Dan Watter’s run on Nightwing kicks off with “On With The Show” part two! In this harrowing issue, Dick finds himself at odds with an obviously evil weapons manufacturer stirring up trouble in Blüdhaven. The company, Spheric, seems to be manipulating the gangs and police force in the city at the whim of a mysterious clown. Let’s talk about how Nightwing fights back below!
Put The Bunny Down!
Immediately picking up where #119 left off, we rejoin Nightwing mid-thought fighting a rip-off of Robocop‘s ED-209 robot. In fact, much of the plot mirrors various Robocop (1987) influences. For example, Spheric’s aim to outfit the police department with high tech weaponry is one of its glaring comparative elements. However, Spheric’s use of animal pilots is an extreme deviation. In this case, Nightwing theorizes Spheric is relying on the fight or flight responses of living creatures to harness reflexes and instincts. With the right context, the contraption reminds me of Junji Ito’s Gyo. Regardless, its a straightforward and sickeningly evil development in the story.
Eventually, the cops arrive and force Nightwing to escape with a bunny rabbit. Without any place else to go, Nightwing brings the subject home and pisses off his one-legged dog in the process. Watters mostly plays the scenario of Nightwing and the innocent creature for laughs, but the levity fights an uphill battle with the glaring seriousness of the story. Still, I found a few things interesting about some of the apartment stuff. Not only does Dick sleep on the couch in his own place, but he puts on and takes off his costume in front of big bay windows. Personally, while I don’t like it for members of the Bat-Family, the trope of slovenly behavior for heroes is common. Especially with characters like Spider-Man stuck in perpetual bachelor lives.
She’s Insulting His Intelligence
Watters sets up the chaotic night at Spheric and the subsequent explosion as a major plot device. Frustratingly, Olivia Pearce frames the incident as exactly the kind of terrorism the city needs Spheric’s solutions for. So, after Grayson’s warnings, unethical animal testing, and straight up DCU precedence for this kind of thing, Blüdhaven instates Spheric’s “Helios Project.” Moreover, Pearce unflinchingly implicates the Teddies and intentionally stokes the fires of the gang war. Predictably, the cops take glee in the disproportionate use of force and begin smugly violating rights. If this were Daredevil or John Ridley’s I Am Batman, the story would explore the legal or civil angles of what’s going on. Unfortunately, Watters focuses more on the entertainment value of a police state more than any complex commentary.
Dexter Soy’s depiction of the Helios upgrades is fairly boring. Helios equips each officer with futuristic guns, pale navy jumpsuits, riot shields, and matching sunglasses! Even still, empowered by the upgrades, the police set out to harass the Teddies. Despite Nightwing’s offer to be the self-appointed mediator, the Teddies decide not to call him. This leads to a large confrontation near the end of the book where Nightwing tries and fails to stop the trigger happy cops from being cartoonishly trigger happy. Strangely, the full grown masked Teddies turn out to be just teenagers after unmasking, further pissing Nightwing off. The reveal is a mild inconsistency in Soy’s artwork that makes the twist feel like a last minute contrivance for the sake of drama.
Recommended If…
- You’re on board for this next era of Nightwing comics.
- You like Robocop. This is basically Robocop.
- Nightwing is your favorite DC comic book hero.
Overall
Overall, things still aren’t so bad, but I have growing concerns. Firstly, readers have seen this kind of story play out far too many times for this to avoid being generic. What’s worse is that similar stories like Fear State and John Ridley’s I Am Batman didn’t take place so long ago. Hell, we just had Task Force 11 running the entire country in Absolute Power. Secondly, the artwork is inconsistent in quality. When its good, we get slick silhouettes of a male specimen soaring through the air in a skintight bodysuit. When its bad, we get bland designs, choppy line art, odd face renders, and whatever happened with the Teddies this chapter. Narratively, I’m reserving judgement on the mysterious player, but Olivia Pearce is such a blatant “bad guy” that readers must suspend disbelief in wondering why no one on the page is calling her out yet.
Score: 6.5/10
English (US) · 