Nightwing #111 Review

     

     

Written by: Tom Taylor
Art by: Sami Basri, Vicente Cifuentes,
Colors by: Adriano Lucas
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Bruno Redondo
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: February 20, 2024

Nightwing #111 spells the beginning of the end of Nightwing's semi-urgent quest to find and stop Heartless.
Is Nightwing #111 Good?

Yes, you read that right. The hunt for Heartless is on after months (years?) letting the serial roam free without Nightwing lifting a finger to stop him. Tom Taylor is finally getting around to remedying that situation just in time before he ends his tenure on the title in issue #118. In typical Tom Taylor fashion, the arc starts by doing everything but what should be done. More on that in a minute.

When last we left Nightwing before the Beast World hiatus, he helped Bea defeat her adoptive brother for the right to be Captain Blud. As a parting gift, Nightwing was given the safety deposit box that was originally given to him during his Ric Grayson phase. The box contained video surveillance that proved Tony Zucco was responsible for the death of Ma and Pa Grayson.

Now, a man is murdered in Gotham City by a method that suggests Heartless has come to town. Batman arrives to save the victim, but the man's young son witnessed the murder and is taken into GCPD custody. After a brief flashback that suggests a young Heartless (before he became Heartless) was present for the death of the Graysons, Batman calls in Nightwing to assist with the investigation.

Through semi-competent detective work, Batman and Nightwing figure out the murder is too sloppy to be Heartless. When the boy is handed over to his uncle, we soon figure out the man's death was an inheritance scheme dreamed up by the uncle to frame Heartless and take the family's wealth for himself.

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying Tom Taylor's final arc on Nightwing, the arc that finally gets Nightwing off his butt to capture Heartless, starts off with a bait-and-switch murder that has nothing to do with Heartless?" you might rightly ask. Yes, you read that right. I told you Tom Taylor is tackling his final arc in typical Tom Taylor fashion by doing everything but the one thing he should be doing - getting the hero to defeat the bad guy. Somebody call a doctor because Tom Taylor must be fatally allergic to the Hero's Journey.

What's great about Nightwing #111? After the abysmal Gotham War and the serviceable-yet-flawed Beast World, it's nice to see Batman and Nightwing working well together again. There are some heartwarming character moments in this issue when Bruce and Dick remember the moments that made a difference to each other shortly after the Graysons died.

What's not so great about Nightwing #111? Tom Taylor has been spinning his wheels on Heartless for a year and a half or more, so to kick off the arc that sets it right with a bait-and-switch is yet another black mark on Tom Taylor's "competency and common sense" card.

How's the art? There's not a lot of action in this issue, so the art team had to up their game to make a lot of standing conversations look interesting, but they pulled it off. In the final analysis, Basri and Cifuentes fit this title better than Redondo.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces:

Nightwing #111 marks the beginning of the end for Heartless and Tom Taylor's time on the title, but the final arc starts with a bait-and-switch that drags the Heartless reign even longer and makes Nightwing look like a less competent detective than he should be. If nothing else, at least Heartless and Taylor will soon be gone.

5.5/10