A Baton In A Sword Fight: Reviewing ‘Nightwing’ #108

Dick Grayson’s swashbuckling pirate adventures ripped from a romance cover are near an end, which comes with a devastating price. Secrets, family squabbles, and spurned love collide as the hero struggles so far out of his depths.

Nightwing #108 presents the penultimate chapter in this watery story arc from Tom Taylor, Stephen Byrne, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott. Alongside this story comes the third and final portion of a backup story from Michael W. Conrad, Serg Acuna, Ivan Plascencia, and Abbott.

If you were expecting anything regarding the overall mystery that brought Dick Grayson to this point, your hopes were pretty much dashed. That’s not a bad thing, though. Truth be told, while this issue is lacking in a bit of overall plot momentum, it’s a fun one. That’s because it’s more focused on the pirate plotline and dealing with the issues facing Beatrice Bennett/Captain Blüd. As usual for Taylor, there are some really solid character beats, especially within the interplay between Dick and Bea and reckoning with how their relationship ended.

Sometimes an issue with back and forth, plenty of quick dirty action, and world-building is just what is needed. Especially since the final issue likely will deal with, or at least set up, just what was in the hold that Ric Grayson put away for Dick Grayson’s return.

I did like seeing our hero and his allies sort of cast into the fire. Quickly found out that their confidence was misplaced since Bea’s brother Dirk was already numerous steps ahead of them. Can’t have things being too easy for the heroes. Gotta have a bit of that engaging drama.

Byrne has a superhero-friendly style. It’s big, bold, detailed, and crackles with kinetic energy. Characters breeze through the panels with fluid motions. This is helpful with the heavier amount of action that takes place here. All the quieter character moments benefit as well. At its core, this series has been all about those character moments, with plenty of big emotions. These are captured within all the art styles of every artist who has drawn a page of the run so far, including Byrne.

Emotions are clear on the faces, through the body language, and how the characters move. Nothing is hidden, it’s all crystal clear and easy to read and feel. Paneling choices make sure that we’re right there with the characters at all times. We’re part of this story even if we’re not officially. Just like previous artists, Byrne finds ways to do fun things like the full page of Grayson chasing a traitor showing the character moving through the ship levels.

As much as other elements, colors help set the tone for a story. In the case of this series run, Lucas has been behind those colors and setting the tone. They shift depending on the style of the artists, with some of the base aspects remaining stable throughout. Chiefly, the notion of keeping many of the background spaces somewhat neutral, in the sense that the color choices feel realistic and grounded. This creates a base feeling for the overall world so that it feels common and relative to what we experience in our own world.

Dropping in shadows and vibrant colors rounds things out. Providing both a heavier harder tone at some points, and a far more heroic and colorful fun one to boot. Marrying the various tones in a cohesive way that speaks to the levels present in a story like this.

Speaking of rounding things out, the lettering work of Abbott always puts a bow on the whole endeavor. Character voices sound natural and are full of personality through the choices made here. Allowing emotions to resonate with each world, as the bits of dialogue and SF flow logically through the pages. Just like the color sets a tone, the choices for how to enhance lettering set a tone and volume for the words. Dropping in bits here or there to show how much quieter or louder a moment might be compared to the baser-level conversations.

This issue also features the end of a pretty fun three-part backup story. Each of the stories had its own flavor and featured various members of the Batfamily alongside Grayson. Yet, there was a character trying to come after Grayson that tied them all together.

In previous reviews, I spoke about how the stories showcased how well Conrad is able to play within the Batfamily and Gotham. Naturally, that came from how solid the voices of the characters were, and their interplay. Here though, he shows all that even more as this mysterious attempted kidnapper is revealed to be a truly deep deep cut. That would be Hatch Marlin from 1949’s Detective Comics #154. Remember them?

Me neither, but that’s because I haven’t read any of the Batman comics that far back. Clearly, Conrad has or is at least well versed in some of the more obscure characters, having some fun here as Grayson is steps ahead. Pairing it with a Dick/Babs date night at the movies and some truly funny moments makes for a solid read. Batgirls was a title that I loved, and I would quite enjoy seeing Conrad doing more in the Bat space.

Everything is so loose, smooth, and whimsical thanks to Acuna’s artwork. Plenty of depth and weight on the page, allowing the characters to have an actual presence. There is a fun moment where Dick is trying to beg his way back into the movies, and the emotional work on display helps sell the funny failure moment for the hero. All that charm and sometimes it doesn’t get him anywhere. As loose and fun as things are, a sense of seriousness creeps into play at the time it’s needed without losing any of those other aspects.

Helping with this are the colors Plascencia employs. Just like Lucas’ in the main story, we get a lot of more toned-down neutral tones for the spaces, with plenty of vibrant slick ones popping up to keep the lighter/fun feeling. A heaping of shadows crops up to help bring that serious tone once we get to the confrontation moment with Marlin and Grayson.

Nightwing #108 is now available from DC Comics.