Nightwing #55 Review

Writer: Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza / Artist: Chris Mooneyham, Garry Brown / DC Comics Unafraid of Fear Six issues deep into the Knight Terrors arc and remarkably little has changed regarding the status quo. Ric Grayson is mostly over being Dick Grayson, although he can’t help but live in a city that triggers his latent muscle memory. A small band of cops have taken over the Nightwing mantel and have brazenly embraced the vigilante lifestyle. And finally, Scarecrow is working on some evil scheme that involves his fear toxin and infecting the city. Honestly, Scarecrow’s situation has probably changed the most out of the three different arcs we’ve been following, and it’s been a very clear-cut secretive to overt type of operations.

Nightwing #55, more so than any other issue in the arc before it, feels like it came out of the 90’s. Between the particular era of film noir Ric Grayson evokes and the bad boy cop schema with the mad scientist’s dastardly plans for destruction, it feels outdated in some ways. After all the forward momentum made in Nightwing #54, this issue sort of stumbles over itself. Lobdell’s plot continues to advance at a glacial pace. Nicieza has a good grasp on Ric and Scarecrow and makes those segments somewhat compelling. The cops, arguably the focal point of the series, are somewhat stereotypical and forgettable. We lack the same emotional connection to them, despite being told their backstory and motivation. It just isn’t as interesting. All that said, …