some comics reviews
Nightwing #102: OK, I'm enjoying this. I'd given up on Nightwing lately because the unremitting gloom and doom got to be too much for me -- but this? Pure fun. Dixon throws in humor, action, and serious (but not angstful) character work, and makes it look easy. I mentioned a while back that I prefer the DCU approach to the superhero community, and Dick's trip to ask Superman for advice is one example of why -- they come off as friends, not just two guys who happen to wear spandex and team up every once in a while, as you tend to see in the Marvel Universe. Dixon does a great Metropolis, too, and it makes me realize part of why I never bought Lois/Clark: Lois works better as an antagonist for Clark than as a partner for him and Superman.
Also, *dude.* I marked out over the solicits for this storyline when I saw Dixon was bringing Deadman in. Because I've been trying to figure out a Nightwing-and-Deadman team-up idea for, like, *months.* And now I get to watch a pro roll with it. *Sweet.*
Robin #134: Everyone else bitches about the writing on Robin. If anything, my bigger problem is with the art. It's blobby and ugly, and the page design is terrible; there's often no separation of events by panels, and sometimes that gets confusing. The cover is just embarrassing; it literally looks like something the editors were sent in the mail.
That said, the best that I can say about Willingham's writing is that it's been uninspired. This issue, it just goes nonsensical. The writer has established that Tim has issues with Batman; that he left Gotham in part to get away from Batman, for a while; that his life is stressful and painful, and Batman bears some of the blame for that. So when Batman offers to adopt him, Tim's immediate reaction is, of course, "Yay!"
...
Dude, I'm not emotionally invested in Tim's characterization the way some people are, so I can't bring myself to get mad about it, but I just can't explain how little sense that makes. As Walt Kelly put it, "You lost me as you was goin' past the Elks Lodge."
Batgirl #60: More good fun. Gabrych gets the characters very well, and he understands the importance of brevity and grace. Cass's new headquarters is great, and she's settling into Bludhaven very well. I'm happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.
it literally looks like something the editors were sent in the mail.
No, the fanart people send in with their fanmail tends to be pretty good, actually, to judge by the examples that used to occasionally get printed in lettercols. ::mourns the lettercols:: I have a sneaking suspicion, actually, that the cover was meant to be an homage to the style of some pop-modernist artist or other, but even if that's the case, it was the wrong approach for the medium. Which pretty much sums up the whole of the Willinghamfucktard/Scott run, really.