Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: Incrimination
Written by: Devin Grayson
Penciled by: Rick Leonardi
Inked by: Jesse Delperdang & John Lowe
Colored by: Gregory Wright
Lettered by: Willie Schubert
Editor: Michael Wright
Publisher: DC Comics
Chuck Dixon was the main man on many of DC’s Bat-books for a great number of years. BIRDS OF PREY, ROBIN, and NIGHTWING were basically completely under Chuck’s reigns until he departed DC Comics for CrossGen more than a year ago. It was a difficult void to fill, as BIRDS OF PREY didn’t have a regular team until this month, and ROBIN had some growing pains as it moved in a slightly different direction. NIGHTWING though moved out from under Chuck’s leadership with the least amount of difficulty.
The success can be traced directly to current writer Devin Grayson. Thankfully she’s continued Dick Grayson’s story right where Chuck Dixon left off. Instead of quickly wrapping up the long developing battle with Nightwing against Bludhaven’s criminal elements, she’s continued the plotline and is slowly bringing everything to a boil. We can consider ourselves lucky that the whole plotline wasn’t abandoned after a quick eight-page wrap-up. Who knows we could have seen a dejected Nightwing move to Pomona, opening an herb store, sidelining as a fitness guru, all the while battling crime in the early evenings. While I may be stretching things a little, it’s refreshing to see a writer follow through on events laid out by her predecessor. I would like to take a moment to compliment Michael Wright, as editors don’t get much play in reviews, for his work on this book. It takes just the right balance of editing and writing for such a smooth transition to occur.
Nightwing is dealing with a lot of things right now, he’s a comic character and that’s what good writers do to them. Amy, who’s Dick’s former partner on the police force and current boss, is pretty certain of his nighttime occupation and is demanding his resignation from the force. Couple this with Nightwing’s attempts to solve the murder of the wholly corrupt former Police Chief Redhorn and the fact that Blockbuster now blames him for the death of his mother, and Dick’s up to his mask in trouble. Lot’s of great plot threads going on here, and Ms. Grayson has added in the necessity for a lot of really good detective work by Dick as well.
It’s a shame that Rick Leonardi will soon be moving on to sister Bat-title BATGIRL. His work is really polished, and I’ve enjoyed his run on the book, which started at the same time as Devin Grayson (issue 71). During the books run Scott McDaniel and Greg Land have had two of the more memorable times as penciler, and Mr. Leonardi’s work should be considered right up there with theirs.
Nightwing has been battling in Bludhaven for more than 80 issues now, and while he’s made a lot of progress, Blockbuster is still out there pulling the strings. If my gut instincts are right I think the conclusion to Dick’s time in Bludhaven is approaching, but not that quickly. It would make sense for the book to lead up to a big finale to this storyline in issue 100. Hopefully Devin Grayson will remain with the book at least that long, so someone with similar vision can finish the work Chuck Dixon began. Maybe then, Dick can move to Pomona and take that new direction.
