Nightwing #143: Gang War or Event Tie-In?

Nightwing #143 reads like it is actively pushing against being a Bad Seeds tie-in. The previous issue did a good job intersecting with the event without really being a part of it. Writer Dan Watters tries that again here but with much more mixed results.

Villains taking advantage of a bad situation in Gotham City is fairly standard in Batman events, and Bad Seeds is no exception. In Nightwing #143 it’s Scarface who is making his move. Scarface has an obsession with past gangster activity in this issue, and he is looking to create some kind of spiritual successor and reenactment of the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Watters ties this into Gotham’s current gangland status quo (which revolves around the Minotaur). On its own, this is an intriguing idea–and that’s even considering that Scarface comes across somewhat ridiculous in this issue.

The gangland story doesn’t blend well with the events of Bad Seeds, though. There’s never a point where it feels like Nightwing and Robin have a serious connection to this plot. And in the process, Nightwing #143 fails at connecting on any kind of deeper character oriented level. That character based drama is what made Nightwing #142 work so effectively. Indeed, character drama is at the heart of the best Bad Seeds issues. There is not enough of it here.

This plot incompatibility is made much worse by the inclusion of Damian Wayne. He doesn’t pair comfortably with Dick in either of Nightwing #143’s plots. A good part of this owes to Watters treatment of Damian as a somewhat less serious, more fun loving character than he is usually portrayed, especially when in costume.

Watters’ strange portrayal of Damian within this story is made worse by Lapham’s art. Conveying emotion via character facial expressions is not a problem for Lapham. Indeed, those expressions can sometimes be over the top. The depiction of Damian suffers very much from this tendency. He’s too childish at times. There are many instances of very wide eyes or a wide mouth. And in those moments where Watters writes him a bit lighter, Lapham’s art goes too far, making his expressions a little too broad, especially when he’s drawn happy. Damian can be a tricky needle to thread because of the almost contradictory combination of his youth and all the emotional energy that implies with his too-serious maturity. Watters and Lapham don’t get him quite right, and it proves to be an additional distraction within a plot that already isn’t working.

Dick and Damian are the weakest links when it comes to Lapham’s art. Damian has specific failings. Dick is consistently overly exaggerated in a general sense. Other characters are subdued relative to the heroes, and their expressions are much more effective. The best scenes in the issue are those that primarily feature Scarface, his ventriloquist, and their goons. Lapham’s most effective work, though, is in the detail he provides to objects and backgrounds. There is always a sense of depth and layers in the panel which is welcome.

Segala’s coloring doesn’t add anything to this higher level of background detail, unfortunately. This is especially on display in all the exterior scenes where Lapham is most detailed and most liberal with linework. The choices Segala makes for buildings, plantlife, and overall light level blend together too much, leaving entire scenes looking uniform and boring in appearance. It’s a rare coloring problem for the book.

The very flat coloring Segala uses in these exterior scenes also doesn’t play well with the shade of blue Abbott uses for Nightwing’s monologue caption boxes. It’s hard to say this is the fault of either of them (though certainly Abbott is simply staying consistent with a longrunning style choice), but it’s another example of the issue’s visuals not working well.