In October 2024, Nightwing #119 dropped at comic shops across the country and I, with bated breath, ventured to Graham Crackers in Normal–which you should check out if you haven’t already–to pick up my copy.
To my surprise and delight, #119 was an absolute joy. It’s great for people looking to get into a relatively underground superhero comic.
Nightwing has an incredibly rich history within the world of DC Comics. As Batman’s first sidekick, Dick Grayson battled crime as Robin for years before setting out to forge his own path.
Adopting the mantle of Nightwing, Grayson showed just what a capable and dedicated crimefighter he was. With a new name came a new costume, a new city–Blüdhaven–to protect and a few new titles to chronicle the character’s journey.
Nightwing is, by far, my all time favorite superhero. But, I’ll be the first to admit that his solo comic runs have not always been up to par. This non-exhaustive list includes the absolutely awful Devin Grayson years–no relation to the character, and it shows the time Greyson was forced to give up the Nightwing identity and become a superspy and when an enemy attack left him an amnesiac going by “Ric.”
The former Boy Wonder has been met with more than his fair share of subpar plots and awful writers. That changed when Tom Taylor took over the Nightwing title in 2021.
Taylor and artist extraordinaire Bruno Redondo crafted a fun, exciting series of stories for the character. These earned the Nightwing title an Eisner Award. This is one of the comic industry’s highest honors for Best Continuing Series in 2023.
Redondo won Best Cover Artist the same year, and Nightwing #105 won the award for Best Single Issue in 2024.
I personally loved this run and attribute it to my continued affection for the character. But all good things must come to an end. In October, Taylor and Redondo’s award-winning run with Nightwing #118 came to an end.
When I learned this was happening, I immediately panicked. I enjoyed the safe, fun storytelling in the series, and I was worried that a new creative team might make drastic changes to the status quo. Like what happened with the whole “Ric” thing–I’m not kidding when I say everyone hated that.
But Dan Watters’ #119 is surprisingly great.The stakes are kept fairly personal and street-level, and Nightwing’s status quo stays the same. I haven’t read anything by Watters before this issue, but it is definitely something I’m going to be doing.
Nightwing is also campier in this issue, fighting a gangster dressed as a teddy bear and replying to a villain’s threat with a simple “Nah.” It is beautifully funny and builds upon what Taylor had established for the character in his run. And that’s without mentioning Dexter Soy’s absolutely gorgeous artwork.
One of the beautiful things about the recent Nightwing stories is that anyone could realistically pick up a comic and understand the plot with a few pieces of information. In an era where following a series feels heavily serialized and requires an encyclopedic memory, this is a refreshing return to the classic days of comic storytelling. Nightwing #119 is a thrilling prelude for what looks to be an even more thrilling run on the character, one I feel everyone should check out.