Nightwing #117 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Bruno Redondo/Caio Filipe, Artists; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: We’re in the penultimate chapter of this epic run, with Dick Grayson in Nanda Parbat trying to get his mojo back – and in one of the most hilarious twists in a DC comic in some time, Bruce Wayne moonlighting as Nightwing while his son is MIA. This is, in context, a very touching story of a father showing how much he loves his son and how much he values the legacy he’s built – but it’s also objectively hilarious, both in how poorly Bruce fills out the Nightwing costume and how ill at ease he is in it. But he’s nowhere near in as awkward waters as Dick is, as he and Deadman try to get to the root of Dick’s struggles with leaping the rooftop. They investigate the possibility of Dick being poisoned and get closer to the truth about Heartless, but it seems like there’s more to it than that – and the root of the problem may be psychological. This involves both communing with Dick’s past – and some brutal exposure therapy.
Taylor and Redondo have delivered what might be the most important segment of the series here, as Dick stares into oblivion and chooses to fly. And with that, he’s ready to go back to Bludhaven with one final act – and several enemies old and new to confront. Tony Zucco, Dick’s first enemy in a way, has taken advantage of his absence to go after Dick’s sister and try to reclaim control of Bludhaven – but there’s a secret lurking in the background, one that takes a long time to be revealed and delivers one of the best gut punches I’ve ever read in a comic, as you realize just how evil one character is. This is pretty close to the definitive Nightwing tale by now, as it reinvents his past and his future in one go. With only one issue left, there’s still a lot to reveal and resolve here, but hopefully Taylor will be able to continue unfolding his take on Gotham’s heroes in Detective Comics.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
