Nightwing #20

The Prankster uses a special kind of electricity that doesn't shine any light.

Dick Grayson is in Chicago trying to find Tony Zucco, the man that killed his parents. He's also the man inadvertently responsible for him becoming Nightwing, if you're one of those weirdos that tries to see the positive in everything. He's renting out a room in some crappy little apartment. But at least it includes furnishings and a half-naked woman. But then again, if you're a normal person that always knows things are worse than they appear, you won't be surprised that the half-naked woman has a bat and can't wait to use it.

Look, I didn't get much sleep last night. So think up your own Batwoman and/or Dick joke here.

Dick sure meets a lot of cute women. But does he ever meet normal women? I think Sonia was the only normal woman he's met in a long while and she turned out to be the daughter of the man that murdered his parents. And by that record, my guess is this new girl that he's rooming with is The Prankster.

Oh look! She knows all about computer whatsits just like The Prankster does!

There's also a panel with Dick saying, "I'm just happy there's no bat." I hope nobody takes that moment in time out of context and shows it to Batman! His feelings might be hurt. Ha ha! Batman having feelings! That's a good one.

Nightwing continues to search for Tony Zucco by crouch jumping around Chicago's skyline. Meanwhile Tony Zucco is cowering in the mayor's office worried he's going to have to fake his own death again and lose his new family now that Nightwing's on his trail.

Nightwing meets up with his informant Johnny Spade to learn about Zucco's location. But to get the information from this rat, Nightwing has to win a game of cards. So far in the Reboot, DC has shown a piss poor understanding of poker. I guess it's time to find out if Kyle Higgins is any better.

I would expect Nightwing to prefer the term "card sharp." Card Shark just sounds like another Gotham City Looney.

Kyle Higgins doesn't even bother to show the game since Nightwing doesn't play the cards. He's all about reading his opponent. A short time passes between panels and Johnny Spade is dishing dirt. Spade didn't find out anything about Zucco but he realized there was somebody in Chicago that could probably trace the dead-end email Nightwing had: The Prankster. So Spade found out where The Prankster would be that night and Nightwing goes to battle his roommate but in costume this time.

Okay, maybe it isn't his roommate. Maybe he'll use his roommate's hacker abilities to find The Prankster. But come on! This is a comic book! So it's probably Joey his roommate!

The Prankster has blinded Nightwing by hacking his heads up display on his domino mask goggles. The Prankster manages to knock Nightwing into a closed glass container with a flame. It's a backdraft exhibit in the science museum. To escape, Nightwing must open one of two hatches. One will fill the chamber with oxygen and burn Nightwing to death. The other will allow him freedom. But he needs to remove his mask to pick the right hatch. And The Prankster is waiting outside with a camera.

Nightwing #20 Rating: No change. I'm sorry, Nightwing. I couldn't concentrate very well on your comic book tonight because I'm having work and car troubles. Which means I need to get up and actually do things during the day tomorrow. I hate doing work related stuff during the day and I'm nervous my car has an electrical short instead of just an old dead battery (I know it has an old dead battery! I'm just hoping it's not more!) and so my stomach is all upset and nervous because anything that changes up my normal routine freaks me out a bit. So this comic book might have been better than it was. It also might have been worse! I'm just too distracted right now for comics.