The next article comprises spoilers from Nightwing #95, on sale now.
Nightwing’s time in Bludhaven has seen him go up in opposition to town’s worst, however he has not often carried out so alone. It’s because he has been exploiting an apparent benefit different heroes also needs to be utilizing: calling on his associates for assist. In Nightwing #95 (by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Caio Filipe, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott), he took this to the following degree by recruiting a number of heroes without delay to assist him take down Blockbuster.
As followers of the DC Universe will word, the assorted heroes, irrespective of which groups or households they belong to, are all one large neighborhood. When one in all them is in bother, it normally causes them to rally collectively to assist. That is an apparent loophole to their issues that extra heroes ought to use. As an alternative of simply soloing it, they may name on one another to unravel issues they might and do discover extremely difficult alone.
Nightwing’s use of his collective associates and allies allowed him to launch a coordinated strike in opposition to Blockbuster’s main prison operations. In a single fell swoop, Nightwing organized the only biggest strike on Blockbuster’s empire within the metropolis’s historical past. He may by no means have achieved this so shortly on his personal. Maybe he may not have been capable of pull it off in any respect. In spite of everything, it will have required him to be in a number of locations concurrently.
That is the place not being afraid to name one’s fellow superhero associates for assist turns out to be useful. They dropped the whole lot to return and assist him. In doing so, they might have truly carried out extra collective good for Bludhaven in a single night time than they ever had on their very own.
This triumph brings up a wonderful query: Why do not heroes do that extra usually? There are such a lot of heroes, they usually’re not at all times busy. Nightwing could have known as upon his closest allies, however there have been nonetheless loads of former teammates and distant associates who weren’t contacted. Collectively, they may tackle any villain or prison group. Simply have a look at how helpless Blockbuster’s bizarre prison forces are in opposition to Nightwing’s associates. Even his powered thugs are little greater than B-list villains.
There could possibly be a number of causes. The obvious, and most meta, reply is that it is just too good a loophole to take advantage of. If each hero all of a sudden known as on their allies when issues bought tense, then there would by no means be any actual stakes in comics once more. A villain would not have as a lot punch as a result of their menace could be diminished within the face of so many heroes. Think about the Joker attempting to level a gun at Superman. It does not have the identical impact.
In a extra sensible sense, it may also not be very possible. Nightwing can name on all these folks as a result of he’s Nightwing. He is arguably probably the most beloved hero within the DC Universe. Compared, there aren’t that many heroes with that sort of private pull with others. There is not even a assure that different heroes can afford to drop what they’re doing to assist. They’ve their very own lives. Then there’s the chance that it may grow to be a crutch, making different heroes complacent of their coaching after they know they will name within the cavalry at any time when. So there’s simply as a lot an argument in opposition to this trump card as there’s for it.