartman... I check the comic sales charts every month and when I heard that X-23 was getting the ax I prepared myself for the possibility that Daken would be following, since Daken's numbers lately haven't been very good. Add a story that's been pretty bad to low sales numbers as well as Marvel panicking over DC's recent success, and I'm not really shocked here. Sad, but not shocked or angry or anything like that. Like you said, I'm hoping Daken gets himself one fantastic final arc and then bounces around a bit before finding a new spot for himself in the Marvel U. Hey, he'd fit perfectly on Crazy Mutie Island with all of the other evil mutants! :D

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  3. I was scared Avengers Academy was on that list. After looking at that list I am not too surprised. I am sure they will find a place for Daken though. I never found his solo series all that great but liked the character.

    Nightwing was in the last issue of Batgirl, so why is Batgirl in the next issue of Nightwing? Just a bunch of random guest appearances I guess.

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  4. After reading that article I have to say two other things:

    1) That Victor Von Doom comic sounded pretty awesome. Too bad that got cancelled.

    2) I am surprised X-23 was outselling such great comics like Thunderbolts, X-Factor, and Avengers Academy. Those are some entertaining comics.

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  5. This what Christos Gage thinks over all that especillations. (from Chris Twiter)


    Sigh. iFanboy has been good to me & they can write what they like (Daniel Day Lewis quote!) But my problem with this:http://tinyurl.com/6tlw6s6
    ...is that speculating a book may be canceled tends to make skittish readers stop buying it and retailers stop ordering it. So let me add
    Yes, sales is usually the major factor in cancellations. But the only book canceled that sold more than Avengers Academy was X-23...
    ...and I think that may be as much about rethinking the strategy of how to handle that character as anything else. (Purely my speculation.)
    Look at X-FACTOR, one of the books considered in the "danger zone" by this article. It's been selling at this level for years. YEARS
    If a book is profitable, as X-FACTOR is, and it stays at the same level, canceling it is taking money out of your own pocket.
    AVENGERS ACADEMY has been selling at the same level, steadily. Now, what's true is the books on this list can't afford to lose many readers.
    So absolutely, if you like the books on the lower end of the Marvel sales charts, PRE-ORDER, and recommend to your friends.
    I do think the "where does the axe fall next" mentality has a way of being harmful and a self fulfilling prophecy. So let's not go there.

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  6. An the he added...

    “To be clear I’m not mad at @iFanboy at all. I just wanted to inject a counter-argument before speculation becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.
    I speak as one who all too often sees fans on message boards say, “I hear your book’s good but I’m afraid it’ll get canceled.”I got that a lot when AVENGERS ACADEMY started. “I want to buy it but books with new characters always get canceled”……to which I say, if you WANT books with new characters, you HAVE TO BUY THEM! You vote with your $. OK, rant over. Back to work.”

    Saw a @bleedingcool poster ask whether there's any real evidence that speculation a book may get canceled causes it to lose readers.....on my Facebook account, a retailer said he sees that happen all the time, readers running from books rumored to be in danger
    Hardly a double-blind scientific study but coming from a retailer I put a lot of stock in it
    So one more time, AVENGERS ACADEMY is in no danger that I know of, we are planning into the mid-30s, longer than INITIATIVE ran...but if we lost a couple thousand sales it would be a very bad thing. We've been rock steady for a year now but u can see why I'm nervous.
    And it's all love of the book. If AA was canceled I'd be fine. Might even have time to shave and bathe. But I really do love that book.
    So what can you do? Pre-order, if you're not already. Recommend to friends. Give the TPBs as gifts. and THANK YOU if you do already.

    Let me also just say that AVENGERS ACADEMY and its characters figure prominently in the next big Marvel event, if that helps at all.
    And I have been emailing with @Remender to make sure we coordinate Hank Pym in AA and Secret Avengers. It's gonna rock.
    Secret Avengers by @Remender is chock full of awesome insane ideas. It's X-FORCE as an Avengers book. Do NOT miss it! (I've read scripts!)

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  7. I do really think that X-23 heading into the Avengers Academy book is a good thing, BECAUSE she seems to have a pretty loyal following. Maybe Marvel didn't think there was any room for growth in an X-23 solo series, while they're more willing to give team books more room to achieve growth. Personally, I've never liked the X-23 character(I've always blamed her for what happened in Academy X, fairly or not), and always found her ULTRA-bland. BUT, if X-23 heading into AA brings some of her hardcore fans over, awesome! Sure, I don't want to see her on every single cover, or on every single page, but hopefully Gage can do SOMETHING to make her more than a boring one dimensional character.

    That's some odd thinking... The whole, "A book is selling low, it might get canceled! I'd better stop buying it!" I never understood that... For me it's the opposite. If I see a comic in that "danger area" and I like it, I'm not gonna suddenly stop buying it because it MAY get canned. That's flat out bizarre. If anything that would lead to me trying my damnedest to get others to buy it. Hell, I've been begging people on this blog(and yes, at the comic shop) to try AA. I also used to try to get people to read REBELS, but that didn't exactly work out for me... But yeah, if you like a book and fear it's gonna get canceled, why would you stop reading it?

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  8. Speaking of X-23 I kind of wished you were reviewing that comic. I just checked it out and, although not really worth purchasing, it had Hellion in it and it was kind of odd. It was pretty much Hellion anger-driven acting like he did shortly after losing his arms, killing (or whatever he did) Karima and showing no remorse. We have seen Hellion since acting like his old self but here he was back to being angsty and playing the abusive boyfriend(!?) (grabbing X-23's arm a little too hard, then calling her back to ask forgiveness). I thought Hellion was back to normal since Age of X so this seems to come out of nowhere.

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  9. Ugh... Now I'll have to see if I can find the most recent issue of X-23 in the shop just to check that out. I've always been a huge fan of the characters who were introduced in New Mutants-->Academy X, with Hellion being one of the ones I liked the most. Hellion being the abusive boyfriend to X-23 is just insane for so many reasons(I could see it the other way around way easier!). If anybody needs a DC style reboot, it's Hellion. I miss the old Hellion.

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