Summary
Nightwinghas done just about everything a hero can do: led the biggest team of heroes on Earth, been a sidekick, been a street-level hero. There’s almost nothing Nightwing hasn’t experienced, and with a new creative team on his book starting this October, it’s time he finally returns to where I feel he’s best: fighting street-level crime.
Abrilliant new creative team is moving ontoNightwingat issue #119 after the previous team of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo departs. This new team includes heavyweights like Dan Watters, who has Batman-related titles likeSword of Azrael, Arkham City: The Order of the World, and more. He’s joined by the amazing artist Dexter Soy, who had a beautiful run onRed Hood and the Outlawsduring DC’s Rebirth era.
NIGHTWING #119 (2024)
October 16th, 2024
Variant Covers:
Dan Panosian, Gleb Melnikov, Ethan Young, Kelley Jones, Daniel Sampere
Blüdhaven has erupted in violence as rival gangs vie to fill the power vacuum left by Nightwing’s cleanup of corrupt officials. But is an outside force turning the gangs against each other, escalating the violence in Blüdhaven toward even more sinister ends? To find out, Nightwing must do the unthinkable—no matter the cost. Don’t miss the start of this groundbreaking new arc that will redefine what it means to be a hero.
This new creative team will be moving away from whereTaylor and Redondo took Nightwing,instead movingNightwing back to the streets to deal with a massive gang warthat has broken out. As someone who has read Nightwing’s entire early run, from Chuck Dixon to Devin Grayson, I think it’s the exact place Nightwing needs to be right now.
After 84 Years, Nightwing’s Greatest Enemy Ever Has Finally Learned His Secret Identity
Nightwing’s greatest enemy has finally learned his secret identity, but will he survive long enough to use it as leverage, or will he be killed off?
Variant Cover by Ethan Young
Taylor and Redondo tookNightwing in a new directionthat fans hadn’t really seen from him before. Instead of being a street-level hero who stops muggers and fights gangsters, Nightwing instead became a billionaire who invested in the city directly, addressing the systemic issues of crime. This new direction was a fun change of pace for Nightwing, but it ultimately had the problem of making Nightwing’s issues much bigger. If Nightwing is constantly using his new wealth to fix the systemic issues of Blüdhaven,then he doesn’t really have to fight street crime anymore, which moves him away from where his character originally thrived.
I believe Nightwing truly thrived when he was helping people directly.
Status quo changes for superheroes are fine — great, even. Batman is currently going through something similar after losing his fortune and no longer having Alfred to rely on. But I believe Nightwing truly thrived when he was helping people directly. Using his wealth to save the city is a great idea, but it makes things a bit too indirect and moves him away from seeing the people he saves. Nightwing’s times on the streets always had him fighting gangsters,with Nightwing fighting Blockbusteras a major part of Dixon’s initial run onNightwing.Nightwing even became a copso he could spend his entire day and night protecting the people of Blüdhaven.
Variant Cover by Gleb Melnikov
A big theme of Nightwing’s early adventures was his trying to stand out from Batman. He stood on his own, not even accepting Bruce’s money, and he was in a city far more corrupt and dangerous than Gotham — because, unlike Gotham, Blüdhaven didn’t have a Batman to protect it. I truly believe that this worked best when Nightwing was fighting gangsters and exposing corrupt police with his own two hands, on the streets of Blüdhaven. Using his inherited wealth to save the city is a great change from the status quo, but ultimately, it’s not whereNightwingbelongs.
Nightwing#119is available October 16th, 2024 from DC Comics!
Nightwing
Nightwing is the superhero moniker taken up by Dick Grayson, upon his aging out of the Robin role and becoming a superhero of his own. Inspired by the original Kryptonian hero of the same name, Grayson has risen to comic book immortality with the identity, earning respect as one of the greatest leaders in the DC Universe.
