So, this summer, I’ve been studying for the bar exam. Why did I open with this? Well, because I found it really funny that this month’s Nightwing opens in front of a courthouse with a prosecuting attorney accusing Nightwing of committing a felony and filing a warrant for his arrest. I could try to do a fun analysis of the facts presented in the issue to determine whether I think there’s any validity to a claim that Nightwing is guilty of committing. But since I’m not providing legal advice in any capacity and I am not a licensed attorney (can you tell my head is spinning?), I’m just gonna dig right into why this issue rocked. Let’s start with two words: horror mystery.
DC
Have you ever felt lost? Like everything you did was just not enough to overcome the insurmountable odds that life seems to have stacked against you? Yeah, Nightwing has too. With his entire being entering a complete downward spiral, this issue shows how despite all of this, he’s still willing to get back up and try to do some good. With the overarching criminal charges he’s up against thanks to a mysterious supernatural superseding force causing a massive car pileup leading to almost a dozen deaths and Barbara Gordon’s recent incarceration, Nightwing currently looks like the textbook example of how someone who’s helpless feels.
Through a disturbing crime occurring by the docks, Dan Watters pivots the story towards how even with the odds stacked against him, Nightwing is still going to try to help others. Even if his selflessness dips towards more obsessive tendencies that indicate his lack of personal self-care. However, that doesn’t mean he’s any less sharp than he otherwise is. Here, Watters weaves a beautiful web of mystery, drama, and wraps the issue up with a shocking cliffhanger that made me double check that the last page wasn’t cut off. Thanks to the excellent pacing used to handle its twists and turns, I found this to be an excellent issue.
DC
Denys Cowan, Norm Rapmund, and Francesco Segala continue to make a terrific trio that wow me with their unparalleled depth and grit that their artwork contains. I loved how this issue felt like an episode of Daredevil through the dark shading and undertone of colors to evoke certain themes and emotions. For example, when Dick Grayson handles a difficult conversation near the end of the issue, we see the colors highlighting the shadows slowly turn from a softer tan towards a vicious red. This perfectly correlated to the shocking discovery Dick has during his conversation.
Through moments like this and so many others, I felt this was a spectacular issue of Nightwing thanks to the ragged linework matching Dick’s mental state, the ominous shadows emphasizing the solitude Nightwing feels, and the impact of colors to reflect the issue’s emotional shifts.
Nightwing #139 is a spectacular issue you don’t want to miss out on. While we haven’t gotten closer to uncovering what caused the pileup, we have gotten a deeper look at the psyche of Nightwing in a way I didn’t think possible anymore. If you’re looking for a mystery that feels almost impossible to solve along with undertones of responsibility and guilt, this is the series for you right now.
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