The Devil Went Down To Blüdhaven, Looking For A Soul: Reviewing ‘Nightwing’ #103

Hell is fire, brimstone, eternal suffering, and full of devils and demons. In many depictions, it’s also way too much bureaucracy. Lots of moving pieces, paperwork, filling systems, levels of devils/demons in charge of spaces, and types of Hells.

Good thing for Nightwing that the key to his Hell problem might very well lie within the bureaucracy.

This issue picks up where the last one left off with the Titans (sans Donna Troy and Starfire) going on their Hell heist in order to save Olivia from the demonic deal that her father Blockbuster signed many years ago. We get some glimpses of other DC-related Hell characters, some demon butt-kicking, Donna Troy and Starfire with Batgirl/Oracle teaching Olivia to fight, more of the Grinning Man, find out who Olivia’s mother is, some other DC villains enter the fray, and Neron shows up to try and make Nightwing an offer the demon hopes he can’t refuse. Phew, there is a lot going on here that’s for sure.

While that is the cast, Tom Taylor is very good at balancing everything that is happening and making sure that everything gets plenty of time to soak in and breathe as he moves through it all in a logical fashion. There are some solid character moments as well as some great jokes about Hell (especially with Cyborg finding out the Hell Internet is the breeding ground of Malware, pop-ups, phishing scams and more). This is a fun little plot that dives into a familiar comic book realm and approaches it from a pretty normal comic book sort of way, but with specific flavor twists matching the characters.

Each of these issues makes me feel more comfortable with the way that Taylor continues to write the Titans and confirms my feeling of excitement at the soon-to-launch Titans title. Each of the characters feels unique and their bond is clear as they bounce off each other. This is not a new group of characters; we can feel the connections (decades worth) they have and the depth of their relationships at this point.

Two things here about some moments in the issue. First, the reveal of Jezebel Jett as Olivia’s mother makes sense as a way to bring in another character familiar to the Bat-mythos but also feels quite random but I for sure give this team the benefit of the doubt on such things. Second, I love Neron assuming that what Dick would want is to be someone with superpowers as a temptation when we know that isn’t even close to something that will tempt our boy. Having them trying to best each other with paperwork (Dick’s solution to the contract with his becoming Olivia’s guardian is good stuff) and temptations, before the big fight I assume is coming, saves some of the excitement for the final chapter of this tale.

In an era where the main artist on a title taking an issue or two or an entire arc of here or there is a normal part of the process, it’s great when those involved make sure that the other artists that come on board bring their own set of energy and creativity that still fits within the sort of energy already established. Bruno Redondo and Travis Moore are at first glance quite different artists, yet looking at both of their works in this series gives off a lot of the same feelings which is great for the book. It allows a sort of throughline to be established artistically in a sense that is harder to achieve when the varying art styles are so wildly different from one another. That’s not to say that such an approach can’t or doesn’t work, as tailoring each story arc to match the style/tone of the art often makes that approach work fantastically.

Moore has such a dynamic style that brings in that sense of depth and reality but also leans right on the edge of feeling light and fun and out of step with reality. These are real characters who feel weighted on the page with great emotional facial and bodywork and smooth kinetic motion, the villains feel menacing, but there is instantly also a spark of whimsy and fun to the whole affair. It has that “we know and embrace that this is a comic book taking place in a fantastical world and we’re not shying away from it” vibe. Truly it’s a style that works for any book out there of any type but 100% has all the right perfect energy to scream superhero on every page.

Much like some previous issues, Moore isn’t the lone artist on the issue. We get a handful of pages (those set on Themyscira) that are brought to life by Vasco Georgiev another artist whose work I’m really loving these days. It’s a great pairing with Moore’s work because it has all those same qualities but with the whimsical fun part dialed up even a bit more, with those backdrops that are freaking stunning and feel almost like someone took actual photos of the Amazon’s home island. I would love to see Georgiev come back around and draw a full issue or even a whole arc because his style fits this series big time and actually would be great on Titans if Nicola Scott needs an issue or arc off at some point.

Bridging the two comparative styles of course is the always spectacular coloring work of Adriano Lucas, who always does such great work to set a tone and allow it to shift with whoever might be doing the art on any given page or issue. They’re always so vibrant and bright, again leaning into the superhero/fantastical nature of these stories, but also not so bright that they all feel outlandish. All the spaces around them feel more natural colored with lighting that is real to the space while all the super folks-related things from costumes to appearance to power usage are where the colors are really popping (Hell itself though of course is very differently colored since it’s a fantastical outside of reality place).

While Lucas holds down the color fort to keep things smoothly running between issues, we get the same from Wes Abbott who is always killing it with that work issue to issue. Everything from the sharp jagged state of Raven’s speech bubbles that make us hear her voice differently to the perfect ways used to showcase volume/tone at any given moment to glorious colorful bubbles and fun unique location headers are just great. I mean they are really more than great, but I could go on making a huge list of adjectives describing the work that Abbott has done, and it might become a whole long review of its own.

Doing these reviews more and more over the past few years has opened my eyes and brought an appreciation for the work that letterers do and how fundamentally important it really is for an issue. Visuals set the tone for what we expect in an issue but it’s the letters that not only give us the verbal/descriptive part of the story but also set the tone for us hearing/understanding the characters outside of their body language. If all the letters/bubbles/caption boxes/etc. were the same shape with the same font styles and there was never any deviation, sure we could tell how someone is feeling or how they might be saying something based upon the artwork, but a great letterer makes sure that we instantly know and therefore can hear that within our heads. Abbott is surely one of the great ones.

In the back comes the next chapter of the Nightwing and Superman (Jon) team-up as the two come closer to figuring out who was behind the almost tragic events at the circus. C.S. Pacat is writing a very interesting story that sees the two heroes interacting in some fun ways, putting their other abilities outside of powers/fighting to great use. I especially liked how Nightwing used Jon as a way to tell if the mother of the trapeze act was lying or not, knowing that if she were it would show on the young Superman’s face. Truly the dynamic between both characters, as mentor and mentee, is ripe with so many possibilities and I would read a whole mini/series between the two of them.

Eduardo Pansica and Julio Ferreira also create a solid dynamic with their artwork giving it a sort of gritty and rough feeling but also tapping into some of that fantastical fun energy of the main story. This is a darker story, both in tone but also some of the spaces are very dark, and their work brings that out. Aided by the colors of Lucas which feel so different from the main part of the issue yet also feel the same, proving that whole chameleon-like effect I mentioned before.

Nightwing #103 is now available from DC Comics.