This review contains spoilers for Nightwing #118!
It all started March 16th, 2021 when Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, and Adriano Lucas took on Nightwing. Since then, Nightwing’s world has turned upside down, right-side up, and recently upside down again. He’s faced Blockbuster, a Gotham ruled by The Magistrate during Fearstate, trained Superman, reunited with the Titans, met the infamous Nite-Mite, become a pirate, and helped save Robin during the events of Beast World. But most importantly, he’s adopted a dog and gotten his fancy ‘finger stripes’ back. Well, I liked that part quite a bit.
But throughout this entire journey, Dick Grayson has been unable to beat the villain known as Heartless. Once his former bully turned supervillain, Heartless has teamed up with none other than Tony Zucco, who it turns out was never out for John and Mary Grayson. He was after their son. And now, it all comes crashing down in the finale of this infamous era for Nightwing. But does the ending do the character justice?
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For his final issue on Nightwing, Tom Taylor seems to be bringing out his A-game. The final showdown between Nightwing and Heartless feels utterly satisfying. After years of chasing and watching Heartless slink away, it’s nice to see how Taylor wraps things up between the pair. And yet, in the final moments, it’s somewhat shocking to see how things end between the pair. While Dick Grayson has come to a better place thanks to his recent journeys, it’s unexpected to see how Taylor closes the book on Heartless. Not many characters in comics get an ending quite like that these days. Is that bad? Not necessarily. But, it feels a little frustrating to see how the Tony Zucco and Heartless plots are wrapped up without allowing for future exploration. It will be interesting to see if and how Nightwing embraces this moving forward.
That said, the story has many classic hallmarks of this run: Nightwing’s supporting cast helps to wipe away the debris, there is an incredible showdown, and the story wraps up quite nicely because of the finality of this issue. Altogether, the story does a great job putting Dick Grayson in a better spot moving forward, while leaving things open for Dan Watters to take over next week in Nightwing #119 to see how this run leaves a mark on the character.
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While reading this issue, I found myself rather nostalgic for the first few issues of Taylor and Redondo’s tenure on the character. Learning how creative Redondo would be with Dick’s acrobatics was always such a treat. And it partnered well with Taylor giving Nightwing a voice full of humor and gusto. This issue seems to call back to that rather well, as Nightwing ensues on a chase after Heartless during the story. Redondo has done a splendid job once again at depicting Nightwing as one of the most incredibly gifted characters in comics. His charm all but pops off the page in certain moments, his somber tone quickly tugs at the heartstrings, and his determination practically energizes the story. When paired with the incredible Adriano Lucas, I find this story to be one of the pair’s best work. Lucas’s colors have always been warm and vibrant. And that’s no different here, as Lucas’s vibrant colors pair wonderfully with Caio Filipe’s beautiful ink work.
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That said, one of the best pages from the pair is the last. On that page, Bruno Redondo seems to have taken on the artwork and colors for the final page in this issue, and it immediately became one of my favorite pages for the character. Here, Redondo’s incredible line work partners wonderfully with his gleaming colors. This is Redondo’s first time taking on both duties in this series, and seemingly his second time ever. Safe to say, he doesn’t disappoint. In what seems to be a farewell to the character from Bruno and everyone else, the final page is a wonderful blend of an iconic Vincent van Gogh painting with the main characters of this run. While this painting has had many interpretations insofar as its meaning, in this setting, it’s clearly meant to depict Nightwing’s home. With this final page, it’s safe to say that Nightwing is finally out of the woods and can rest easy.
DC Comics
Looking back at this Nightwing run, there have been a lot of memorable moments. And it’s clear that Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, and everyone else involved has poured their heart into this final issue. As a result, it does a good job serving as a finale of sorts. In many ways, this feels like it closes the book on the Rebirth era of the character, as Taylor’s run picked up the pieces of the Ric Grayson era and subsequently thrust Nightwing back into the spotlight. Things were… awkward at the time for Nightwing (seeing as he didn’t remember who he was and swore off being a superhero again), but this run ensured that Nightwing would be remembered as one of the most well-known superheroes in DC Comics. And for better or for worse, Nightwing has come out on the other side of one of his toughest battles yet. Altogether, this works splendidly as an issue and finale to this creative team’s work on the title.
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