Nightwing #150 review

a tonfa will mess you right up

These days, a review about Nightwing is really a review about writer Peter Tomasi. Tomasi’s name is one I hadn’t remembered reading before I pounced on his Great Leap arc in Nightwing 147-150, but then I looked the guy up. His work on last year’s Black Adam mini was richly entertaining, but his Nightwing work has really been top notch. With issue 150, Tomasi concludes his Great Leap arc.

Great Leap, loosely part of the Batman RIP event, pits Nightwing against the villain many consider to be his true arch foe, Two-Face.

The twist?  Nightwing starts out the arc with a little help from Harvey Dent.

You heard me.

Tomasi initially plays Dent’s personality battles pretty close to the vest. As the arc progresses, however, you see the dynamic struggle between the fractured halves of Two-Face. This is realized by Harvey recruiting Nightwing to save an unrequited old flame, New York District Attorney Carol Bermingham, as Two-Face is actively trying to kill her. While the dichotomy could have been better emphasized later in the arc using the time-honored Bat-book tradition of jagged fonts and word balloons, an attentive reader can piece it together.

Tomasi’s use of dialogue is a sheer joy to read. The interactions throughout the arc between Nightwing/Grayson and various cast members, such as Alfred and Oracle, are consistently fluid and natural, tones shifting and changing; these are marvelous displays of subtle subtext that deserves to be recognized.

Penciller Don Kramer‘s work, specifically in these conversation driven scenes, seems rushed, almost sloppy. Additionally, inkers Jay Leisten and Rodney Ramos (per-page duties, if any, were not credited) appear to have problems properly emphasizing Grayson’s face during some of the more intense emotional moments. However, the verbal character chemistry, provided by the dialogue, makes up for a lot of these foibles.

The plot progresses, like plots do, and we slowly ramp up to a fever pitch of action. Tomasi’s dialogue takes a backseat to this action, which Kramer plays to. Tomasi takes Nightwing through more unique applications of his acrobatic prowess than I’ve seen in years, executed smartly by the art team. Kramer’s main strengths, and clearly his affection for his craft, show in the final fight scene between Nightwing and Two-Face.

In my twenty years of reading comics, I have never had the privelege of experiencing hand-to-hand combat between two super-types on a dirigible (OH THE HUMANITY etc) that ends in an actual authentic grapple. This altercation shows off Nightwing’s versatile fighting style, which starkly contrasts the BIFF POW THOK fisticuffs comic readers are normally subjected to. The entire combat sequence is crisply drawn, well inked (again, can’t say who to give credit to here), and exciting to both read and view.

If you haven’t been reading Nightwing, pick up this week’s issue and the three preceding issues after that. Tomasi’s Nightwing shouldn’t be left to historical footnotes as the one good comic in Batman RIP.