Nightwing #139 – Dan Watters, Writer; Denys Cowan, Penciller; Norm Rapmund, Inker; Francesco Segala, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a book take such a big level-up just from a direction change, even without switching writers. The first part of Dan Watters’ run was an intriguing thriller that fused the supernatural with the high-tech to push Nightwing to his limits. But this new era, driven by amazing art by the legendary Denys Cowan, is one of the darkest main-line Bat-books in a long time. Haunted by the tragic accident that happened in the first issue, Nightwing tries to parlay with the DA, explaining what he saw that night. Instead, she publicly stabs him in the back and indicts him, demanding his surrender. With the city out for his blood and no real support system in sight, Nightwing throws himself into his vigilante work to an unhealthy degree – especially once a grotesque new mystery emerges. A dozen missing persons, their bodies emerging from the river, fused together by a twisted natural process.
Determined to solve the cold cases, Nightwing breaks into the morgue and begins untangling them – literally. There, he’s met by Dr. Serieka, the brilliant and slightly disturbed pathologist who helped Batman with some of his earliest cases in Dark Patterns, Watters’ acclaimed twelve-issue thriller. They’re able to identify and close eleven of the cases – but one horribly maimed body continues to baffle them. Nightwing winds up taking his search to a church, where he has a dark night of the soul with a friendly Priest. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a comic treat the issue of the mental toll that this kind of work would take on a hero so seriously. We’re watching Nightwing as his mental state deteriorates day by day, and it’s shockingly compelling and rather disturbing. Each issue just escalates the creepy elements of this new, darker Bludhaven that Watters and Cowan are building.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
