Nightwing #118

I'm not really a regular reader of Nightwing - in fact, this is the first issue I've read. Nothing against the character, of course. I've been enjoying the other post-Crisis "sidekick assuming mentor's role" sort of stories (like the Messner-Loebs and , and the "sidekick assuming completely different role" has some potential, but he just always seemed like such a dull character back in New Teen Titans, I can't really get excited about a series starring him.

However, I'm kind of curious about the whole One Year Later concept, and, with the massive company-wide crossovers they've been doing, seems like a good excuse to check out all the DC titles I don't read. So far, I've been pleased. Green Arrow and Superman have both been at least interesting, but Nightwing is really kind of awful. I don't really think I'm missing much as far as backstory goes, and (thanks to Kalinara) I was prepared for the high levels of victimization, self-pity, and mopiness that apparently go with the character (which seems sort of out of character for this cheery kid - but I suppose that was pre-Crisis).

Still, none of that really prepared me for dialogue like this:



The combination of gasping and stuttering is possibly more than I can take. That, plus an ill-advised move to a real world city, an incredibly dull stolen identity plot, and WB-style self-pitying dialogue, mean I probably don't need to start reading Nighwing anytime soon.