Comics! Nightwing #9

Nightwing #9

Kyle Higgins: writer
Eddy Barros & Andres Guinaldo: pencils
Eber Ferreira, Ruy Jose & Mark Irwin: inks

The Solicitation
• "NIGHT OF THE OWLS" continues here!• NIGHTWING faces another villain claiming to be THE TALON at City Hall as the Court of Owls' plans go into action – but will he be able to figure out what's going on before it's too late?

Preview

The Comic
I've been hard on Higgins before with previous issues, but I really like this one. Essentially we took a couple of issues to talk about the origin of this Talon and it shows. He doesn't come across as a one issue villain, and has been included in a bigger role in the whole crossover since he is Nightwing's great-grandfather.

This issue is here primarily to set up a fight issue with our hero coming out on top. So, knowing that, we should get some nice visuals to further along the story and compliment it just right.

The Art
But we don't.

Let's play a game - its called follow the knives that are in Nightwing's chest. They have a bad habit of disappearing and reappearing at random times. And the one in his shoulder seems to be move-able as it travels up and around his shoulder depending on if he is running into something or not. And the extend of his bloody, bloody wounds depend on the angle that we see him from as well. And the tatters of his costume reappear in different spots.

Its an awful lack of attention to detail that really ticks me off. I can understand one or two of those things happening. But a huge combination of all of them? Especially on double page spreads like the first one? You are going to fuck it up that early?

You are seriously going to tell me that you have Nightwing's costume in tatters after he falls off a building but then they are all magically healed when he carries the Talon out of the subway?

The Cover
Nice work. Doesn't display Nightwing's battle wounds though. Matches the consistency of the other Night of the Owls covers with the main character caught in battle with a Talon.

Grades
Words: 6/10
Pictures: 1/10. This would have been about a 6 or 7 if the attention to detail was followed. But then again, I wonder... If there has been the observation that the Talons move like Nightwing does, why didn't we have a more aerial fight sequence with Nightwing instead of a mostly ground based battle?
Recommend: You know what, after that thought I just had, no, I don't recommend this book. There should have been a better fight sequence than this. The story was there for impact, but whoever decided to leave their fight on the ground was a bad decision.
Buy Next Issue: Negative, not even if it ties into the Night of the Owls story.

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