Just Stay at Home

The story of the Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird seems to be almost over. It's been an interesting experiment, putting a couple of untested characters in the lead of what should be the premiere superhero comics. It's hard to say whether or not it worked; it's easy to say that it was never intended to be permanent.

The question then becomes: what happens to the two of them? I imagine they'll survive their scuffle with "Rao" and go on to play a part in War of the Supermen. Whether they make it out of that alive is hard to say. Chris is going to have to face his birth father at some point. That's a given. The confrontation has been brewing for a while and it's bound to be messy.

Thara is going to have to deal with Alura, too. After all, Supergirl's mother blames Thara for her Zor-El's murder. So that won't go well either. Still, both of these encounters will almost certainly happen.

But after War of the Supermen? It's hard to say where things will end up. It's distinctly possible that Kandor stays in the bottle. It's distinctly possible that it has to stay in the bottle for whatever reason. Really, I think when this is all over most things are going back to the status quo: Zod and his goons go back to the Phantom Zone, Alura and everyone else (save Supergirl) get stuck in the bottle, and Nightwing and Flamebird become the heroes of Kandor.

Still, I'd like to be wrong. I'd love for their to be a real shake up in the way things play out. But how often does something so radical -- not to mention permanent -- actually happen in comics?

Well, I was about a million degrees off on the identities of Flamebird and Nightwing in this week's issue of Action. But me being wrong is nothing new, so that's okay.

Really, I think this pair will turn out to have a much better story. Especially since their main enemies appear to be Zod and Ursa. The concept of "sleepers" on Earth is a fascinating one... Especially when you know where they're coming from.

Oh, and it seems that the only Kryptonians of the El brothers' generation capable of degree of common sense were Jor and Zor. Why are so many Kryptonians either completely oblivious or just damn mean?

As you probably already know Greg Rucka and Eddy Barrows are taking over Action Comics this month. The star of the book will not be Superman, but rather Nightwing and Flamebird. No, not that Nightwing.

At the moment we don't really know who the characters are. We've got little more than a few hints and a some speculation. But as I am wont to do here this night I shall make my own predictions as to who the characters are.

First up is Nightwing. This Nightwing is a young male with black hair, clearly possessing both the powers of super-strength and flight. He's also got something he calls "tactile telekinesis." So it's pretty obvious to me that it is Superboy.

The tactile telekinesis gives it away, but you've also got the fact that both Nightwing and Flamebird seemed to know exactly how "New Krypton" would end. And if you're reading Legion of Three Worlds it's pretty obvious that that is where Superboy will be returning to life. And if he came from the future, he already knew what would happen.

The other member of the duo is Flamebird. She's a little trickier to pin down -- we haven't actually seen her fly under her own power and clues to her identity are sparse. Still, if the preview of next week's issue is accurate she has brown hair. It's not much to go on, but I still believe that Flamebird is Linda Danvers, former Supergirl.

That seems like a bit of a longshot, yes? After all, she hasn't been seen in years. But there are a few things that lead me to that conclusion. First, her new codename is Flamebird -- and as Supergirl she sported a pair of flaming wings (if you don't know what I'm talking about it's needlessly complicated and I won't explain it here).

Secondly, with her on the team that would mean that Nightwing and Flamebird are both heroes who are partially human and have worn the "S". Who better to protect the Earth from evil Kryptonians?

by Scipio Garling
Gotham City, The Gotham Times
(Multiversal Press Association)

The United Underworld has pulled off the seemingly impossible with an across-the-board attack on the line of Batman titles, leaving three dead and two wounded.

Dan Didio, Grant Morrison, Fabian Nicienza, and Peter Tomasi (see photo at left), have cancelled the Nightwing series, the Robin series, and the Birds of Prey series, all staples of the Batman editorial line. Each of these titles stars one of Batman historically principal in-family allies, Dick "Nightwing" Grayson, Tim "Robin" Drake, and Barbara "Batgirl/Oracle" Gordon.

Meanwhile, in another part of Gotham City, the incomprehensibly puzzling writing of Grant Morrison (see photo at right) has incapacitated the two main Batman titles, Batman and Detective Comics, possible killing their star, and leaving even long-time readers riddled with doubt.

Also crippled by the attack were Batfamily members Spoiler and the Huntress, hard-luck cult favorite Manhunter, women's issues pioneer Zinda Blake, and a host of supporting characters and secondary villains.

Reaction to the attack has been mixed.

"Zis obzezhion vit ze Batman is unhealt'y," opined local psychologist H. Strange (see photo at left). "It is a vise move to cripple ze Batman lines at zis time, particularly as his rezent zinematic zuzesses have led to an overzealous popularity vit zis character among ze masses." Strange posited that the changes may, in fact, be good for the Batman family in the longer run. "Vhatever does not kill, it makes stronger. New birt' comes vit pain. Pain unt zuffering vill make ze Batman strong, even stronger. Pain like ze lashing of ze vhip! Suffering like zat of the characters and readers of All-Star Batman und Robin!"

Another interviewee, who wished to remain anonymous and identified himself only as "a Stranger" to Gotham (see photo at right), voiced the concerns of many. "For years, the Batman and his allies have used darkness as a weapon; but now a greater darkness has descended upon them and upon us all! Seek solace in friends and band together against the lowering storm. I cannot join you, for I must remain.... a stranger. Otherwise, my sexual orientation would become too public."

The Gotham Times wants to know YOUR opinion. Please contact our Letters to the Editor Column below.

Well, I think we finally have the Nightwing we've all been waiting for.

At least, in Heroclix.

There's already been a Nightwing Heroclix figure; it was in the first DC set. But in the first set Heroclix designers didn't quite have the hang of how to use the dials and the mechanics of the game to represent comic book characters.

The original figure did do some cool things, particularly his double incapacitate, which allowed him to paralyze two opponents with one attack. But, like many early figures, he had a glass jaw and very little utility in his lower dial.

Naturally, this did not please the Wingnut crowd, and they've been clamoring in vain for a new Nightwing in each subsequent DC set. They've had no luck and had to stand by and watch Wizkids put out the Vampire Batman, Batman With Kryptonite Gloves, the Golden Age Batman, Kingdom Come Batman, Parachuting Batman, Batman One Million, and Batman&Robin. Even worse, they've had to stand by like ill-coutured bridesmaids as Wizkids, rather than making a new Nightwing, wasted slots on figures like Lady Shiva, two Starfires, the Human Defense Corps, Kobra, Maxima, Rocket Red, Jade, Jinx, Hyena, Azrael, the Shining Knight, Black Mask, Katana, Vixen, Alloy, Copperhed, Aztek, Firehawk, Merlin, Zauriel...

and Geo-Force. Shudder. I mean, Geo-Force; really.

But for the Wingnuts, the sun has now risen! I can't imagine how many of these little boys'll be under Devin Greyson's pillows. So to speak.

Dual Membership Nightwing can use the Outsiders and Titans team abilities and possesses the Outsiders and Titans team symbols.

Nightwing can divide his time among all those teams for the first three slots of his dial, when he also has another special power to give him some mobility and protection:

Acrobat Nightwing can use Combat Reflexes, Energy Shield/Deflection, and Leap/Climb.

That’s a +2 to his defense against both ranged and close combat attacks, and even if the power is countered by an opponent’s Outwit, his defense values remain solid. Pair that with a 6 range for his BATARANGS (Incapacitate) and Leadership on his opening slot, and he’s ready to lead his allies into battle and set up his opponents for his friends’ attacks.

Past his opening slot, Nightwing provides cover for himself and his allies using SMOKE PELLETS (Smoke Cloud) and can tweak combat values as needed, since he was TRAINED BY THE BAT (Perplex).

Deeper in his dial, Nightwing’s combat values remain steady—with his defense value even climbing back up (still buffered by Combat Reflexes!) as he gets his second wind and his final special power:

Fisticuffs Nightwing can use Flurry.

Holy hot stuff! What a great dial! Now, the whole Outsider and Titan abilities thing doesn't thrill me, because I find those abilities dumb and confusing, and the teams they represent don't interest me much either. But his very strong defensive abilities are a great plus and a dial full of Perplex and Outwit makes him a great addition to the Batman Family.

The new Nightwing dial is a perfect example of using the "Special Powers" mechanic to overcome a design flaw in the original set up of the Heroclix dial, that is, the inability to give a figure more than one power in the same place on its dial.

• Wizkids has used to special powers to give Nightwing not one, not two, but three team abilities at the same time.
• One of those is the Batman Ability, which, being equivalent to Stealth, allows Nightwing to have that wicked combo of Stealth (the ability to hide in certain terrain, forcing your opponents to attack you in close combat instead of from a distance) and Leap/Climb (the ability to leap away before an opponent can make a close combat attack!).
• Similarly, "Fisticuffs" lets Nightwing have Flurry, too (the ability to make two close combat attacks against an opponent in the same turn). So, while on a old dial, a figure would have been able to have only one of the three powers Flurry, Leap/Climb, and Stealth, Nightwing has all three at the same time!
• And, of course, "Acrobat" gives Nightwing two defensive powers at the same time (which certainly solves his old "glass jaw" problem!).

With this newly useful Nightwing, look for a return to some classic Batfamily teams, like

1. The wickedly sneaky "Out of the Shadows" Batman (74 points)
2. The new multipurpose Nightwing (79 points)
3. The Batman Team Tim Drake/Robin (42 points).
4. Put the "Flashbang" feat (5 points) that lets a figure use its Smoke Cloud as a free action on any one of these guys (probably Batman, though)!
   

Now, that's 200 points of pure batarang-bopping fun!

Wizkids finally "gets" Nightwing (which is more than I can currently say for DC). Maybe we should have the the Wizkids designers write Nightwing's series, too...?