Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Review | Tagged: Batman, bernard chang, dc comics, detective, dick grayson, jamal campbell, Marcelo Maiolo, nightwing, sam humphries, superheroes, The Judge, Titans
Nightwing #41 Review: The Judge Receives His Sentencing
An unknown figure visits Guppy in prison, and we flashback to Nightwing narrowly escaping the bomb the Judge has left in the casino. He even saves the person holding the bomb, and he won't let the Judge get away. Nightwing finds his limousine, and their final confrontation begins.
At last, this bizarrely grim story from a generally upbeat writer about a high-flying and fun-loving hero comes to an end. It's a decent end at that. It manages some solid catharsis, and it brings a sense of closure that a story like this sorely needed.
There aren't any loose threads here. The Judge gets a couple of weirdly funny lines here and there. Nightwing gets to slug him a good one, even if a villain like this deserved something of a sustained beating instead of a single punch.
Even the framing device with Guppy provides some much-needed levity to the book. Guppy is happier than last we saw him. He has come to terms with what happened, and he even helps Nightwing to stop wallowing in his guilt.
Bernard Chang contributes the art to the main sequence while Jamal Campbell works the framing sequence with Guppy. Both do some good work here. Both artists have a sleek and energetic style, which means the two actually bring a fairly cohesive visual identity to the book. Campbell gives Guppy some expression and visual personality, which is fairly hard to accomplish with a shark-man. Chang gives the showdown with the Judge some gravitas, and it's sequenced quite well.
Campbell's color art is softer and brings some more levity to the framing scenes. Marcelo Maiolo plays the darker shades of the middle portion with some almost-neon coloring in Nightwing's costume and sky around him.
Nightwing #41 brings a solid if unexciting ending to 'The Untouchable'. It closes off the story well, but the story was badly flawed from the beginning and ran far too long. However, I enjoyed this conclusion and can recommend it. Feel free to pick it up.