The New 52s: One Year Later – Nightwing

A year ago I bashed Superman and praised Nightwing, now 12 months later the shoe is on the other foot.  Now we are not talking a complete role reversal in that I am despising Nightwing as I initially felt about Superman, but I am not enjoying the direction Nightwing has taken.  With Nightwing my issue is with how Kyle Higgins has conceptualized Dick Grayson/Nightwing but how the series has developed.

Nightwing has now gone through 12 issues and the only thing that has happened emotionally is that he has slept with an old friend a few times. I am not saying the comic is lacking a romantic angle, what I am saying is that the story is devoid of all emotional content: happiness, angry, joy, frustration,anything.  The issues are not bad, they are just BORING, like a horrible season of your favorite show boring.

Comic fans have long criticized Nightwing for its lack of independence because DC will not let him out from under Batman’s wing and just have the freedom to develop outside of Gotham.  For a short time in the late 90s and early 2000s  while Chuck Dixon was writing and even part of Devin Grayson’s run Nightwing was apart from Gotham, living in Bludhaven and moonlighting as a police officer taking down corruption and staying clear of

The New 52s: One Year Later – Superman

One  year ago I tore Superman’s relaunch apart.   Now, I am wrong about as often as Jimmy Olsen says “golly, gee Mr. Kent” so you know there is no way will ever have to comeback on my initial review.  Usually I just stew in secret, but this claim was made in public.  Hey! Even four readers is public.

I read the first two issues of Action Comics, the first title of the Superman line to see the shelves and my ability to read anything Superman without bias was clouded in my utter disdain for the aforementioned experience.  A year away and a dozen issues of  Superman have given me some reason to reconsider.

Now I won’t make this all my fault, I blame Grant Morrison who wrote Action Comics issues 1 & 2.  This isn’t about Action, but I still stand by my initial claim that they were terrible.  He wrote Superman with a Batman-edge, he was gritty and pompous, almost vain.  I was so offended that Superman was written anything but a boy scout I didn’t even try to read Superman # 1 for what it was, I read the first few pages and threw it away.  Now looking back and reading the first 12 issues I have to admit, I was wrong… wrong for not giving Superman Comics a fair shot.

George Perez’s initial kick-off run and Dan Jurgens’s continued efforts of a more mature and developed Man of Steel have been nothing short of amazing.  

Gotham Chronicles Issue #0