Nightwing #108 – Tom Taylor, Michael W. Conrad, Writers; Stephen Byrne, Serg Acuna, Artists; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Tom Taylor never ceases to surprise, because who saw Nightwing turning into a pirate comic? Last issue saw Dick reunited with his old flame Bea—now a pirate queen, in the most unexpected return of a character this year. But while there were definitely some hard feelings over their breakup, they quickly put them aside because Bea was in danger. Her late father had passed the Hold on to her, but her ruthless brother Dirk Blud was seeking to assassinate her. So the crew, with Nightwing along for the ride and wearing an especially fanservice-y costume, set sail for the secret pirate city—taking down an assassin or two along the way. It’s exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, and that’s a good thing.
Taylor has some fun lampshading the weird circumstances of Dick and Bea’s breakup, and Stephen Byrne is the perfect choice for artist to illustrate the gleaming but surprisingly modern hidden city. When Dirk Blud finally makes his debut, he’s the perfect villain to hate—a combination of elite male entitlement with pulpy classic villain energy. This issue is a pure swashbuckling adventure, that actually manages to work in some really excellent dialogue along the way. It’s certainly a weird divergence for the title—and one that leaves many of the ongoing subplots behind—but it actually has some fascinating reveals about the way Bludhaven works that promise some interesting fallout.
The backup, by Conrad and Acuna, wraps up what was essentially a team-up adventure for Dick as he worked with Cass and Steph, then Jason, and now Barbara as he also traced a mystery assassin who seemed to be trailing him. The reveal of who the villain is is actually incredibly cool—it’s a character who last appeared in 1949! Now that’s what I call a deep cut. But while the action is fun, it’s the family energy that sells this story, calling back to what made Conrad’s Batgirls so much fun.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
