We meet again over a jumbo issue of
NIGHTWING. Last time we witnessed as a rather cool blood bath that was tripping on acid (fear toxin, but go with me) crashed into a wall of lameness and character abuse. Seriously, I believe in Harvey Dent, but that was just ridiculous -- and an insult to the ex-District Attorney’s intelligence. As issue #149 came to a close, we were promised even more craziness that was sure to be painful.
Except, hang on, this wasn’t that bad. It was pretty good, actually.
What could have been a fiasco turned out to be a suspense-filled, overall great issue that left me wanting more -- and considering it’s an oversized issue, that’s always impressive.
Right off the, err, bat we see that Nightwing -- who looks like he needs a day-long nap, to put it lightly -- is walking on a wire. Hey, Dick Grayson used to be in the circus, he can handle himself, sure. But all the talent in the world can’t save you when the wire’s worn thin. And after being up for ninety-six hours, our hero is pressing his luck with every inch he takes. Not to mention those ninety-six hours were full of being fired at (and hit), hyped up on Crane’s fear toxin, and generally thrashed around.
But Two-Face is still out there, plotting his revenge on Nightwing and the city of Gotham -- and Dick won’t rest until he’s brought him in.
After a rightly concerned visit from Barbara, Nightwing continues to hunt for clues and gets his first promising one: an acid-steaming cemetery where Harvey’s old love interest, whom he murdered in the previous issue, is buried. Dick takes a break to attend his arranged and almost forgotten about dinner with Deb, but their evening is cut short as marked coins fall from the sky: the obvious mark of Two-Face.
As Nightwing tracks down leads, hoping to find something that can guide him to Harvey, we watch Two-Face prepare to put his plan into action. And the dialogue in these scenes redeems him from that insulting last issue. I mean, he’s even alluding to Shakespeare and making geeky Star Trek references. It’s almost as if writer Peter J. Tomasi is saying he’s sorry, because he sure made Harvey Dent/Two-Face a lot cooler in this issue. More or less. I mean, Harvey’s still kind of pathetic considering how low Tomasi had him, but it’s fine because he’s not unbelievably dense anymore. He’s working his way back up. Harvey Dent is indeed a desperate character---but he’s not a stupid one. It’s good to have him back.
We get some great action, too, as Nightwing and Two-Face go head-to-head (to head?) and Don Kramer returns to give us fantastic panels that are richly colored and nicely complimented by intense dialogue.
Finally, the book ends on a cliffhanger to lead us into #151, but it’s enough of a conclusion to land “The Great Leap” -- hitting the ground running. Cheers, and let’s hope the next installment isn’t the start of “The Great Dive.” Capricious one, that Tomasi.
What did you think of “The Great Leap”? Feel free to LET ME KNOW.
See you next month!
