Nightwing #63

Overall- grumble grumble grumble..... Apparently, in a comic I don't own, Joker:last laugh #6, Dick kills the Joker, but somehow Batman revives Joker. Dick is now wallowing in self pity for having the audacity to kill Joker... I'm sorry, but if ANYBODY in the world of comic books deserves the old dirt nap, it's the Joker. Jeez, I have the "Death in the Family" TPB, and what Joker does to Jason Todd in it is absolutely reprehensible.

Quite frankly, the first thing I am going to do once I'm done posting this is to try to see if I can find JLL #6 to buy somewhere, to watch Dick finally give Joker his just dessert. Anyway, Dick is wandering around his apartment wearing nothing but his Batman boxers, which is really kind of weird... Why the hell is he wearing Batman underwear? Babs tries to talk to Dick via the computer, but Dick ignores her.

Next up is the Flash, but he can't seem to get through to Dick either. As Wally leaves, Dick finds a picture of himself and Jason Todd, which seems to convince him to continue the crusade, because after that, he's back on the streets in his Nightwing attire.

The rest of the story was a comical team up between Robin and the Blue Beetle(Ted Kord). The two of them were out looking for the leader of the Madmen, an old enemy of Beetle's. Needless to say, where ever Beetle shows up comedy ensues, but in the end Robin and the Beetle collar their man. The interaction between Robin and Beetle was pretty funny, because Robin had a real case of hero worship when it came to the Blue Beetle... Who would have guessed?!?!

I liked the stuff with Dick to a point... I can totally understand why series writer Chuck Dixon was writing Dick in the manner he was. Dick Grayson was always taught by the Batman to never cross the line and murder, but, with that being said, how could Dick be that upset over killing Joker? I have the whole New Teen Titans series, and Dick makes no secret over the fact that he considered Jason to be like a brother to him.

So, he killed the man who brutally murdered his "brother", as well as several thousands of other people. To me, that act made him more of a hero then Batman, who only captures Joker, knowing he can never be rehabilitated, as well as the fact that the Joker will constantly escape captivity, and always commits several more murders before being caught again, to continue the cycle.

If Dick finally stopped the Joker's maniacal killing rampage once and for all, he deserves a medal. Yeah, I guess I could never work for Batman, because quite honestly, killing the Joker is probably the most responsible thing a Gotham City hero could do... After saying all that, I'm going to give this comic an 8 1/2 out of 10. I really wanted to go with a lower score because of Dick's self loathing over doing what needed to be done, but the stuff with Robin and Blue Beetle was very funny, so everything kind of balanced out.