Nightwing #105 review

Eighteen months ago we had a remarkable issue of Nightwing in which writer-artist partnership Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo told the story via one panel that stretched across 20 or so pages. That went down a storm and now Dick Grayson’s daddies are trying another high concept in a story entitled ‘You are Nightwing’. Redondo’s cover, coloured by Adriano Lucas, gives you the basic idea – we’re seeing the action through our hero’s eyes.

And it’s great fun as longtime Nightwing foes Double Dare are back in Blüdhaven, and on the side of the angels for once. Mind, as one half of the acrobatic baddies, Aliki, admits, they’re being very well recompensed for their efforts

(Venerable DCU baddie Count Vertigo hails from Vlatava, but he’s likely in jail, maybe with the Suicide Squad.) Nightwing and partner Batgirl agree to help rescue the other half of Double Dare, Margot, because a greedy corporation can’t be allowed to do this kind of thing when people need medicine. And as it turns out, the chief of said big bad company, Shel, is another Nightwing baddie.

Here we have another virtuoso performance from Redondo as he composes panels for maximum impact with the added difficulty of working out how to get little bits of Nightwing peeping into the shot. Early on, we get this view…

… and I thought, that’s it, The Lady in the Lake moment. The single panel in which we see Robert Montgomery before he absents himself for the remainder of the narrative.

But no, page after page features Nightwing seen in mirrors, windows, everything this side of Bitewing’s teeth. He looks great, but it’s a bit of a cheat. Boys, you don’t need to stretch your self-imposed rules, not when you can hit us with this kind of excellence.

This is my favourite issue in months. No Titans, no unasked-for back-up, just a straightforward tale of Blüdhaven told in a thrillingly different manner. Taylor’s dialogue for Dick and Babs is as good as it’s even been, while Aliki getting to be something other than half of a low-threat villain team is refreshing. As for the action, Babs’ reaction to taking a train Nightwing-style is perfect – this is not a woman who gets easily fazed.

There are a couple of story points I don’t believe: firstly, that Dick would take a drink from the head of a shady chemical firm and, more shockingly…

… that Dick doesn’t clean his teeth no matter how late he gets home. This is a man brought up by Alfred Pennyworth, a hero who finds time to take of his costume and place it on a mannequin. Naw.

I do love the angle here, and sleepy Babs is adorable. A nice touch is that Redondo remembers to draw the super-science back brace that allows the paraplegic heroine to get out and about. Similarly, some of Dick’s many battle scars are on display in that first mirror scene. And there’s a marvellous bit of observation as Nightwing is about to crash through a window carrying Aliki.

Check out her one closed eye – ‘Single Dare’ is bracing herself for impact.

Taylor, for his part, gets extra points for what happens with Nightwing arrives to reach Batgirl. It’s perfect.

Colourist Adriano Lucas looks to be having a fabulous time working on a rare daytime issue of Nightwing, veering a between naturalism – there’s an especially great alley scene – and whimsy that works.

Wes Abbott’s lettering is as sharp as every and his solution to the question of how to convey dialogue belongs to Dick when we can’t see him – at least from the usual angle – is elegant.

Thirty pages of comic book fun with an intriguing gimmick – cooked up by Taylor, Redondo and editor Jessica Chen – that doesn’t get in the way of the story, Nightwing #105 again cements this series as one of DC’s most innovative.

So, how do you top that, gang?