Nightwing #130
	Story Title: ‘Bride & Groom’ (Part 2: The Courtship) Writer: Marv Wolfman Penciller: Jamal Igle Inker: Keith Champagne Colorist: The Hories Letterer: Travis Lanham Asst. Editor: Elisabeth V. Gehrlein Editor: Peter Tomasi Published by: DC Comics
	Reviewed by: Bruce Logan

Nightwing, both the character and the series, has been through some really bad days. Then again, even though both have shown improvements lately, it certainly has seen better days too. There in lies the problem with the current creative team’s run with the ‘wingster. Although both the writing and art are more competent and without a doubt leagues better than anything done in the last few years baring the Nightwing: Year One arc a short time back, even at six issues in (under with the current writer) I can’t help but feel that this isn’t so much a Nightwing story as it is one starring a Generic ‘in his 20s’ Hero. Sure the family meeting from last issue sets up the Bat-Clan link but take that away and you could just as well have this story with Connor Hawke, Arsenal or for that matter the current Robin. Even the supporting cast doesn’t have any defining characteristics, as intriguing as they are.

While the main character himself isn’t going any wonders, it is in the villains that writer Marv Wolfman has really made the difference. Not only do these characters really seem as characters, both in having a past and present, they also have an actual personality - case in point, the bride and groom, the baddies of this arc. Granted neither of them is going to lasting classic characters but as it stands now they are more than adequate. As to why they are together in the first place and how come they are both seemingly immortal both questions are get answered in this issue. The bride is the ‘vampire’ and the groom is the ‘compass’, and as shown in the end also a ‘battery’.

As for Nightwing’s part here, he is limited to doing the obligatory beating up and going through the paces in trying to ascertain the identity of and track down the person (or as it here, people) responsible. En route things become personal for him, something that didn’t quite work for me. I mean, we already have him tracking the bad guys, did we really need to give it this angle, make for another appearance of ‘Emo-wing’.

Lastly, the art and simply put, Jamal Igle’s pencils have life in them. I first became familiar with him with Firestorm and liked him there. With the ever competent Keith Champagne assisting with inks and Richard & Tanya Horie on the colors, this issue of Nightwing is definitely among the best of recent times. That said; I am still not quite settled with his Nightwing, not the series just the character. Then again, that is just one small bit in an overall impressive final product.

Conclusion: This title now has all the right ingredients in it and all should be right. Only it isn’t. Whether by chance or by deliberation, DC is making (if not already made) Nightwing into what DC Comics’ Executive Editor Dan Didio views him as, ‘Redundant’.

RATING: 7.5/10