Nightwing #87 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Bruno Redondo, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing returns from a three-month Fear State break with a new issue by the full creative team, one week after the first trade came out. And they’re not coming back with just any issue—this is an experimental stunner of a comic that bends the format. We all love a good splash page—but how about an entire comic that’s just one big splash page of 22 pages told over an entire issue seamlessly moving from one page to another? It’s a full story contained in a unique format, and it all kicks off as Dick returns to Bludhaven. It seems he pissed off some people when he announced his big plan to use Alfred’s money to reform the city and help the less-fortunate—enough for some corrupt powers to hire a notorious gang to target his apartment and try to assassinate him. They don’t find Dick there, so they do the next best thing—kidnap his beloved dog Bite-wing. And so the chase to foil the dog-nappers is on.
The dialogue is mostly just Nightwing and Oracle bantering back and forth as Dick chases after the kidnappers everywhere from the fire escape of his apartment building to a high-speed chase on the highway. The hapless crooks put up a good fight, but ultimately never stand a chance as they’re just a teaser for a bigger threat. But while the plot here isn’t necessarily anything deep, the way it’s executed is brilliant. These are some of the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen in a comic, and it’s probably the work of Redondo’s career so far. Something like this is incredibly hard to pull off, and it’s incredible how seamless it is. Amid the fights and chases, we also get a great depiction of Bludhaven in all its grittiness, often silently in the background. It’s a great way to illustrate why what Dick is doing is so important. It’s a fast read, sure, but it’s one that almost immediately calls for a re-read as soon as you’re done.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
