Nobody Wants To Be The Cat: Reviewing ‘Nightwing’ #110

As Beast Boy’s spores continue to rain upon the Earth, Nightwing must shift focus to a threat close to home.

Current events are addressed as Nightwing #110 enters the Titans: Beast Wars arena with a mostly done-in-one story from Tom Taylor, Sami Barsi, Vincente Cifuentes, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott.

Batman has the uncanny ability to be a million places at once, having same universe adventures that somehow overlap yet never connect. Real magical type of stuff, that is rubbing off on Nightwing just a bit.

Currently, our capeless crusader is dealing with the Beast World stuff in the main book while having a connected but side adventure in the Titans book. Plenty of time in the middle of what seems to be a same day/few hours style event, to duck out because his brother (amongst others) has gone missing.

All poking aside, I do appreciate the book at least addressing this with his confidence in others. Still makes little to no sense timeline wise (as he mentions dealing with Amanda Waller, who hasn’t even been revealed as a culprit in the event yet) but that’s modern comics for you. A bunch of shared universe stuff running to its own beat, even if the same folks are handling them.

Overall, this is a fine issue. Apex Ava is a cliché but interesting villain with an origin now tied directly to Beast Boy. A character she can’t be a nemesis to, since he’s currently a giant Starro clone (but also never gets his own series). People taking advantage of beasts to start a underground fight club tracks and has some fun beats. Pulling a faux blood enemy in-side (social media) joke (Gail Simone is a bear) into the book got a chuckle but also just a major sigh groan.

Nightwing has a lot of highs as a series since this run began, with a few lows. This one slots right about in the higher middle. Taylor does all the things he always does, for good or ill, and it works. Moments between Dick and Jon, Dick and Damian, Jon and Damian, and the trio are solid. It speaks to their deep connections, history, and personalities accurately. A perfectly adequate event tie-in issue.

We get the addition of Barsi and Cifuentes on art, bringing a different energy to the table that vibe with but differs from the work of Bruno Redondo or Stephen Byrne. Their combined style has a lot of weight to it and detail like the others, but a more whimsical and less grounded appeal. Not so much a stylized or exaggerated type of style choice, but slicker and smoother in ways that differ from what we usually see. Solid panel choices allow characters to emote properly and let the audience really feel it.

This also creates the feeling of being there in the moment rather than being an observer from afar. Cifuentes’ inks bring more of that depth, making things denser and giving them more tangible feeling.

Keeping your own sense of style while applying enough changes to gel with others work must be tough. Yet, like many great colorists, Lucas makes it seem simple. There have been so many diverse styles that have been graced by his colors since the run began. Each time, it captures the same big bold smooth color feeling, pulling back for natural toned down beats as needed.

Here, there are plenty of big super colors (reds, greens, blues) to go around. They are vibrant and powerful, but not enough to make them feel too outlandish. Blüdhaven is a city where things are bright and shiny on the outside but darker on the inside. Gotham City is the complete opposite, and we can feel that from Lucas color choices. A notable change is seen here compared to what he brings for Nightwing’s home shinier city.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the collaboration of Abbott and Taylor is a solid one. There is a particular style to what Taylor writes, and Abbott takes that and makes it solid on the page in fun ways. Making lots of dialogue flow easily, adding fun elements to it to make things pop, letting all the emotion and personality run free. Even lines that might seem silly to say out loud are given a gravity to them thanks to their presentation.

Nightwing #110 is now available from DC Comics.