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Nightwing #68
Bridget Haines |
| Title: |
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Time & Motion |
| Cover Date: |
June 2002 |
| Story: |
Chuck Dixon |
| Pencils: |
Trevor McCarthy |
| Inks: |
Rob Stull / Robert Campanella |
| Colors and Separations: |
Gregory Wright / Digital Chameleon |
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Synopsis: (WARNING! SPOILERS!)
Part 6 of the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive!"
storyline opens will Alfred holding a shotgun
on Nightwing, who apparently snuck into the
Manor to try and get down into the cave.
Not anticipating Dick to come in surreptitiously,
the startled butler came prepared for dealing
with a thief. Dick notes his code doesn't
open the secret clock entrance anymore, and
Alfred relates that Bruce changed the codes
and that he was not told the new code. Dick
probes Alfred, knowing the older man had
to have a secret override which of course
he does "For the sake of efficiency".
The two enter the cave.
Dick confirms Alfred has already
done a thorough
cataloging of the cave and asks
if he found
anything to help his case. Alfred
notes there
is nothing that would be considered
practical
evidence, but that he found inconsistencies,
mainly areas that were free of
dust in both
the cave and the house above.
Being as Bruce
wouldn't know where to find a
dust rag, let
alone use one, that seems unlike
him and
indicates someone trying to cover
their tracks.
They briefly discuss Dick still
being a cop,
and how Bruce had attended the
FBI academy
at one point, and how Alfred
regrets he didn't
pursue that career rather than
vigilantism.
Elsewhere, Tad Ryperstadd, aka
Nite-Wing,
and Dudley Soames, aka Torque,
are found
in their hideout, making plans
while Tad
works out.
Back in the cave, a run through
of the security
system shows no unauthorized
entrances or
exits to or from the cave prior
to the night
of the murder when Bruce shut
down the system.
In their hideout, Tad and Dudley
begin to
show that they aren't very compatible
partners.
Soames unpleasant nature emerges
and Tad
realizes they aren't going to
fight crime,
they're going to commit crime,
which doesn't
suit him at all. He wants to
be a righteous
avenger. Soames reveals plans
to get rid
of the rest of the crooks in
the Haven, then
take it over.
Back in the cave, Nightwing continues
going
through the computer system as
Alfred prepares
to clean up after bats which
haven't been
cleaned up after in more than
a year. Nightwing
finds something in the system.
Soames and Ryerstadd continue
to argue.
Dick finds out there were 3 power
outages
in the time leading up to the
murder, both
the main lines and the backup
generators.
That gave someone a time window
to enter
and exit the cave undetected.
Nightwing begins
a sweep of the cave with an electronic
device.
He finds a planted electronic
device under
water that is badly damaged.
Tad and Dudley argue more heatedly,
and the
argument ends in gunshots, without
revealing
who was on the receiving end
of the bullets.
Dick takes the disks burned as
security tapes,
and says he is getting them analyzed,
though
not by Oracle. He brings them
to Robin, and
passes on the new info to the
Boy Wonder.
Robin reveals his dad is taking
the loss
of his fortune very hard. Nightwing
reveals
he is going to try and break
into the cave
himself to figure out how the
intruder got
the devices planted.
An old enemy, straight out of
the Nightwing
80 Page Giant, Hella, returns,
pumping a
guy for the location of Lunchmeat
Deever.
Dick sneaks into Allen and Montoya's
GCPD
office in his police uniform
and winds up
stealing a file on the Wayne
case he'd only
intended to photograph the contents
of, when
the two detectives walk in on
him and he
has to resort to climbing out
on the window
ledge to escape detection.
Analysis:
Cover:  (2 of 5cowls)
Overall, Michael Golden's cover isn't bad,
but it a few elements of it ruin its effectiveness.
The low placement of the title logo beneath
the Fugitive banner simply does not work,
and the colors of the cover make the banner
all but disappear. The Nightwing figure itself
is well drawn, though the nose and mouth
don't seem right for some reason. The schematics
overlaying the image are distracting, the
color is annoying, and it obscures the background
of the cave. If the pink overlay was removed,
it would be a MUCH better cover. Michael,
you have talent, you don't need fluorescent
colors on your covers detracting and distracting
from your work. This cover would have been
a 3, possibly a 4 minus the pink schematic
overlay.
Story: (3 of 5 cowls)
At least this time around Chuck seems to
be more fully into the Fugitive aspect of
the story, and for that I am grateful. He
still makes for a rather choppy read though
with his constant switching from one scene
to another. The Tad and Dudley business could
have easily been wrapped up in one short
section, leaving the rest of the issue to
the main story and letting me focus on it.
I'm curious about the dropped bit about Bruce
having been in the FBI Academy. The little
"chat" about it seemed out of place,
and stuck into the main storyline, as if
maybe it's a plot hook. Could the murderer
be someone from Bruce's past in the academy
that put 2 and 2 together? I also see Hella
is the returning villain hinted at last month.
Yawn. She didn't do a thing for me in the
80 Page Giant. I would much rather have seen
the return of Lady Vic or Sylph, who at least
have not had everything about them already
revealed. This seems like the Hella story
is just going to be a retread of the former
one she was in. Same victim and everything.
Ah well, at least I think we get our new
artist next month.
Artwork: (2 of 5 cowls)
More Trevor McCarthy, in spite of last issue
being reported as his last. Again he is not
a bad artist, he is merely unsuited to this
type of story. He seems to be getting more
consistent with drawing specific characters,
but I still do not like his renditions of
them. At least Alfred looks the same in each
panel this time out, and I'm not recognizing
characters solely on the fact they are in
the same clothing on different pages as the
faces are abstracted so much a character
doesn't look the same twice. He's getting
better, but again, his style is not good
for this book. One major pet peeve in his
renditions…making Dick look like a deranged
elf is one thing, but Robin is 16 years old,
and drawn like he is 7 or 8. Yikes. Even
Young Justice's stylized art still conveys
that he is a teen, this made him look pre-pubescent.
Boy Wonder doesn't mean Little Boy Wonder.
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