Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Bruno Redondo
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 21, 2022
Nightwing is a book I should be loving. Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo are two of my favorite creators, and Dick Grayson is my favorite character. I used to joke on the podcast that Dick Grayson's superpower is being a nice guy, and Tom Taylor writes that aspect into every issue of this series. So what's not to love? For me, it's the constant fan service over story progression as if Tom Taylor thinks we will forget if he doesn't keep reminding us how great Dick Grayson is. To do this, Dick seems never to do anything wrong and has the entire DCU jumping in to save him at any moment. That's cool and all, but I need more. Hopefully, we will get that with The Heartless finally stepping things up and Blockbuster about to blow a gasket!
Nightwing #93 picks up with the last issue's cliffhanger as The Heartless and Blockbuster eye each other up in Roland's office. While the bodies he has left in his wake are impressive, Heartless doesn't seem too bright. You don't force your way into Blockbuster's office and start talking about wanting to take over Bludhaven for yourself, even if you are willing to pay him for it. I'll give Heartless one thing; he can take a punch, but I am not sure he knows how to fly.
The issue then cuts to Nightwing cleaning up the damage in Haven. I'm not sure why this had to be done as Nightwing besides it fitting the plot when the Bludhaven police arrive. While a big chase is going on, Babs is finalizing the surveillance footage they got that you know will implicate those going against Dick Grayson. It's funny that Taylor wants to treat this as a mystery even though it's obvious what is happening here, including what real-life story he is mimicking.
I'm not a political guy, so that doesn't bother me as much as the page space it takes to get things moving. I loved the interactions between Barbara and Dick and am convinced we will get a proposal in issue #100. Still, most of this issue sets up the "I gotcha" moment that nobody should be surprised about.
Besides that, we get an intriguing moment with Heartless at the end that did surprise me. I hope Taylor starts devoting more page space to Heartless from here on out. Bruno Redondo is excellent on art, and everything in this issue looks incredible. I need more overall plot progression, but I've been saying that for about a year.
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Bits and Pieces:
Nightwing #93 continues to give readers great interactions between its main characters and even a little development of the villain, The Heartless. However, the overall plot progression still needs to pick up, and until that happens, I continue to like, not love, this book.
6.9/10
I'm liking this book but it does feel like kind of a rehash of the Chuck Dixon era and seem to be ignoring the Devin Grayson era (and the Rebirth era for that matter) what with Dick's building not being blown up and Blockbuster alive and still running things. Wondering how much of the history from the 90s and 2000s is still intact is what's preventing me from enjoying this book more. Also, I can't remember but have they acknowledged Dick's time as a police officer in this run?
ReplyDeleteYep, they mention it very briefly when the police show up in issue 1 or 2 to arrest Dick
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