At long last, Heartless makes his presence felt in the city of Blüdhaven, as he tells Blockbuster just what he wants. Blockbuster, for his part, throws Heartless out the nearest window. Really, with enemies like these, who needs allies? Nightwing #93 is written by Tom Taylor, drawn by Bruno Redondo, inked by Wade von Grewbadger (pages 14-20), colored by Adriano Lucas and lettered by Wes Abbott.
I’ve long maintained that the more seriously you take a Tom Taylor comic, the less you enjoy it. Sometimes it’s because the writing is forcing you to take that perspective. Sometimes it’s a matter of habit. I bring this up because the opening to this issue might be one of the most hilarious scenes this run has had…and I’m not entirely sure it was intended to be so.
Tom Taylor does great humor, and his unique sense of comedic timing pairs fantastically with Bruno Redondo’s clear-cut artistic style. As a pair, they’ve got cute, light-hearted beats that have never failed to bring a smile to my face, no matter how any particular issue as a whole has me feeling. This opening scene is not laid out like that.
Following up on last issue’s cliffhanger, Heartless strolls right into Blockbuster’s office after having massacred the latter’s security team. What follows is Heartless attempting to monologue his motivations, while all Blockbuster wants to do is beat the man to a bloody pulp. Threats don’t work, direct punches don’t work, but when Heartless turns his back on Blockbuster to stare out into the city? Blockbuster picks up a desk and throws it at the back of Heartless’ head, launching Heartless right out the window.
It’s just so…dumb, and I love it. Readers, I have been annoyed with Heartless. Introduced in Nightwing #78 — 15 issues ago, well over a year — he was set up to be this run’s big bad. Beyond a single fight with Nightwing himself, though, we’ve learned precious little about him. He’s done very little, in his sparse appearances since, except to try and convince the readers that he’s menacing. Now, here, when he finally steps into the spotlight? Blockbuster — ordinarily more of a strategist than a brawler — doesn’t even give him the time of day. If superheroes had half the focus of Blockbuster trying to get this man out of his office, crime in the DC universe would be all but erased.
So there we have it. Heartless’ first major beatdown happens with a backfired plan — and Nightwing wasn’t even in the room when it happened. Nightwing’s villains all seem to be embarrassingly incompetent. Take the police. As the corrupt arm of Blockbuster, dead set against Dick Grayson’s Haven Park, they begin interrogating and intimidating the kids there, trying to pin last issue’s act of vandalism on them.
However, Dick Grayson reveals footage that the vandals from the previous night were in fact, the police themselves — policemen who seem to have entirely forgotten that they’d been unmasked in the fight by a hero known to have high tech gadgetry. That the police would vandalize the park on Blockbuster’s orders is one level of idiocy — that they’d be completely unaware that once unmasked, their identities would be made public? That’s a level of incompetency reserved for low brow cartoon shows.
I wish this comic would just lean into it, sometimes. There is cuteness in the comic. An ease of character interaction in lighter moments that’s like candy to me — simple, delightful, and I want more, please. The art, as always, manages breathtaking beauty and grace and makes it look easy — there’s a moment when Nightwing makes a getaway from the cops by swinging himself and his bike high up into the air, in a moment that inspires nothing short of awe.
In between those moments, though, we’re forced to endure a plot that doesn’t work, with villains who are impossible to take seriously. When Nightwing jokes about pursuing cops this issue, that works — they should be made fun of for the way they’re going about things. When he puts on his morally righteous face of seriousness, though…it all falls apart.
Nightwing ought to be an inspiring character. I agree wholeheartedly with the comic’s intentions here. But when there’s zero nuance to morality, and when villains are literally fighting themselves to prove who is the least competent among them, and when Nightwing is just handed a billion dollars…it’s hard to feel like he’s actually accomplishing anything. This is not a hero who’s worth admiring.
But damn if he isn’t still fun.
