Nightwing #55
DC Comics
Written by: Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza
Art by: Chris Mooneyham and Garry Brown
Colors by: Hi-Fi
Letters by: Andworld Design
Before delving into the actual content of Nightwing #55, these two covers are so sick. Personally, I favor Tyler Kirkham’s. That’s not a knock at all on Chris Mooneyham and Nick Filardi’s work because they did a great job. In fact, Mooneyham, Garry Brown and Hi-Fi’s rugged art is perfect for the series. The dark passion behind serves as a constant reminder about what’s going on with Ric Grayson internally. Now, if this were a Dick Grayson story, their work might not fit as well, solely due to the tenor of Nightwing versus Ric
Circling back to Kirkham’s variant cover, I love its movie poster-feel. It’s quite different from Mooneyham and company’s work, but that’s also why it works. Kirkham’s cover is Nightwing, not Ric Grayson. His art is the type that fits perfectly with the character if he ever reverts back to his old self. (Also, Kirkham including Red Hood in the cover doesn’t hurt my opinion of it either. He did very well with the new look.)
Looking into the story, Ric appears to be having a tougher and tougher time keeping his old self from reemerging, despite what Scarecrow said in Nightwing #54. Every time he’s mixed up in a fight his old reflexes kick back in, and Ric was put to the test more than ever in Nightwing #55 after dealing with Scarecrow’s newest victims.
But Ric is still figuring out how he wants to handle the entire situation. He won’t have a choice in the end though. He’ll have to fight Scarecrow because Crane will get to the Nightwings. In fact, I expect he’ll cut through them like a hot knife through butter. And once Scarecrow realizes Detective Alphonse Sapienza isn’t the same Nightwing he’s going to lose his mind. That’s what will force Ric’s hand. Because at that point, it won’t matter if he’s Dick or Ric, he’ll be the only one who can stop the chaos.
When Ric does step in, if he’s not wearing any Nightwing garb—and he probably won’t be—Crane will finally put two and two together.