Nightwing #2:
What Happened: Nightwing and the villain he was jumped by last issue(Saiko) battle to a no contest when Saiko escapes while Dick saves some bystanders. The female acrobat from last issue tells Dick that it was urgent that they went to see Mr. Haly in Atlantic City, so the two hop a jet and go. Dick learns that Haly was dying, that Haly always knew Dick was Nightwing and wanted Dick to take ownership of Haly's Circus upon his death. Dick hops back on the jet and naturally joins the Mile High Club because he's Dick Grayson. Dick is then called by Saiko, who tells him he had tortured Haly into telling him that Dick was Nightwing. Dick goes back to Haly's warehouse, fights Saiko again, and the warehouse explodes. Dick manages to escape with Haly, but there's no sign of Saiko. Haly dies in Dick's arms spouting cryptic gibberish.
The Good: Dick joining the Mile High Club made me chuckle... I mean once you saw that the female acrobat had red hair you KNEW it was going to happen eventually! Dick as the owner of the Circus has some potential going forward. Saiko has a pretty cool look. Haly knowing Dick's secret identity DID make sense.
The Bad: Are secret identities completely frowned upon in the new DCU?! Jeez... The story wasn't the most interesting thing I've ever read. Why did Saiko decide to torture Haly? Did he suspect Dick and Nightwing were one and the same or was it just a happy coincidence?
The Verdict: Okay, first things first... The three former Robins have three separate series'... Dick Grayson stars in Nightwing, Jason Todd stars in Red Hood and the Outlaws, and Tim Drake stars in Teen Titans. Those 3 series have put out a grand total of 5 issues thus far. There are already a multitude of characters, from only FIVE issues, who know the secret identities of those three characters! Tim was hunted down by villains AS Tim, seemingly EVERYBODY knows Jason Todd is the Red Hood, from friends to enemies, and in this issue Saiko discovered that Dick was Nightwing... Hell, in Batman and Robin a villain there knew Bruce and Bats were one and the same! There used to be a time when the identities of the Bat-family members was a stringently held secret... Now EVERYBODY knows who's who it seems! Back to this comic though. It was okay. Not great, but not terrible. But yeah, Saiko suddenly knowing Dick's identity really bothered me a lot and hurt my enjoyment of this one...
Score: 7 out of 10.
I guess I'd have been more surprised if Saiko DIDN'T know Dick was Nightwing...
You know, I totally didn't notice the secret-identity thing until you mentioned it, but, seriously, OMG, you're totally right. On some level I registered it, because I knew that Saiko was a goner, since we generally kill off people who learn their identities (or, at least, pretend to kill them, until they re-appear a few years later having forgotten said identity due to their "injuries" that they miraculously survived).
ReplyDeleteHA! Yes, it's like every issue with a Bat-family member, SOMEBODY has discovered, or knew their secret identity! That used to be the most important secret in comics, now I find myself playing the game of, how many characters will know the Bat-family members THIS month! It's weird...
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