Review: Nightwing #119

In this review of Nightwing #119, as dark forces swirl around Bludhaven, a gang war rages for months, and Nightwing frantically seeks to stem the escalating violence.

Nightwing #119
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist and Main Cover: Dexter Soy
Colors: Veronica Gandini
Variant Covers: Dan Panosian, Gleb Melnikov, Daniel Sampere, Kelley Jones, Ethan Young
Release Date: October 23, 2024

This review contains spoilers

Nightwing #119 begins with as a dark and creepy clown narrates Dick Grayson’s history from boyhood to Nightwing, acted out with marionette puppets, and says Dick was an “imp” as a boy, and lost his mirth. The clown then turns the page in a 4th wall break, and we see the gang leaders of Bludhaven – Mama Bear of the Teddies, Boss Bludgeon of the Clean-Cut Crew, Dr. Proboscis of the Flyboiz, and Don Dalla Blockbuster Gang, meeting to stop the gang war that’s raged for two months. Nightwing shows up too, to arrest them, and a huge fight ensues, but before Dick can subdue the gang leaders, the creepy clown says “hee” and blows the whole building up.

Dick survives in the nearby water, then goes to his half sister Melinda, the mayor, the next day. She signs a deal with Olivia Pearce and Spheric Solutions to equip the police to deal with the gang war, against Dick’s protests That night the gang war intensifies into wild murder and violence, and Dick goes into overdrive, beating and intimidating the fighting gangs into stopping before Spheric Solutions stops them permanently. He then breaks into Spheric Solutions itself, triggering a robot security droid. Olivia Pearce, CEO of Spheric, watches the fight on security cameras with the creepy clown, both apparently part of a group called the “Cirque du Sin”, and she triggers another explosive like the one that killed the gang leaders.

Analysis

After Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s run ended with the Fallen Son arc, Dan Watters enters the Nightwing circus ring with Nightwing #119 with a whole new trick. Similar to fellow new wave of British writers Spurrier, Paknadel, Ram V, etc, Watters has an affinity for horror, the weird, and the meditatively spooky – which creates a fun and interesting contrast to the warm and sweet personality of Dick Grayson, which Watters manages to capture quite well. The darkness of the gang war is leavened by the amusing concepts for each gang, and I hope some recognizable recurring minor villains will arise from this, though the gimmick mob bosses were all killed pretty quickly here. Watters doesn’t jettison any of Taylor’s status quo, but builds upon it nicely, using Dick’s relationships with his half sister Melinda and his girlfriend Babs to strong effect.

A bit of speculation on our creepy clown narrator. To this reviewer, it seems likely this is one of the strange beings from Knight Terrors: Detective Comics – the Pentapriests. Or maybe the man who found the clock dreamed to summon the Pentapriests at the end of that miniseries comic. It would seem to fit with the fourth-wall breaking power of that character, their obsession with strange emotional responses, and their alignment with the powerful arms manufacturer Spheric Solutions, similar to the “Good People of Gotham” who summoned them in Knight Terrors.

Dexter Soy, known for excellent long runs on Batfamily comics like Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth and Batman and the Outsiders Rebirth, puts in appealing, dark, and energetic pencils, assisted ably by Veronica Gandini’s muted but not monochromatic coloring. Hopefully editorial has a good handle on scheduling and is able to keep Soy and Gandini for several years, similar to the work Redondo put in during Taylor’s run. A consistent tone really helps maintain a run!

Dexter Soy’s main cover features his powerful rendition of Nightwing in a cover reminiscent of many of the Rebirth variant covers, standing over a large symbol of Nightwing. Dan Panosian’s first variant features Nightwing surrounded by pigeons, smiling – nicely capturing Dick’s personality. Gleb Melnikov’s variant goes for a Blue Batman vibe, with Nightwing clinging to an iron bar in the rain over the rooftops. Kelley Jones gives us a baby Nightwing in a pumpkin shape, surrounded by Halloween decorations, fitting the Trick or Treat theme of that series of covers. Daniel Sampere’s foil All In variant looks somewhat like Dexter Soy’s main cover, with the absence of the Nightwing symbol replaced by the silver background. Lastl, Ethan Young’s 1 in 25 incentive variant features Nightwing fighting a large number of burly gang members, a nice (if imprecise – clown masks instead of one of the five gangs featured inside the comic) reference to the opening gang war.

Final Thoughts

Dan Watters blends his dark, moody style with the warm, sweet personality of Dick Grayson, and the result is quite enjoyable, especially when penciled by the veteran Dexter Soy.

You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.

Ian Miller

A latecomer to comics - I started reading Bruce Wayne: Murderer, Birds of Prey, Hush, and War Games in college. Over a decade and a half later, I'm still inspired by Batman, and especially the Bat-Family (Stephanie Brown!) I started out listening to BTO, then Stella drew me to TBUCP, I volunteered to write reviews, and the rest is history! Love recording the podcast, especially with my amazing cohosts. Also a huge fan of Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and many more books!