Nightwing #18:
Summary: So yeah, Damian randomly died in a comic that most of us weren't even aware was in continuity Dick isn't taking the death very well, sine he had a special bond with Damian from when he was Batman. Having lost his circus(which is a weird thing to ever type) and his little brother, Dick is mad at the world, and tries to push people away. People like Sonia Zucco, who, in case you are unaware, is the daughter of Tony Zucco. Tony was behind the deaths of Dick's parents. And Dick takes every opportunity to scream that at Sonia. Seriously, every time Sonia appears Dick screams it at her! I wouldn't even have noticed had JT not pointed it out to me... But now I always see it! Anyway, after Dick is finished ranting at Sonia, Batman comes by to swing around the city with Dick for a while, saying nothing for a good half an hour. Eventually Bats tells Dick that the Dealer was in Gotham and he was auctioning off Dick's father's Flying Grayson costume. After unleashing some snark at Bats, Dick heads off to bust some heads. Dick drops in and beats up the Dealer's goons, but the Dealer manages to set the auction house ablaze(ain't nobody got time for that!), trapping the sickos who were bidding on Dick's father's costume inside. Dick decides to save the lowlifes, which allows the Dealer to get away and lets his dad's costume burn. From there, Dick heads back to Damian's grave and tells Damian that he was going to take Damian's advice from last issue and would start trusting people again. Sadly, this issue doesn't end there, because if it did, I'd only have praise for it... Instead, the scene shifts to Sonia'a apartment, and Sonia reveals to Dick that her father(who was behind the deaths of Dick's folks, in case you didn't know), was actually alive, and operating out of Chicago...
Thoughts: Yeah... So if you take away those last three pages, this comic was an easy 8 1/2 to a 9 for me. Kyle Higgins had Dick down perfectly here. He brooded for a while, he bitched at people, but in the end, he was still Dick Grayson. Sure, this story was done before, you know, back when Jason died, but still, I enjoyed reading this. And then we got the Tony Zucco reveal... Ugh... It doesn't even make sense if you really think about it! So basically, Zucco faked his death and went to Chi-town, where he became a high-ranking mobster... And, Batman? Didn't realize that Zucco was alive? Being the world's greatest detective and all, I have to doubt that. Which means he DID know, but for whatever reason a) didn't tell Dick, and b) allowed Zucco, the man who killed Dick's folks, to have free reign in Chicago... It makes no sense!! Besides that, why wouldn't Babs know? Or Dick? Or hell, Damian, or anybody! It's not like the members of the Bat-clan are dumb, and it's not like Zucco was hiding out in a smokey warehouse .. He was standing right in public, bossing his goons around! So yeah, like I said, ugh... Basically, read this comic, but skip the final three pages. You'll be way happier that way...
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Huh, I'm gonna miss Damian...
"So yeah, Damian randomly died in a comic that most of us weren't even aware was in continuity:" HA HA HA. Totally. Abso-effin'-lutely.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what the hell Higgins was thinking bringing back Zucco. I mean, we're not talking about the Joker, the type of guy who you'd expect to escape death time and time again. We're talking about a guy who had a heart attack fleeing from Dick. I mean, what, did they not check his pulse? Did he hold his breath for 20 years? Ugh.
Plus, man, the art was terrible. Dick looked like he had been beaten with a bat or something.
I'll never understand the logic of killing Damian off RIGHT AFTER Death of the Family... If Damian had to die(and I sure don't think he should have!), it should have been at the hands of the Joker.
DeleteUgh... JW, I was enjoying this issue SO MUCH! Like, it was probably my favorite issue of this series... Up to the ending. I don't get what Higgins obsession with the Zucco family is, but I don't like it... Not one bit... Tony Zucco suddenly being alive(and operating in the public no less!) is just horrible... It just makes no sense...
Agreed. I wasn't a fan of the art at all. My sister told me she liked the art though, so I guess some people did.
Totally. I mean, I had just gotten to the point with the Zucco thing where I just sort of accepted it as Higgins clever (to him) way of injecting some dramatic tension between Dick and Sonia. It'd be weird, then eventually they'd get over it. But I never thought that he was building to bringing back Zucco. I mean, we're just getting plain ridiculous now, when even low-level mob thugs get resurrected. I mean, at some point, people are going to die in one panel and just sort of pop to life in the next one, no worse for wear.
DeleteOtherwise, like you said, I enjoyed it a lot. I thought Higgins had some really great touches, like Dick getting the video game that he ordered for him and Damian to play. But, then, BAM, we get Zucco'ed. It's like the story of this title.
YES! I never in a million years thought Higgins was actually building up to bringing TONY ZUCCO(of all characters!) back to life! I figured Dick was constantly mentioning him because Sonia is his daughter(in case you were unsure, I figured I'd add that), and he'd always be a part of their relationship. But to actually bring him back!? It boggles the mind! And I have to admit, I'd get a perverse pleasure if some writer did do that... Just killed somebody off in one panel, and then have that same character in the next panel, talking like it never happened... It would be so absurd that I'd probably like it...
DeleteI honestly wish I'd just skipped the end of this comic, because it hurt the rest of this issue so much... I went from being impressed by the way Higgins dealt with Damian's death to being pissed, all over the course of a few seconds!