In Nightwing #91, Dick Grayson Gets By With a Little Help From His Friends

The Flash and Nightwing’s team-up continues! The pair work together to keep Nightwing’s alter-ego, Dick Grayson, safe from assassination. They’re hot on the trail of the mysterious La Agente Funèbre, rumored to head one of the greatest assassin agencies in the world — but with his allies by his side, no agency’s going to be standing up for long! Nightwing #91 is written by Tom Taylor, drawn by Geraldo Borges, colored by Adriano Lucas and lettered by Wes Abbott.

Story-wise, this is a perfectly fine crossover between two of my favorite sidekicks-turned-heroes. There’s light humor, light resolution, light banter and heart-to-heart conversations between friends. What I really enjoyed this issue is the art, which is notable as this West-Grayson crossover features Geraldo Borges filling in for series regular Bruno Redondo.

I love the way Borges draws the Flash. I would have loved to have seen Bruno Redondo’s take on superspeed, but Borges does a great job. Where Redondo plays a lot with the kind of visual trickery you can only get in a comic, Borges makes it work with body language. The little flashes of speed force lightning help, but the way Wally’s leaning forward as he runs, the tension in the way he’s angled — this can be nothing else than a man moving at full speed. There’s a liveliness to a page – helped, in great part, by Adriano Lucas’ ever-brilliant colors – that far outpaces Nightwing.

Action wise, Nightwing doesn’t actually do much in this issue, come to think of it. Sure, he does take out the Big Bad of the issue, but that’s more an act of preparedness on his part; the actual fight is just a *smide* more tell than show. Borges still brings a lot of energy and motion to the scene, but we’ve seen Nightwing capable of some truly gorgeous acts of grace and fluidity that just aren’t apparent here. I’m okay with that, though, I see Nightwing all the time here; go give the guest star that spotlight!

You think Nightwing coming up against KGBeast would be a bigger deal — and if it wasn’t for the fact that it led to a whole Ric Grayson era we’d all much rather forget, maybe this would mean more. As it stands, we get to see Wally making adorably overprotective threats, and a few drama subverting gags. If Nightwing’s holding any kind of grudge against KGBeast, he doesn’t show it, and he foils KGBeast’s plans like the third-rate villain KGBeast is (hopefully, this is the last time I have to type out KGBeast for a good long while, it is a dumb name). [Editor Matt’s Note: It could be worse. It could be his protege NKVDemon. Oy

With a little help from Barbara Gordon, Wally and Dick figure out who’s in charge of all the recent assassination attempts on Dick’s life: the mysterious, the deadly, the mythical La Agente Funèbre. I get that Tom Taylor wanted to build up how much of a big deal this villain is, but given Barbara’s life experiences, the whole “The dealer of death? They’re a myth!” schtick feels forced.

Especially since La Agente Funèbre turns out to be a minimal threat herself. Oh, sure, she commands an army of assassins, lays out a minefield around her headquarters and has anti-speedster forcefields, but her goat-headed costume looks nothing short of silly, and she apparently doesn’t account for the idea that one of her opponents might be stab-proof, which is what helps Nightwing win the fight.

What I did enjoy is what Nightwing does next — using La Agente Funèbre’s computer to send agents out on fake jobs, only to be picked up and arrested by his superhero allies around the world. It’s a very Nightwing move. If we’ve learned anything over the past few issues, it’s how comfortable Nightwing is relying on his allies, and how far they’ll go for him in return. Nightwing does a lot to make the world of superheroes feel like a community, and I really enjoy seeing whenever that shows up.

Now that that community’s made its presence felt, no assassin in the world is even going to think of taking up a contract for Dick Grayson’s life, which is one less headache for our hero — and possibly one less headache for me. I’ve complained about this book’s meandering before — there have been things building up in the background that I am dying for this book to actually get to (note the Heartless tease, as we’re told one of the assassins was found with their heart missing), and it looks like we might finally get there soon.

Still, this was an enjoyable read. I’m glad Wally West is back, and is bringing some fun back to the mantle of the Flash. I’m glad to see Nightwing keep his friends close, and his enemies up on a forgotten shelf as far as possible. I’m always glad to see art that invigorates me, as Borges has done here, so all in all? I’m having fun.