Killing Dick Grayson has not been as easy as Blockbuster thought it would be. Perhaps blowing up his entire apartment building would help? If only there was someone fast enough to stop that kind of destruction from happening… Nightwing #90, written by Tom Taylor, drawn by Geraldo Borges, colored by Adriano Lucas and lettered by Wes Abbott.
I feel like I missed an issue somewhere.
No, I’m not talking about #89, where thanks to a quick crossover I got to talk about Nightwing over in Superchat. I mean the one where we were introduced to this odd council of Blockbuster henchmen that showed up on the first page. Also, where is Heartless? I was led to believe he was important to this series.
Now, I know I’ve said that Nightwing is at its best when it’s just having fun, and I don’t want to take that back. This is a fun issue, and I’m always happy to see Wally West show up and be the best pal a superhero could ask for. The thing is, though, it feels like Nightwing is meandering. By itself, I don’t mind a story that’s going nowhere, and just has as much fun as it can, issue to issue. The thing is, though, that we keep getting told that this is all part of a larger plot, and while we are getting glimpses of that larger plot every now and again, waiting for it to become the main focus is becoming tiring.
Which leads to issues like these, where it feels like there’s been a jump in the story that no one told us about. Suddenly, Nightwing’s not just up against Blockbuster, Heartless and the very concept of Poverty Itself, he’s also got a mysterious agency gunning for him, KGBeast returning, some guy with way more knives than seems practical, and of course, high ranking city officials themselves. It’s begun to get disorienting, the way this book jumps around with no clear focus, but when it’s good, it’s delightful.
Geraldo Borges comes in as a guest-artist this issue, and he’s doing his best to give us all the things we love Bruno Redondo for. The matter-of-fact panels laying out the comic’s action like an instruction manual, the clear layouts of a building Dick’s bouncing through…none of it quite as good as what it’s aiming to be, but it’s enough. Adriano Lucas’ colors, though, feel wasted on this art. They’re gorgeous, yes, but now I’m too used to what they can do with better atwork.
Wally, though, is just complete fun. He stole the spotlight in that Titans reunion issue, and I’m glad to see him get more panel time here. My one complaint is that, right from the cover (or earlier, for those of you who follow previews and solicits), we knew we had a speedster coming, and it feels odd that he didn’t arrive in time to be able to save the building. It’s a writing choice that sets up an expectation Taylor clearly didn’t intend to set up…but one that left me disappointed all the same.
Blockbuster outsources the killing of Dick Grayson to La Agente Funèbre (the Funeral Agent, which, ah, isn’t quite as catchy in English), whose methods care little for collateral damage. Thankfully, Dick Grayson’s sister and Mayor of Blüdhaven Melinda Zucco tips him off in the nick of time, allowing him to save his neighbors and himself. Hearing of the news, Wally zooms in, and though he’s too late to save anybody, he convinces Dick to stay the night at the West home in Keystone. I enjoyed this bit, too. It’s been fun having the West family back in comics again over in The Flash series, and Taylor has always written playful, fun family dynamics.
Of course, there’s more than one way to get at Grayson, leading to KGBeast kidnapping Barbara Gordon in the hopes of luring Grayson out. There’s no real threat here, but Nightwing and Flash take the opportunity to speedily switch places with Barbara and take the fight to KGBeast himself.
It was an abrupt ending, but I’m learning to get used to those. Nightwing is all over the place as a comic. Crossovers here, gimmicks there, and in the background, a handful of pages at a time, what aims to be a More Important Plot inches forward. Nightwing is starting to feel like a comic that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be past its fun, heart, and humor. I’m learning to manage my expectations for this comic—it’s proving to be quite necessary.
Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told. From video games to theater, TTRPGs to comics, he has written for, and about, them all. He will not stop, actually; believe us, we've tried.
