Pick of the Week
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Story by Marc Andreyko
Art by Joe Bennett
Inks by Jack Jadson
Letters by Phil Balsman
Published by DC Comics | $3.99
Hey, it’s Dick Grayson! I knew he’d been hiding somewhere, lo’ these this last year or so. As it turns out there is someone left in comics who knows how to write him and his name is Marc Andreyko.
For my money, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon are the best couple in all of DC Comics. Their “will they/won’t they?” relationship which eventually bloomed into a “they will!” romance which then spiraled into a “we’ve been in love for years but the timing/circumstances aren’t right” scenario is one of the most enjoyably heart wrenching pairings in superhero comics.
This annual gives us a really good overview of Dick and Barbara and is probably a great primer for anyone who doesn’t know what they are all about, romantically. It takes us from two awkward, hormonally charged teen superheros (I guess they retconned Barbara to be the same age as Dick when she has always been shown to be about four years older), to young adults finally able to understand their feelings but too scared to admit them, to slightly less youngish adults who because of the random events in life and things outside of their control (kind of like in reality) cannot be together, to the present — two people clearly in love but not knowing if too much time (and too much pain) has passed.
Just about the only thing not covered here — and in retrospect it’s a pretty important part — was the time about seven, eight years ago when they were an actual couple. I remember way back in late 1999 (I think) when they had their “first kiss” in the pages of Nightwing and it was my Pick of the Week in the e-mail discussion list among our friends that was the precursor to iFanboy. I remember that issue fondly as one of the few comics I’ve ever reread immediately upon finishing. Following along as the events unfolded in that issue was almost as exciting as being on a really good first date and anticipating that kiss at the end that you just know is going to be fantastic. It was that good.
By now most people know that Dick Grayson was originally supposed to die in Infinite Crisis. Had that happened it would have rocked me like a hurricane and I probably would have been inconsolable for a while (wow, I’m a huge fucking nerd), but eventually I would have gotten over it because I agree that, like the death of Captain America, killing Dick would have been really, really powerful and would have lead to some fantastic stories. That having been said, I’m glad they didn’t kill him, and not because he’s my #1A character. I feel like to kill him after letting him languish, creatively, for so long would have been a crime. When I think about the potential in that character — one of the oldest serving and most respected heroes in the DC Universe this side of Superman, Batman and the JSA — he should be a goldmine of interesting stories. Yet no one seems to be able to come up with any lately.
I think that’s one of the big reasons why reading this issue was so satisfying. Marc Andreyko seems to really “get” Dick Grayson. He certainly gets the Dick/Babs relationship which is a key component to being able to write Nightwing. They should get Andreyko on Nightwing, pronto. My heart is sad knowing that next month it’s back to Marv Wolfman and more stories that feel like they might have been really interesting in the late 1980s.
I feel that I must point out that there as one panel in this book that almost made me fling it across the room and almost ruined the entire experience for me. It was the panel where Batman refers to Robin as “chum”. This is exactly what I was talking about in episode ten of the video podcast when I said that for some reason writers keep throwing in corny Golden and Silver Age dialogue when it comes to Dick Grayson in the Robin outfit. Why the hell do they do that? Am I supposed to believe that the Batman in Frank Miller’s “Year One” would ever — ever — call someone “chum”? It’s unconscionable. Instead of flinging the book across the room I literally put it down for a minute or so and brushed the dark clouds from the back of my head and decided that I wasn’t going to let that one page, that one panel, that one dialogue balloon, that one word, ruin for me what was an otherwise excellent comic book.
Did you read Nightwing Annual #2? Add a comment and tell everyone what you think about this week’s comics!
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So, can Barbara Gordon walk now?
(I don’t Nightwing or BoP.)
Nope.
If you’re referring to the cover that is 16 year old Dick and Barbara.
i picked this up on a whim, now im glad i did
(I don’t Nightwing or BoP.)
Oops, meant to say, “I don’t read Nightwing or BoP.”
Anway, I had a hard time deciding on a POW.
DMZ was really good. I liked the perspective the story was told from. While not unique in of itself, the setting and circumstance made it work. Possibly my POW.
Ex Machina was also terrific. 52 was good just see Black Adam beat people up after 49 issues. Mighty Avengers, The Brave & the Bold, Red Sonja and JLA were all solid fun.
Solid week for me. I still have a handful of books to get through.
I missed the Nightwing Annual. I don’t read it.
My Book of the Week was The Mighty Avengers #2. My review of it and all my other random nonsense can be found here: http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5515
Am I supposed to believe that the Batman in Frank Miller’s Year One would ever – ever – call someone “chum”?
chum is stupid and it probably doesn’t fit. But…..
(and I only bring this up because I recently found out and was annoyed by it-not trying to be a dick)
Year One isn’t in continuity anymore
Year One isn’t in continuity anymore
For me it is. Everyone has to have their own continuity or it doesn’t work. There’s no other way for it to fit together.
I think the Nightwing Annual ran away with best book of the week, in spite of 52 shit finally hitting the fan. What’s great about Nightwing is he’s not perfect and is sort of perpetually the prodigal son. He’s always frakking things up, but he never stops trying to be better. This book sort’ve showcases that on a personal level.
I don’t fault Wolfman’s current run on the book. Though the shine has fallen off the “not Bruce Jones” glow, he was probably pretty much given the instruction “Write some Nightwing stories. Don’t change anything. Keep him the fuck outta Gotham & Metropolis until we figure out what to do about him not being dead.”
That said, I’d like to see Andreyko on this book quick, but I DON’T want to see this relationship resolved. The tortured/we’re not ready yet, will always work better for these two characters.
Also, Brave & The Bold sure was pretty.
For me it is. Everyone has to have their own continuity or it doesn’t work. There’s no other way for it to fit together.
Like I said, I wasn’t trying to be a dick about it. I think it’s the best or at least among the best Batman stories ever. I wish it were officially the story too. I was only pointing out that it no longer officially is.
I know. 🙂
Regardless, there’s no modern day official Batman who would talk that way. None.
I agree
If anyone bought the WW III series like me, I’m so sorry. It was HORRIBLE! Just by the latest issue of 52 which was good . . . and you won’t miss anything story wise. WW III sucked! HORRIBLE!!!!
Again, I didn’t pick up this comic . . . But I will. So happy to hear it was good. Dick Grayson is my favorite DC character as well.
Ahhh, I’ll have to pick this up next week.
I don’t know that I have a POW. It’s between Robin, USM, and Mighty Avengers probably. I actually kinda dug the USM art this issue. This was the better Bagley.
I had a feeling this was going to be the pick of the week. I haven’t read mine yet, but for some reason I had this gut feeling when I saw the cover. I was like “this is so going to be the pick of the week”.
Bonus points for the Scorpions reference. Makes me almost want to read Nightwing – almost.
While I didn’t feel that WWIII was “horrible” I found it really unnecessary. Dan Didio says in the DC Nation that this was supposed to fix and answer all the questions that were caused by One Year Later. And that it did. The just show Donna Troy standing by the WW armor, or Supergirl coming back from the future, or Beast Boy really fucking up. I mean this wasn’t One YEAR later at all, it was like “3 Weeks Later”. I think they should have just left this stuff unanswered.
It was a great week for comics. My pick is Ultimate Spider-man. The scenes inside of Moon Knight’s mind were a lot of fun. This is my second USM arc and the first time I regret dropping the title way back on issue four. I liked the Ultiamte Clone Sage. I am liking this a lot more. The Ronin-bit can be retired now. It was fun the first time. It was unexpected the second time. This time it was a clever twist, but any more of it would be overkill. Principal Siuntres made me laugh out loud, but what was even funnier was the thought I had later, “If the iFanboy guys were in a Bendis comic who would they be?” I am thinking Ron would be a grounds keeper at the X-Mansion in Ultimate X-Men. Conor, hired muscle in that noir Plastic Man series Bendis talks about. For some reason I can’t shake the idea of Josh being a lab assistant, looking over the shoulder of a doctor examining another case of blue poop in Total Sell Out 2.
Mighty Avengers was slightly less good. I stared at all four books of World War 3 for about ten minutes before I bit the bullet and picked them up. Justice League of America I really liked.
Wow. How often is an annual the week’s best book? The week’s best anything? I’ve been conditioned to think of annuals as expensive fill-ins, but that seems to have been changing in recent years. Still, given the expressed disdain for the Nightwing book, this pick rocked me like the winds of change.
Did they just say “Batman: Year One is out of continuity now”? Can you do that? I always assumed that knocking an old story out of continuity would entail retelling the story as opposed to some kind of papal decree. Did they retell Batman’s origin?
As a Marvel Zombie, my POW was Mighty Avengers #2.
Tony Stark thinking “Marry me” at Natasha was fuckin’ priceless aqnd I am *dying* to know where this Ultron thing is going.
(I did buy X-Factor, but I’m still holding onto all my issues until I get the two trades…)
My picks would be between Mighty Avengers or Brave and the Bold. Both were just a lot of super hero fun, which is nice to have from time to time.
Ultimate X-men was…okay…sorta…not dopping it, but…not excited about the next issue.
I really liked the scene in World War III where the heroes were waiting at the Great Wall of China and talking amongst themselves. It reminded me of a similar scene from either the Infinity War or Infinity Crusade when the heroes were hanging out at the Avengers Mansion while the higher ups were work on a strategy. Just the right amount of tension to humanize a superhero.
You know, I thought Tony’s thought about Black Widow marrying him was contradictory to the commment he thought to himself during the scene with Sentry and his wife. It kinda took the wind out of the sails of humor. For me at least…
Am I the only one who liked, no, loved the WW3 stuff?
Then again the stuff was heavily discounted for me, allowing mew to pick up every book I wanted… Maybe that affected my decision.
Nah. WW3 was fun to me.
I thought WWIII was fun. By no means was everything in those 4 issues amazing, but it was each issue had its moments that (to me) made it worth the cover price. For example, the heroes standing on the great wall was awesome, especially when they went to individual heroes and had their conversations. The Teen Titans battles with Black Adam, and then Beast Boy’s realization that he got beat and two people got killed from it were amazing (in my mind). It was moments like these that made it fun to read. Sure, none of it was necessary per se, but I like reading fun books.
on to the rest of my stack!
52 was good, again. I’m really runnin’ out of things to say for this series, except that I really wish that it didn’t have to end in two weeks
I bought both issues of the Mighty Avengers (I missed the first one for some reason) and thought they were both AMAZING. I especialy liked the return of thought balloons (especially once I recognized that that’s what they were), and the various jokes (“Marry Me”) make this a good series. add one to my monthly pull list
JLA was good, I’m really looking forward to the Arkham raid/incursion thingie in JSA next week (maybe?) and the rest of this series in general
and that’s all she wrote folks. A lovely week of Comics
Dude… so do they blow anything up? I don’t know man, I usually try to pick up the POWs so I can follow along in the podcasts, but… “the amazing dating adventures of Robin the Boy Wonder” just makes me think “When is the cool stuff coming?” Should I buy this?
Conner, we all know you love Dick Grayson and will read anything with him in it, my question is does Nightwing Annual stand alone (without the background Grayson knowledge) as POW? With books like Mighty Avengers, USM, X-Factor, Robin, The Spirit, JLA, and others out this week, I’m very surprised that this was the POW. I didn’t get the impression that the story or dialogue was spectacular from your review, more that you finally read a good Nightwing story and it brought back memories.
Oh well, I don’t know much about DC land. But I’ll read this to see if I might like it.
Marc Andreyko can do no wrong in my opinion. I absolutely love his Manhunter books.
I read a lot of comics this week.(just finished this weeks pull a few minutes ago) After everything I read, 52 was the one book that really stuck out. The week-long Black Adam fight was just awesome.
The four WWIII books weren’t that interesting to me. I didn’t get from them what I wanted. They seemed to slam a few scenes together and then tried to tie it all together with whiny dialogue. Here’s me: “Why and how did Donna Troy become Wonder Woman?” DC: “Because She Did.” The big “reveals” had the dramatic punch of a math class.
I don’t know if I liked Nightwing. I also am a huge Dick Grayson fan. I really could have done without the boner jokes and you’ll never convince me that Dick Grayson would have cheated on Starfire. That’s a retcon I can do without, thank-you-very-much.
The Mighty Avengers thought balloons need to go. They are getting dangerously close to loosing the character for the sake of making a joke.
I skimmed the Nightwing Annual #2 at the shop, but had to stop for fear of growing boobs and getting mushy over love-triangles. 😉
52 #50 was the show for me. The WW3 books could of been shortened down to 2 books and the story would of been fine. Too much Martian pansy stuff. But it was still great seeing Black Adam ripping apart stuff, like faces and arms.
yeah he really doesn’t like faces does he? first psycho pirate now this
I just read Nightwing, and I completly agree. They should replace Wolfman for Andreyko
I had a busy week and comics wasn’t on my mind much but I managed to pick up my books and read them on the train back to Paris from London and I did manage to see the POW before I went shopping for my books and picked up Nightwing boy am I happy I did!
Not knowing much about the whole Barbara and Dick history I felt that I could enjoy this issue as a romance/relationship book (and I admit it I like romance/relationship books a lot!) and still really like it and that for me is what makes a good issue if you know almost nothing about it and still really enjoy it that’s a good comic book. I hope they explore more of this in the future (even though they probably won’t) and they should get Andreyko on this book right now! I would buy it if he wrote it definitely.
There seems to be a pattern appearing here Robin + date stories = good books. I loved Dick trying to hide is
I thought that parts of it were really good, but as a whole kind of strange. Starfire answering the door in her panties infront of Babs was a great scene. Not to mention Dick sleeping with her, then giving her a wedding invitation. Jesus.
Anyway, pretty good read. Dunno if It’d be my pick, but it was good.
I did not pick this book up only because of how much iFanboy usually lambasts the Nightwing stuff. May give this a gander though.
I’ll be honest, I really, really dug Flash this month. The way Guggenheim set up the next issues and the big reveal at the end really got me hooked. I guess what impressed me the most is that I was never really was all that interested in Flash. I just picked up the book on a whim one day after hearing some good things. I’m really glad I did.
Overall, this was a solid week. Looking forward to the podcast.
Hold on, since when has Year One been taken out of continuity? How did this happen? Tried googling, couldn’t find anything…
Zero Hour took it out, officially.
This Nightwing just made me more annoyed at Bruce Jones. I bought the 1 year later trade due to a Nightwing loyalty I’ve nurtured for years and I seriously might return it. I’m not caught up on the Wolfman stuff because of the bad taste in my mouth from all the Bruce Jones crap. I really enjoyed this annual and the scene where Robin is hunched over covering up with the cape was hilarious. If I was 16 , locked in a safe with Batgirl and wearing a bikini bottom I can’t imagine any other outcome.
sounds good, Conor–I will pick it up this weekend…couldn’t make it to the store..
finally catching up on my books after not getting to the shop for 3 weeks. back on target with 52 (thanks for playing my voicemail, by the way–I STILL have no idea what the hell mystery they were talking about, and the book is almost done!!) and the other books, which is good but also infuriating. The last 2 issues of Superman have been garbage. I couldn’t even finish the Trickster one and the last one, which was like an old school book, complete with bad drawing and a cutsey ending was just so so so lame.
but that was the past. I will live in the present this weekend.
Oh, and Spider Man the musical?
http://defamer.com/hollywood/spider_man/spider+man-the-musical-253846.php
sigh.
I can understand Conor’s dismay at the chum remark.
I think that if you view the Batman as a smug hero, who thinks of himself as better than others including crime fighting partners, chum could be seen as a condescending way of ribbing his partner for not measuring up to a task.
It was a decent week this week.
Despite Ron’s dislike of it I really enjoy Chris Bachallo’s art in X-Men, and the writing is pretty fun too.
X-Factor Was fun as always. The spongebob joke was really good. And the tasks that the whole team had made it really interesting. It was cool seeing everything fall into place.
Was it just me or was Ares(Mighty Avengers) very one dimensional and boring. I also think that the revelation of the return of Ultron should have been saved until this issue, and it felt like nothing really happened.
I’m really excited for the coming issues of Justice League and Justice Society. Even if its not amazing it will still be fun.
I can understand Conor’s dismay at the chum remark.
I think that if you view the Batman as a smug hero, who thinks of himself as better than others including crime fighting partners, chum could be seen as a condescending way of ribbing his partner for not measuring up to a task.
Bwah?
so this is something that I just noticed while re-reading Mighty Avengers #1:
right before Tony and Carol go into the giant room where they have all the pictures, you see Tony thinking some “code words” and the second one is 867-5309, a nice little reference to the Tommy Tutone song
I’m sure other people have noticed this, I just thought that it was cool, and I didn’t notice it at all the first time I read it
I’m still working on my stack, and so far all I’ve read is 52 and WW3 … and all I can say is “Ghost Fox Killer” is my new favorite obscure comic hero name. How subtle.
Having not read Justice League before this week, I can see what all the complaints were about. While the issue began really well, I thought it was very muddled and confusing toward the end.
Have a missed something with the rings and with the guy that fought Batman by not reading previous JLA?
My hope is that the two writers can put together a cohesive story, and that this crossover isn’t going to be some giant confusion fest.
I think Mighty Avengers #2 hit on the head a topic discussed on the podcast a week or so ago – Bendis’ (over)use of flashbacks/time shifts and of witty dialogue. I loved MAv #1 – great art, great writing, well structured, nice cliffhanger to make me buy #2.
#2 was five pages of story stretched out an entire issue. Did the flashbacks add anything useful to the storyline? In this case, they seemed to instead pad out the story.
Bendis is great, no doubt about it. And his dialogue is often fun in a gritty, Elmore Leonard/David Mamet kinda way. But I hope this issue was a hiccup, a momentary overuse of some of his devices.
Oh, and WWIII left a sour aftertaste in my mouth. Mediocre art. Overly long. And a couple of B characters sacrificed for the sake of drama. An unfair comparison, I guess, but this kind of thing was done so vastly better in Alan Moore’s Miracleman.
I couldn’t agree more with Conor, although I’m not done with WWIII, yet. I don’t see it surpassing the Nightwing Annual. Dick Grayson is my favorite character, as well and I keep waiting for someone to do him justice and Andreyko appears to be that guy. Give him the book, now!
Guggenheim on the Flash keeps getting better, but I was really disappointed with Mighty Avengers. Two issues that capture an hour of real time? I’ve been loving Bendis, but this is too damn slow even for him. I agree with Mdan on that one.
Look forward to the podcast and a quick question, is iFanboy doing Countdown?
For Neb’s comment on the new JLA. You didn’t miss anything in the previous issues of JLA that would have helped you understand(except maybe the revelation that Karate Kid was from the future). Meltzer is a good writer but with so many characters running around you kinda get lost in the meat of the story. I hope too that Johns can get together with Meltzer to make a good story. Here’s hopin…
You know what? This was better the second time I read it. The first time, I liked it, but I wasn’t as impressed as everyone else. I think my problem was just reading through it really quickly without giving anyone their own voice or thinking of anything vividly.
Anyhow, in retrospect- this was an awesome book.
HOORAY FOR CUP NOODLE! I finally read it this weekend, it was hilarious! I had a lot more fun reading it than Runaways Vol 2.
I don’t know if I can bother with NIGHTWING ANNUAL #2 after reading this review:
http://www.4thletter.net/?p=441
I don’t know if I can bother with NIGHTWING ANNUAL #2 after reading this review:
Wow, a negative review from someone who doesn’t like Nightwing. Color me shocked.
Listening to the podcast right now and have a gut reaction:
– Yes, JLA sucks overall.
This book gets dropped after the JSA crossover ends. I had never read JSA before the new run. On contrast, I’ve loved JLA for years.
I never would have thought that I would be handing onto to JLA solely because of the JSA.
I can’t express how disappointed I am. I like Metzler’s Identify Crisis and Book of Fate. But man, I can’t keep track of what’s going on in JLA even in the same issue.
Nah, I have to disagree with the idea that Justice League of America is outright bad. I cringed when I saw the Hall of Justice and I get some of the dialogue captions mixed up, but I thought the last arc ended well. I think Meltzer has accurate characterizations. Yeah, the plot isn’t exactly straight forward, but I think it could be a lot worse. I do like Red Tornado being a member and Black Canary as chair person. I would give Justice League a solid “B” grade.
I would take it one step further and give him an A for effort. He’s trying to do something different and challenging and play with the format, and even if it doesn’t work, it’s commendable. Plus it might get better in time.
Conor – I think I’m more weirded out by a depiction of Dick giving Babs a pity fuck. . .
Conor – I think I’m more weirded out by a depiction of Dick giving Babs a pity fuck. . .
I wouldn’t describe it as that at all. It was more of a I’m-off-about-to-marry-this-other-woman-but-you’re-still-my-true-love fuck.
does anybody know if/when winter soldier will continue?
The character? In the pages of Captain America, presumably…
Re: “chum.”
Maybe Batman was being literal, as in “Dick Grayson ought to be chopped up and fed to sharks?” (I love Nightwing, but it’s possible Batman was being a jerk, right?) “He’s my chum,” and “he’s chum” are two very different phrases, and “hello, chum” is pretty vague, I think.
“He’s my chum” is a really disturbing sentence in that context.
Like, “He’s my livestock.” Bonus points if you know that.
Great recommendation. I hunted for this and loved it. Mostly because I, too, am a sucker that superhero romance stuff.
But I have a question that I never got a straight answer for: Who’s older? Dick or Babs? Not really a life-or-death question, just a detail that I never got straight.
But I have a question that I never got a straight answer for: Who’s older? Dick or Babs? Not really a life-or-death question, just a detail that I never got straight.
Historically, Barbara was 4-5 years older. In this issue they were both 16.
Overall I enjoyed 52 this week, mainly because I love to see Black Adam at his most volatile. However I’m having a real hard time understanding his motivation. I don’t see how his family being killed would lead him to commmit genocide on an epic scale. I could see him aggresively pursuing those directly responsible, but his actions seem too excessive given the circumstances. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being overly critical.
On World War III, maybe I wasn’t reading it very closely at the end, but I didn’t realize that what they did there was reset Black Adam’s password to his powers. Did I miss it or was that something that was explained in 52? I only read the four World War III books.
I think Black Adam’s password change was only mentioned in 52, however I haven’t read the last issue of World War III.
Personally I thought this book was written by a 14 year old. I couldn’t stand the immature actions of the characters and the constant sex jokes. If their going to have someone write a comic that explores relationships could they at least have someone write it who is mature enough have one? Please this whole piece read like a fnaboys wet dream.
“I wouldn’t describe it as that at all. It was more of a I’m-off-about-to-marry-this-other-woman-but-you’re-still-my-true-love fuck.”
Which is of course how women always interpret that kind of thing…
“I couldn’t stand the immature actions of the characters and the constant sex jokes”
I really do not understand these comments at all, and you are by no means the only person to write that. Many, many people have written the same thing — about a book that had one situation spanning about 3 pages at most with that. That one picture of Robin with the cape over the green pants would make people who have not read the book think the entire book was all about that and only that.
I live next to three elementary school kids and have taught in a Junior High School. If anybody thinks “immature actions of the characters and the constant sex jokes” are out of place at that age, I really do not know what planet you live on. I think our culture makes too much out of sex, but expecting kids to act like model members of the Mormon Tabernacle Boys Choir after we turn 20 when we never acted that way at that age is part of the same cultural dilemma.
I would not say the Nightwing Annual was great, or wonderful, but I would not slam the book the way others have. It was nice, and if nice seems kind of mediocre, then it was kind of mediocre. I know and like the characters and their history, so I thought it was OK, but I think it could seem pretty mediocre to others.
And that’s all.