Writer: Tom Taylor
Art: Travis Moore, Bruno Redondo, C.S. Pacat, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Andriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 29th, 2023
Nightwing is a great leader, not just because Batman trained him, or because of how Alfred raised him, or even because he has a heart of gold—it’s because of his friends, and now that the Titans are in Blüdhaven with him, they can leap into the light together…which is perfect timing for the demon of darkness Neron to do something about it. Let’s dive into Nightwing #102 by Tom Taylor to see if we can figure out what Neron is truly after here.
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THE DISPATCH
This is quite the weird Nightwing story by Tom Taylor. For starters, this is more of a Titans book now than anything else. Maybe that’s to inspire some readers to dive right into Titans #1 when it comes out this May. Nevertheless, Nightwing #102 was more comedic and silly which was quite unusual for Taylor’s run. Even the villain came across as more of a jokester than one would suspect.
Overall, Nightwing #102 just felt off. The issue focuses, like the last, on Neron. He’s not a comedic, silly, or trivial character. So, why the lighthearted humor? The story felt almost Saturday Morning Cartoonish with low-level intensity. It just caused this reviewer some trepidation for not only the rest of this arc but also the Titan’s new series coming this May. Additionally, I feel like there’s got to be more involved with this “Blockbuster’s Daughter” saga. It just seems like a bizarre story to throw into the mix if it doesn’t have a deeper connection to something else. Otherwise, it’s just a simple throwaway arc that people would forget about in a few months and that’s not Taylor’s M.O.
Moreover, there is very little dialogue with a heavier focus on the art and larger panel layouts. These layouts helped the story flow incredibly well and made Nightwing #102 super easy to read. However, I didn’t see a credits page at all in the review copy which was also very odd. I like to know who’s drawing what as well as who’s on the coloring because it’s very important to know these things for future reference. I tend to read comics more for the creators than I do for the characters themselves. And if I enjoy the art team, I may want to pick up another comic they’re a part of. So, it just seemed weird again that it was missing from the issue even if to solely give the creators their fair props. Heck, the backup has the credentials in it…
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nightwing #102 was just strange and lacked a sense of seriousness. Additionally, it doesn’t feel like a Nightwing comic. It’s more of a Titans team book right now. And I feel like a Nightwing comic, especially one stationed in Bludhaven, is supposed to be more raw and edgy. There should be this sense of seriousness that just escapes the narrative this week. Furthermore, for the lack of dialogue, you’d expect a ton of action. However, that would also be false. Therefore, Nightwing #102 felt like just a filler issue that attempted to insert a bit of humorous charm into the series that it just didn’t really need. As of right now, I’d have to say I’m not wild about this story arc and can’t get behind the point of it other than to put our Titans together before the new series kicks off in May. Something has just been missing from Nightwing lately and I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what it is. However, I can tell you after reading Nightwing #102, it’s still missing.