Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Nightwing #138
DC Comics
Nicieza, Kramer & Faucher
Part Two of Ra's Al Ghul's Resurrection. This issue was the best by far for me in this series. It had plenty of action. It had character interaction that seemed to be what I would expect. We got some overall plot advancement and a cliffhanger that further isolates the factions of team-bat.
Batman summons Nightwing via radio to head to the mansion to help Robin in case Damian shows up with Ra's goons in tow. Nightwing gets to the mansion only to discover the three broads we saw in the Batman Prelude hanging around. Sounds all simple, but what made these first few pages a hit with me was the interaction of Batman and Nightwing. Nightwing's line that ends their conversation is "I look forward to seeing the pride beneath your disapproving scowl." What an epic quote! It may be the best line I've read in this series and it seemed right on the money with how Nightwing would interact with Batman. Brilliant.
Nightwing knocks out the three witches, Tiger Moth, Silken Spider and Dragonfly and then proceeds to rescue Alfred from being tossed out of a window. Nightwing knocks out all the ninjas on the front lawn and he's in the house.
We cut to Batman and Talia. Now why and when Batman decided to take Talia with him to find Ra's has completely escaped me. This, and how Talia is depicted here by the artist are my only complaints for this entire issue. I mean seriously, why would Batman drag her with him? He's Batman for crying out loud.
We see some more advancement on the front of collecting the seven pieces to the map and we finally are told what they mean. Apparently, the map will lead to Nanda Parbat, which will give eternal life to the old man and take it from Ra's. Or at least, that's how I read it.
Then we see Ra's and his unwrapped mummy self - it's just not attractive - and he says how he is on his way to Nanda Parbat to pull the old switch-a-roo with Damian's body. Seems like a party is going to happen at Nanda Parbat.
Finally, Nightwing finds Robin and Damian and a big brawl ensues in the batcave. Damian does his usually trash talking and talking down to Nightwing and Robin, but it isn’t intolerable in this issue.
We end with Nightwing needing to make a choice between saving Robin and Damian or saving the lives of the three witches (did I mention they woke up and found their way into the cave?). Enter stunning conclusion.
Hey, that's a pretty good issue I'd say. I read through this thing like it was a preview issue. It was fast paced, kept me thinking as well as overwhelming me with fighting. It was a really good installment for this series. I really felt it was the best issue to date.
I did hate the Talia part. Wouldn’t it be better if she were following Batman or something? Lame.
The art was great. Nightwing looked fairly old, but it seemed right when next to Robin and Damian. Ra's looked really cool. The cave looked a little odd and empty, but maybe they were having it cleaned that day.
In all, a great issue. An excellent way to bring Nightwing into the fold. Not sure where we go from here, but I'd say Nanda Parbat. Pack your coat!
4 out of 5 geek goggles.
