Nightwing #15 (DC)

writer: Kyle Higgins
artist: Eddy Barrows

(via dccomics.com)

"Death of the Family" kicked off in October, but the major event kicked off in December.  DC created nifty die-cut covers, which is not represented in the above image.  That was an alternate cover for the issue.  The one I have has the "face mask" of the Joker as he currently exists included as a flap under which is Nightwing's own face.  Apparently there was the chance that Joker was actually going to cut the faces off Batman's allies (the only time I heard about this before the conclusion of the story in the recent Batman #17 was in relation to Jason Todd, who shares the Red Hood identity with the Joker, who had that persona before his transformation into the Clown Prince of Crime), so these covers would have been pretty ironic in hindsight.

And so goes the cleverness of the whole arc.  Some fans were disappointed that Joker didn't have a "Death in the Family" (in which he murdered Jason, who got better) or The Killing Joke (in which he crippled Barbara Gordon, who got better) moment, while others thought it was all about the emotional impact.  As in "Night of the Owls," Dick Grayson and his current writer Kyle Higgins enjoyed the story by making it extra personal, and once again tying in the renewed Haly's Circus connection that has been the hallmark of this New 52 series since its launch.

Early on I was a pretty big cheerleader of both the series and Higgins.  Lately I've cooled on both.  It's become easier to skip issues, and it's much for the same reasons that I've found it so easy to not read Higgins pal Scott Snyder's Batman.  When Snyder first starting writing the Dark Knight in the pages of Detective Comics, it seemed like he would be a writer who would really be able to exploit the character's rich lineage.  There was a moment where he actually had the crowbar used by Joker to murder Jason on auction.  Then Snyder got Batman in the New 52 relaunch and started writing in arcs that the whole Batman family got to participate in.  He and Higgins had previously written Gates of Gotham together, so it was no surprise when Nightwing had a little extra significance in "Night of Owls," and at that point I still believed that Higgins had a vision, the way Chuck Dixon and Devin K. Grayson (no relation to Dick) did before him.  He started out so well.  But he's since begun wallowing in randomness, meandering through rather than exploring Nightwing's life, using something relevant to do nothing at all with it, which is Haly's Circus, where Dick grew up, where he lost his parents, and where a connection with a character named Zucco only goes so far (Tony Zucco called the hit on his parents, while Sonia Zucco is his current love interest).

Sometimes a slow burn is worth it.  Sometimes it's just a writer spinning his wheels.  Maybe it's because Higgins has to write around Snyder, maybe it's because he trusts Snyder too much, along with so many Batman fans.  And I'm not reluctant about Snyder because he's supplanted Grant Morrison as the main Batman writer (while Morrison is still writing Batman), but that his stories never seem to go anywhere, either.  I read the early issues of American Vampire because Snyder was working on that book in association with Stephen King, who wrote a separate narrative that did go somewhere, while Snyder didn't.  Sure, King's work ended early while Snyder's continues (currently on hiatus, though), but every now and again I want my faith in a writer to be rewarded.  King has proven that many times over.  Morrison has.  Snyder hasn't, and Higgins has reached that point, and I'm afraid he won't get beyond it.

Solicitations for future issues of Nightwing have him agonizing over the fallout of "Death of the Family," yet as evidenced in #15 there's really nothing to worry about.  Sure there are personal deaths associated with Joker's actions at Haly's Circus, but these are characters Higgins has really only just introduced.  Part of Dick Grayson's problem is that he's never had a consistent supporting cast.  He's had Batman, Barbara (maddeningly always only a would-be lover), the Teen Titans.  I mean, Jason has managed to go further with Starfire than he ever did, and Dick married the girl!  (Although the wedding went horribly, thanks to Raven, not that anyone cares.)

Anyway, this is to say that Nightwing in my experience with "Death of the Family" was certainly no Batman and Robin, which you'll remember I was gaga over.  Brilliant work there.  Not so much here.  More like frustrating.  I want something to happen in this series.  Dick has proven time and time again that he's not just a supporting character in Batman's world.  Higgins has returned him to his own.  But in many ways, he's also brought him right back to where he started, under the shadow of the Dark Knight.  That's just not right.