Nightwing #117 review

In the mystic Himalayan land of Nanda Parbat, Nightwing is working with his first mentor, Boston Brand – Deadman – to conquer his recent fear of heights. Dick Grayson isn’t as self-possessed as usual, so Boston, an acrobat in life, adds his circus talents to those he gained in death, possessing Dick and trying to bring back that aerialist fearlessness.

Dick knows he’s been poisoned into having a terror of falling, but the lessons with Boston should be helping, and they’re not. Deadman has a theory that something deep within Dick is holding him back.

Later, Dick does at least work out when something dodgy entered his system.

He concludes he has to get back to Blüdhaven, and stop Shelton Lyle!

Blimey, talk about behind the curve. I noted the stupidity of accepting that drink back in my review of Nightwing #105 and have harped on about it since. Obviously, writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo weren’t hiding anything from the reader, but if we could work it out, why not Dick? The whole point of that issue was that we were seeing things through his eyes. Sure, Taylor grabs for an out, with his talk of Dick having had a busy and distracting day, but he’s had months since then to work things out – he’s been trained by one of the world’s greatest detectives.

Now Dick knows the civilian identity of Heartless, the serial killer who’s been running rampant through Blüdhaven for probably months in Dick’s time – three and a half years for us – is the big priority. After finally conquering his fear of falling in a beautifully composed page, Dick makes his intentions clear when he’s reunited with girlfriend Babs and father figure Bruce, who has been filling in as Nightwing.

I did like this issue a lot, regardless of the fact that it’s been so long coming. Dick is so often presented as DC’s Mr Perfect that it’s fun to see him really have to work to overcome his fears. It’s great that what finally provides the impetus is his seeing a chance to regain the advantage over Heartless.

Taylor and Redondo’s Deadman is a real treat, the sassy spook we all know and love, and here showing the wisdom a resident of Namba Parbat should have gained.

And we get the Batman I like, not a rival or a boss, but the partner to his pseudo-son. I wish Barbara had a scene to show off how great she is, but there are only so many pages, and it’s not like those we get are ill used – for one, there’s a two-page sequence on the side of a mountain that’s a brilliant example of how Taylor, Redondo and colourist Adriano Lucas use the comics form to show the passage of time.

We get a scene with Dick’s half-sister Melinda, who Taylor forgets to actually name – a lot of today’s writers really need to be forcefed some Chris Claremont comics – which leads to our hero working out just what’s been impeding his recovery.

That’s something to be explored next issue. This one, though, is well worth your time and money. The character interaction is great, the fight sequences dazzling and, best of all, we’re coming to the end of the Heartless storyline. Taylor and Redondo remain a great combo, it’s just a shame they were apart for so much of what was meant to be their run.

Dick’s rough and ready look, with beard and short-sleeved shirt, is perfect for this storyline, but please, Mr Redondo, never again show him with a man bun – that way lies mullets (again).

Talking of our hero’s looks, I think many people’s favourite moment will be Dick taking a dip.

Ciao Filipe inks several of the pages, and I couldn’t tell them apart from Redondo’s solo efforts. The colour art by Lucas is superb throughout – watch for a clever use of Benday dots – and Wes Abbott’s letters are also an asset.

Redondo’s cover is clever, showing us what at first looks to be Dick, with the ears tipping us off to the fact it’s Batman. The ‘Blü’, though, is one large vertical word too many, cluttering things – surely they have gargoyles in Dick’s town that Batman could sit on?

The issue ends on a cliffhanger centring on a revelation which is obviously meant to rock Dick’s world, but I don’t find it all that relevant at this point in his life; still, we’ll see what comes of it next time. Meanwhile, I’d love to know if this issue worked for you – are there any Heartless fans out there?