His memories restored, Dick Grayson is Nightwing once more, with an all new creative team weaving a story of corruption, family, inheritance and the eternal fight against bullies in Nightwing #78. Written by Tom Taylor, art by Bruno Redondo, colors by Adriano Lucas and lettering by Wes Abbott.
No matter how chaotic comics universe can be, there ought to be some things you can always rely on. Batman will always be the coolest and most intimidating person in the room. It’s always going to be a bad idea to trust John Constantine. Hal Jordan will always be the worst Green Lantern to have ever flown. And Nightwing will always feel like the best friend one could hope to find in the DC Universe. This may not be true for everyone, but it’s been true for me, and the adventures of Dick Grayson have been ones I’ve consistently enjoyed straight through the start of the “New 52,” something I can’t claim for any other DC hero.
That is, until DC’s inexplicable choice to replace him with an edgy, amnesiac version of himself who wanted nothing to do with his former life. For the first time in years, I wasn’t reading Nightwing stories, and readers, that bothered me.
Though Nightwing’s memories were restored shortly before the whole omniverse-changing Death Metal crossover, it’s the “Infinite Frontier” relaunch that represents a true new beginning for him, and he couldn’t have been given a better creative team. Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abott have all just come off of an utterly delightful Suicide Squad run, brimming with the exact mix of fun, earnestness, and heart that a Nightwing comic is perfect for. So why has Nightwing #78 left me feeling so underwhelmed?
It’s certainly not the art. Adriano Lucas brings us a celebration of blue. Serene, nostalgic blues in the opening flashback, to the more solid, majestic blue of a city sky in that glorious double page credits spread. Lucas is magic with lighting – winter daylight, fading sunset, city lights in a dimly lit illicit meeting – the art sings.
And when it’s not singing, it’s dancing. Redondo’s art has two main qualities that are perfect for this book – one is its earnestness. The body language, the superheroes – it’s friendly, it’s fun, it’s sincere. That is coupled with the quick momentum of the issue. There’s a fluidity to the panels, and the action itself, the pages are alive with motion. Raised an acrobat, and grown into a man of style, a well drawn Nightwing should be a joy to behold, and under Redondo, he truly is.
It’s not the writing itself that underwhelmed me either, exactly. Tom Taylor is an expert at striking right at the heart of what people love about a character, and having that shine through on every page. He makes it look easy. He absolutely nails Dick’s relationship with Barbara Gordon (who I very much hope to see more of in this title), Alfred and even Blüdhaven itself.
It’s clear that family is going to be a very important part of this run – as is Dick’s assertion that he’s going to be standing up to bullies. At one point in the issue, he fights off a group of troublemakers who literally kick a lost puppy, because while Taylor is many things, subtle is not one of them – something that tends to work more often than not.
Perhaps the fault is mine, for setting my expectations of this book impossibly high. I wanted this issue to make me feel like I was soaring, right back into the full swing of things. What this issue does instead is a balancing act between re-establishing the character (and the book’s major players), and setting up what comes next – and it’s that latter part where things falter for me.
Bringing in a daughter of Tony Zucco (the man who killed Dick’s parents) wasn’t all that interesting when it was Sonia Zucco, back in the Kyle Higgins run, and there’s no reason to believe that Melinda Zucco’ll be any different. More disappointing, however, is the reveal that thanks to some sound investments, Alfred has amassed a few billions of his own – and he’s left it all to Nightwing.
I have a lot of faith in this creative team. I’m going to stick with this story – in all likelihood, I’m going to enjoy it. But that doesn’t take away the fact that this is a move that takes away a lot of Dick Grayson’s relatability. The kinds of stories you can tell with a billionaire are just not as interesting as the ones you can tell with someone who’s not. Billionaires are just not that interesting – there’s a reason that Peter Parker, CEO, was the least interesting part of Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man run.
Overall, this is still a great issue. I’m cautious, but excited for the issues to come. My reservations aside, it feels good to be reading what is very much a Dick Grayson comic again. Nightwing #78 feels like coming home.
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.
