Nightwing #119 – Dan Watters, Writer; Dexter Soy, Artist; Veronica Gandini, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Nightwing is coming off an epic, optimistic run by Tom Taylor, so the choice of Dan Watters as the new writer made me expect some major mood whiplash. Watters is acclaimed for his dark, often surrealist and horror-influenced tales – and we certainly get some of that this issue, with the introduction of a new villain who seems to be some sort of cross between a circus clown and a plague doctor. He wants to bring Dick Grayson back to his roots – and to do that, his new life will have to fall. But aside from those eerie teases, this issue follows up neatly on the status quo Taylor has built. Bludhaven is slipping back into chaos following the deaths of Tony Zucco and Heartless, and several colorful themed gangs are forging a deal to divvy it up. That is, until Nightwing shows up to bust them – but he doesn’t have the chance, because a mysterious enemy blows the entire gathering sky high.
The gang war is fully on now, and complicating things further, Mayor Melinda Grayson-Zucco is facing a tight re-election battle. That makes her cut a deal with the devil – upgrading the police by partnering with a shady new tech executive who makes powerful weapons that were initially designed as anti-superhero tech. This run seems like it’s going to put Dick on the wrong side of the law again not long after he saved Bludhaven, as he makes the risky decision to place the gangs under his protection – preventing a gang war whether they like it or not. He protects them from each other – and likely from the police. The ending reveals what’s going on with one character maybe a bit too quickly, but it feels like there’s a lot of potential here right out of the gates. Watters has done quite a bit of work on the Bat-line, but this is his first extended character run, and it’s off to a strong start.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
