Creative Team:
http://www.dcindexes.com/features/comic.php?comicid=131646
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Writer: Kyle Higgins
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Penciller: Eddy Barrows & Geraldo Borges
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Inkers: Eber Ferreira & Ruy José
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Colorist: Rod Reis
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Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
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Editor: Brian Cunningham
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Assistant Editor: Katie Kubert
Detailed Impression:
We
start a new arc in Nightwing # 10. That new start begins with a
beat-to-hell Nightwing on the cover by Eddy Barrows and Rod Reis, as
usual. This time there's a twist. Eber Ferreira inked the cover over
Barrows' pencils. The inks lend a stark quality to the image
emphasizing
the danger Nightwing faces, especially given the image of his
assailants reflected in the pool of mixed blood and rainwater.
Inside,
Kyle Higgins finally gets to begin unraveling a mystery that he first
hinted at during issue # 8. Nightwing
doesn't have much to go on in the way of clues, a pair of identical
brandings on two brothers who were apparently
murdered using one of his escrima sticks. The fact that the murder
weapon is tied to a member of the Bat-family and being kept out of
the media (revealed in issue 8) makes him think there maybe something
more to the story. In the meantime, we also meet several
new characters:
Detective Travis Nie seems to have a vendetta against the whole
Bat-family, but a particularly nasty personal grievance with
Nightwing. He even sends a SWAT team, guns-blazing, to take Nightwing
at the victims' apartment, disregarding the potential collateral
damage to other residents of the building. Surprisingly,
we
also find that Nightwing
has earned the support of a high-ranking city official whose life he
saved during the Night of the Owls attacks. Higgins
teases out more information as the issue continues and Nightwing
uncovers a small army of
self-styled
revolutionaries
calling
themselves the Republic of Tomorrow led
by someone calling himself Paragon.
The
last
big surprise that we get (humongous
actually) comes
in the form of a business venture Dick has been exploring with Lucius
Fox and Lucius' revelation that the only bank
that might be interested in the proposition
is
run by Sonia Zucco, daughter of the man who killed Dick's parents.
Barrows
and Ferreira give
us plenty
of
great art between the covers,
continuing to deliver excellent character and background detail with
dynamic page layouts and interesting panel designs. Unfortunately,
the only page of theirs I don't love is the issue's title/splash page
featuring the single largest drawing of our main character. His body
seems too skinny; an
acrobat of Nightwing's caliber should have significantly more
developed lats.
Additionally,
the position appears as though it would be awkward for any character
except maybe Spider-Man. On
the other hand, the fight sequence in the apartment and Nightwing's
dramatic escape from the situation looked fantastic. His loft's
armory is equally impressive.
Sticking
with the art, Geraldo Borges and Ruy
José do
an excellent job picking up where Barrows and Ferreira leave off. It
helps that Borges' layouts and pencils share a very similar-looking
aesthetic with Barrows' own. The second art team gets an additional
leg up from colorist Rod Reis who brings a unifying element to the
visuals that
was lacking in the transition from one team to the next back
in
issue # 9.
The
only really big dip that the art takes in the book comes in the
less-detailed backgrounds compared to Barrows and Ferreira.
Overall Impression:
Higgins
introduces some very interesting character dynamics using the
supporting characters in the book. Why is Nie so vehement, to the
point of recklessness, in his pursuit of Nightwing? Since when does
any city official besides Commissioner Gordon have any interest in
repaying a member of the Bat-family for saving his life? Are Dick and
Sonia really going to be able to put aside the fact that her father
murdered his parents in order to work together? And how much more
awkward is it that he thinks she's cute?
I
love the possibilities
that this issue represents. I'm also ecstatic to see Higgins be able
to tell his own story with Nightwing in the main seat, as opposed to
riding sidecar to Batman in the former's own series. Nightwing
# 10 is a pretty
good beginning to an arc meant
to bring some clarity to a mystery that's been building for a long
time. Discounting the one page discussed above and single small panel
in the corner of one of Borges and José's
pages, the art is really good to excellent.
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