Writer: Tom Taylor
Art: Bruno Redondo, Scott McDaniel, Rick Leonardi, Eddy Barrows, Javier Fernandez, Mikel Janín, Karl Story, Eber Ferreira, Caio Filipe, Joe Prado, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $6.99
Release Date: January 17th, 2023
Come join us with big smiles and even bigger celebrations as Nightwing hits its milestone issue #100! Cheer how far we’ve come by looking through the decades at what has made Nightwing a beloved hero. What better way to celebrate than with familiar friends and artists? Then, with Heartless creating a lair in the heart of Blüdhaven to take Blockbuster’s throne, Nightwing will follow suit, setting up a headquarters of his own…with the help of some friends who helped make him who he is now as Nightwing #100 by Tom Taylor takes shape.
If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any of the others mentioned, then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon as you read the Nightwing #100 Review.
THE DISPATCH
Heartless is basically fielding a team. However, instead of a draft, he sets his sights on a prison population of 3000 with no salary cap or position cap. All applicants will be accepted including some of the worst of the worst that Nightwing has put behind bars along with the corrupt city itself. Truthfully, it initially felt a little like No Man’s Land but in Bludhaven instead of Gotham and without a catastrophic earthquake decoupling Gotham from the world. Nevertheless, that view changed rather quickly as you read along. However, what in the world is Nightwing going to do with 3000 inmates loose in the city?
Oh, I know… have a heart-to-heart with the inmates and somehow through a quick conversation convert so many of them who have been wrongfully incarcerated in a prison built solely for profit to join you in saving the city! Readers, this plot thread makes absolutely no sense and caused the believability to fall drastically. Sure, I can get behind the idea that people change. However, individuals that just literally put a mask on to champion Heartless probably don’t have the compassion or patience for a speech by the man who probably helped put them in that prison in the first place 10 minutes later. Again, this story beat just seems way out of pocket, full of nonsense, and amassed three-fourths of the issue.
Nevertheless, the more accurate plot thread shines through as Nightwing gets a little help from his friends in order to stop the thousands of loose inmates putting an end rather quickly to the possibility of another No Man’s Land in Bludhaven. But ultimately, all of this was mere fluff for the “big ask” at the end of Nightwing #100 and the heart-to-heart with Bruce. And readers, the art at this point is well balanced and the dialogue is a bit emotional making for a pretty memorable scene. Yet, as outstanding as these pages are at the close of the issue, I can’t shake the unnecessary majority of the issue. Readers wouldn’t need the silly story beats surrounding a majority of the issue. We’d have been fine with an emotional talk between Bruce and Dick throughout most of it and it probably would have been deemed some revolutionary issue. But alas, Nightwing #100 falls a bit flat and needs the last 12 pages to dig itself out.
ART
Readers, I hate to say it but the opening art is bad. And truthfully, it’s almost everything dealing with the prison break plot point. It’s blurry, lacks detail, and has insufficient depth. The lines are heavy and without any curvature to them. It was actually a very disappointing way to begin Nightwing #100. However, once readers get to the flashback involving the Flying Graysons, it gets a bit better with sort of a 4-5 straight splash page spread of Nightwing through the years. Nevertheless, it jumps right back to the very same, almost lifeless style the Nightwing #100 began with it and proceeds in that manner for the majority of the issue.
Nevertheless, as soon as the Titans come into the scene, it appears as though Janín finally takes over art duties. And can I tell you, it’s situations like in Nightwing #100 that I’ve become more of an artist over a writer fan recently. Below-average illustrations can make even a good story bad. Yet fantastic, crisp, detailed, realistic art can make any story manageable.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nightwing #100 was ultimately a setup issue for the Justice League moving forward. And realistically, you can jump to the last 12 pages to get the gist. Now, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who followed through Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Nightwing is going to be leading the Justice League. The only swerve is that what he’s leading is the Titans as the Justice League. And other than a great, emotional moment with Bruce, a majority of Nightwing #100 was a long setup for a Heartless story beat down the line and trivial moments of action that impact very little in the here and now.
As a 100th issue goes, I was expecting more, especially from the art team. Sure, the stronger artists were on the more important parts. Nevertheless, the illustrations coupled with the story to begin the issue made Nightwing #100 hard to comb through. Now, Nightwing fans will be pleased with the direction of the character. I feel they’ve wanted something bigger for him for quite some time now. However, as someone who read all of Dark Crisis, I don’t see him as the leader everyone claims him to be throughout that event. Jon Kent or even Black Adam appeared to command and cultivate more than he did. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to seeing how Nightwing leads a “Justice League”. But, I feel like he should have begun simply being on the Justice League first. Give comic fans time to see him on the League working alongside the normal members. Let him grow into the role and gradually become a staple which could lead to some of the other Titans doing the very same.
But I’m sorry, this just doesn’t seem believable even from a standpoint of the populous. So, we’re going to ask this kid who mostly does small-time crime to run a planet-wide Metahuman team that also fights against galactic threats like Darkseid. I don’t know about that… and I love Nightwing. Gradually would have been the best policy here. So, pushing together a few emotional moments and a plot thread that’s a stretch after the Dark Crisis wrapped around a prison break designed by illustrations that were lacking (except for the conclusion of the issue), caused this reviewer to question whether the big Nightwing #100 oversized issue was actually worth the cover price. If you have any questions on the review or are ever interested in tackling a comic review of your own, feel free to email me directly at dispatchdcu@gmail.com. Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless!