Nightwing #48 Review

Where's the Beef?

Written by: Ben Percy
Art by: Amancay Nahuelpan, Nick Filardi, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 5, 2018

Okay, I like the idea of Bloodsport on wheels!  I just hope that even if we are continuing the Dark Web story, we can put behind the nonsense tech lingo that somehow comes out of Dick Grayson's mouth and have some fun for once.  That's all I need from this book...fun.  Do we get it?  Let's find out...
We start out by heading to "The Isle of Harm" off the Irish coast and it seems ridiculous that Dick Grayson is here without anyone knowing about it.  The Annual ended with Vire being exposed to all of Gotham and while I understand Dick has to race motorcycles to save Viki Vale and Willem Cloke, that wouldn't stop a number of agencies and superheroes stepping in to stop this nonsense.  I guess they called a timeout and promised they would return later.  Oh well, I will get past it for the sake of trying to have fun.

Somehow Dick got the big Semi that Batgirl gave him to the island as well and that does explain the forced arrival of that in the Annual.  Almost all is forgiven, though, as Dick screams out on his bike, popping wheelies and looking like a badass!

I really like Amancay Nahuelpan's art in this issue.  Everything looks really good, especially the character models which there are plenty of.  I'd like to see his name on more DC books in the near future.

After some narration that sets up some of the stakes for the race, we head off to a  wretched hive of scum and villainy where Nightwing signs up.  Okay, I'm having some fun here...until Ben Percy lays heavy on the narration and then repeats himself a bit.  The idea that the island is "bigger on the inside than the out" may have sounded clever to him when he was writing it, but it's a played out reference and he dives a bit into his techno-babble here as well.

Then a bar brawl breaks out for some reason, but that just transitions into the start of the race.  The race itself seems pretty cool, but Nightwing's narration feels off and it seems like Percy just doesn't have enough imagination to take advantage of the whole setup.  This should be exciting video game-like craziness and while the art keeps the pace, the dull narration slows it all down.  We do end with a cliffhanger that was completely spoiled by the cover but can also be another thing to throw shade at since we only get a page of the supposed guest star.

This issue was just okay.  Ben Percy spends more time on the boring bits and then makes the exciting parts boring as well. The art is great which ups my score, but the overall story is just middle of the road stuff...nothing to get the reader upset, but nothing to knock their socks off either.  When I finished reading it, it just felt incomplete, like Percy had a decent concept but wasted time getting there and didn't know what to do even when he arrived.  I guess I should be glad, though, since it still is better than what we've been getting from this book.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue may be better than what we've gotten from this book since Ben Percy took over, but not by a whole lot.  The premise is exciting (though forced) and Amancay Nahuelpan's art is really good, but Percy makes it feel rushed and boring somehow.  Also, if you grab this for the guest star on the cover, you may be upset by the end.

5.5/10