Broken Frontier

Renee Montoya teams up with Nightwing to find Batwoman before she is murdered… but this is only one part of Intergang’s horrible plans for Gotham City.

Only one more issue until the start of World War III in the DC Universe and many of the individual stories fans have followed for a year are spinning to a close. Here Monotya’s tale begins to wrap up as her destiny is fully revealed.

The week opens with Montoya and Nightwing fighting their way through a horde of Intergang’s animal-human hybrids called Fusion Men. While these two might seem an odd pair to team they are united in their concern for the latest (if somewhat unofficial) member of the Bat-Family. Along the way they discover a strange bomb with oddly Apokaliptian markings and make a new ally in Abbot – Mannheim’s disgruntled wolfman. Mannheim is making plans for the ritual death of Kate Kane and that death may also spell doom for Gotham City. As Nightwing and Abbot race to save Gotham it is up to Montoya to save Kate… and maybe make Charlie proud in the process.

The Fab Four of 52 writing team produces a rather strong issue this week. Although most of the story is taken up with running battles there is also surprising emotional depth as Nightwing and Montoya form a surprisingly strong partnership, Montoya comes to grips with her past with Charlie, and as Montoya deals with the prospect of losing someone she had only recently began reconnecting with. One of the drawbacks to this issue, though, is the heavy use of voice over style captioning for Montoya. It begins to wear after the first few pages and in some places it even seems to interrupt the flow of the dialogue. Another, slight, disappointment is the fact that Black Adam’s story is given just a tiny sliver in this issue.

The more emotional content of the story is aided in the pencil work of Darick Robertson over Keith Giffen’s breakdowns. Robertson has a real talent with facial expressions and he catches every nuance. This nuance is a bit surprising since his work tends to embrace a slightly scratchier ink style and often the lighter touches are lost with that style. It is a testament to his skill that he sacrifices nothing for his effects here.

As 52 winds to a close I doubt I am alone among readers who found themselves caring for characters they never thought they would embrace. While Week 48 takes us just one step closer to the time of war the talented writing team never loses sight of the humanity of these various characters.