“Freefall” (part 4)
Peter Tomasi’s first major arc on Nightwing wraps up this week and brings with it a bit of a mixed bag for me. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Tomasi’s emi>Green Lantern Corps issues but they weren’t terrible. However, his Black Adam mini-series was phenomenal. I’ve always been a fan of Dick Grayson and an on and off reader of Nightwing. Following the “Ra’s Al Ghul” storyline, Fabian Nicieza’s issues of the series were really the best of the crossover, and with the coming return of one of my favorite groups, the Titans, I’ve decided to hang on to Nightwing at least for the time being. However, there’s a bit of good and a bit of bad that comes with Tomasi’s take on the character. For one, the former editor’s plot and direction seems quite promising, but I feel the dialogue may be the weakest link in this series. It’s been a bit up and down throughout Tomasi’s entire arc, but this issue is a perfect example of my feelings towards his run.
First, I want to talk about the general direction of the character. Tomasi does an excellent job with the character overall. One has to remember that Dick was raised by Batman, but he does not want to be Batman. Personally, I think he’s so entrenched in his identity as Nightwing, that if it ever came down to it, Dick would not become Batman. Batman is solely Bruce Wayne’s beast, and while Tim Drake has lately been driven further and further into that darkness, it’s an area Dick wouldn’t touch again. I also like the idea of Dick changing careers here and there. He was good as a cop in Bludhaven, but that could only go so far. Now he’s the curator of a museum in New York City. It’s a seemingly dramatic shift, but it works for now. I still think a writer needs to make Nightwing or another hero a bigger part of New York City, because DC is severely lacking a NYC based hero. But that’s a discussion for another time.
I’ve also really liked the plot driving this story-arc. The re-animated corpses of dead villains have been popping up and Nightwing ultimately suspects Talia is behind the scheme. It’s been an interesting story with a few twists and turns and Tomasi has generally delivered. I was also very curious as to where the story was going, but as we learn in this issue, it becomes somewhat of a stock “mad scientist” story. For the first issues of this arc, I surely expected to see Talia or one of Ra’s Al Ghul’s cronies working towards the secrets of eternal life. Alas, that is not the case as this story becomes one about a mad scientist trying to create an army of drones, really easily manipulated drones.
Anyways, an odd ending aside, I really like the action in the issue as well as the team up between Nightwing and Robin. I think Dick and Tim work extremely well together as they share a great deal in common with one another. While this definitely shows in this issue, I’m actually a little tired of Tim being Dick’s damsel in distress. It seems like whenever they get together, Tim gets in trouble and Dick has to debate whether to save Tim or trust that Tim can hold his own.
My biggest problem with this issue, and most of Tomasi’s run thus far, is dialogue. I understand that Dick Grayson is supposed to have a sense of humor about him, after all he lightened Bruce Wayne’s mood, but the dialogue here is way too cheesy. I like that Tomasi is trying to give Dick a more distinct “Peter Parker” like voice, however, it really feels as though he’s doing way too much. There are moments where Dick’s wit and humor work very well and there are other moments where his dialogue is actually quite dreadful. There are some moments were the dialogue is entirely unnecessary and rather expositional in nature. I do like some of the small things Tomasi does, such as the cameo from Red Arrow manning the JLA satellite. That scene was very cool and I really would love to see heroes utilizing something like that a lot more often. However, Dick’s dialogue makes him a lot like the kid in college that never shuts up or kills a joke. You know, the type of kid you want to beat the crap out of, but you love him anyways. To be completely honest, I think Tomasi could have had a very unique issue had the majority of it been silent. Not completely silent like Larry Hama’s legendary G.I. Joe #21, but if the majority of this issue had been silent without as much banter, I think Tomasi would have pulled off a really fantastic feat.
Speaking of keeping this issue silent, I think the artist is more than up to the task. Don Kramer is one of my favorite bat-artists and I really like his work. I don’t care what bat-book he is working on, as long as he is on one of them. His work is always consistent, it’s always clear, and his anatomy is spot on. Kramer always does a great job capturing the action side of the non-powered costumed heroes and I think he should definitely be a regular on one of these titles.
Tomasi’s Nightwing has indeed been a mixed bag for me. Overall, I do like it and I think he’s on the right track; I just want to see less banter and more well-timed humor from Dick. I’m interest to see where Tomasi takes the character I just hope the banter gets cleaned up a little bit.
What did you think of this book?
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