Nightwing #51

I thought I'd check out the new direction of Nightwing for an issue.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I think I was under the impression that this would be the start of a new arc because of the writer switch. I know the general details of the previous issue but I'm still a little confused. Which is likely due to not reading the Nightwing series in recent years. I don't know who detective Sapienza is which confused me because I'm not sure if he knows who Nightwing is.

Dick now Ric torched his base yet most of it seems intact. Was there a misunderstanding? The writing seems to suggest there's not much unless Sapienza isn't sharing everything. But Dick didn't know how to properly destory his stuff?

I have to say despite the concept being so overused in the bat family this is the only time I thought it was written right. Bruce had semi-memory loss but we never really got his opinion on the people he forgot. Jason had total memory loss under Tynion and it went no where. Dick/Ric has a nightmare he can't remember besides the emotion it evokes about Batgirl and Robin where he can't see their faces. This shows that on some level he does realize what he loss and wants to remember.

Alfred isn't ready to let go of his family despite Bruce saying they should and explains recurring nightmares have to do with the mind trying to cope with a traumatic event. I do like Alfreds' concern and talking about his own experiences with such dreams. It's one of the few times I felt like there's actually a family with these characters. Granted Dick/Ric usually gets more positive attention in bat books than the rest of the bat kids but I still like the real effort to make this have more emotional weight.

Ric still knows things that astonish him like discovering he knows German and how scary his muscle memory is.

He thinks the people in his old life only care about who he was not who he is.

The bracelet he gave his mom in new 52 is still canon so does it mean the girl he gave it to pawned it?

People were complaing that Nightwing has a gun but it's not the lead. It's apparrently Sapienza.

Yes, it's always awful to see characters acting...well...out of character but it works with the story. Brain damage can change a personality and he's dealing with starting off as a blank slate. Unlike some characters he's too iconic to leave in the same place forever. He'll either improve or return to his old self at some point.

As for the complaints Dick/Ric is like Jason...no. He's not like Jason is when he's angry, in fact he's just trying to figure out how to deal with everything. Dick doesn't want to be part of the mission and is striving for a normal life. Jason doesn't know how to have a normal life. Dick/Ric rejects his past with the bats where Jason struggles to move on. There's more but this is a review on this issue not a comparion piece.

Love it or hate it the changes will stick for awhile. DC seems to struggle with what to do with certian characters. Having Dick with the Titans or his exes seems to be retreading old stories to them. Sure we'll see it, have it teased but they want to see where else to take the character. Whatever your feelings on him being a spy was it wasn't an idea DC was willing to stick with for the long haul. Nightwing can't suppass Batman, can't be Batman, they wouldn't settle him down so their making him less committed then their tossing ideas to see what sticks. Sure it likely has to do with King but I think DC also wanted change. If this was used to get rid of Dick (the nickname) it's ridicious. People know him as Dick Grayson, they have for over 75 years. So some people are immature about it big deal.

I'm truly surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did. Admittedly people were speaking of it like Dick was going to go kill crazy for something. I'll have to check out more issues later.


Say What?: More confusion on my part since everyone has been talking/blaming Lobdell when he's doing the plotting and Nicieza is doing the additional script. Neither are to blame for the direction as it seems to be an editional direction.