Reviewer: Kevin S. Mahoney
Story Title: Cold Turkey
Written by: Devin Grayson
Penciled by: Phil Hester
Inked by: Ande Parks
Colored by: Gregory Wright
Lettered by: Phil Balsman
Editor: Nachie Castro
Publisher: DC Comics
Nightwing currently bears little or no resemblance to any current Bat-title. This is as much curse as it is blessing. On the one hand, recent issues contain none of the clichéd elements found in the other books of the franchise. There are no half-insane/half-savant criminals, themed crime waves, or secret identity sub-plots. On the other hand, to enjoy the tale most readers must consciously forget about 50 years of the main character’s history for the sake of this ongoing half-assed gangster story. Godfather and Soprano’s buffs might be totally into this book’s new direction, but regular fans of Dick Grayson, Blüdhaven, detective stories, or superheroes will wonder why this book has forsaken all those things.
The answer (the book’s once and current writer slashed and burned all the title’s initial fixtures in order to deconstruct the character) doesn’t support this story arc. There are many “hero gone bad but not really” stories. Most are plotted better, paced faster, and showplace characters that actually could slip into the abyss… believably. This arc, like the writer’s previous work on the title, has that experimental-world-in-a-bubble forced chessboard feel. The plot could work with the right characters, and many interesting things could be done with the featured cast, but the twain cannot possibly meet simultaneously.
The art, unfortunately, makes the book worth looking at, if not reading. The stripped down and yet skilled pencils of Phil Hester recall the well-loved 90’s Batman cartoon. Things that need a certain level of detail (facial expressions, important props, clothing) are rendered more completely and carefully than things that do not (other objects, particularly generic pieces of the setting). This technique guides the reader more deeply into the tale than either a completely stylistic or photo-realistic approach could. The colors used in this issue denote time of day better than the pencils and inks, which is a fair and well-received accomplishment. The lettering doesn’t really try to impress, but when it takes extra care (Nightwing’s inner monologue boxes) the results improve accordingly.
The cover of Nightwing #109 (which every experienced reader knows has nothing to do with the book’s contents) states this issue is a tie-in to Villains United, which seems patently false. The Secret Society and the Six have no role in the story. In fact, the only import from another title is Gotham gangster Blackmask, and he has been menacing the other Bat-books since long before VU began. At absolute best, this issue could be an Identity Crisis tie-in considering the Luthor-kryptonite-Red Hood-Blackmask connection. It seems unlikely that “IC Tie In!” would have sold a few extra issues though. Call it this issue’s crowning ignominy.
