Put Your Heart Into It: Reviewing ‘Nightwing’ #115

Often villain plots, flowery monologues included, can be bold while also easy to follow. Other times they’re pretty darn confusing.

When it comes to Heartless, the damaged rich boy turned heart-stealing masked villain, it turns out to be more of a latter situation in Nightwing #115. Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott bring together another chapter in this final arc of their collaborative run.

Spoilers, albeit confusing ones, lie ahead.

While on the one hand the vengeance part of things is clear, truth be told I have no clue what Heartless is really trying to accomplish. An attack on Dick’s party and having a journalist about to bust him out for (manipulated) evidence of ties to Blockbuster was one thread. Then suddenly they are tricking and kidnapping the hero. Seems still mostly straightforward.

Then the curve comes in once it’s discovered by a henchman that Dick and Nightwing are the same person. Suddenly the plot seems to become one of framing Grayson for being Heartless, and killing the journalist that was going to expose the Blockbuster ties.

Look, we all know that rich dudes are pretty unhinged and trying to predict what wild, harmful, or dumb they’ll do next is pointless. At the same time, comic books and just stories in general usually still have a thread that is easy to follow. We know that Joker’s plot is to pump laughing gas into the air filters of a stadium, or that Green Goblin wants to use those close to Spider-Man to make the hero break.

Through the almost three years of this book, I still cannot fully tell you what Heartless’ true deal is. Even with the revelations over time, there were long gaps away from the villain, and the motivations regarding Dick/Nightwing are not seemingly evident, to me at least.

Confusing plot aside, the series continues to at least look amazing.

Redondo and Lucas are a dynamic duo of their own, really bringing any space to vivid life. Plenty of smooth renditions of the characters and the city, giving them a spark as they slide between grounded realistic and borderline fantastical. Action beats are kinetic, seemingly moving on their own despite being actually static on the page. No two areas, be they inside or outside, feel the same which is just how reality works.

At the same time, with the chosen color palette, Lucas can make sure that lighting is on point. A dim room being lit by emergency lights feels that way, and a city lit up night sequence has the most authentic feeling required. Plenty of very neutral and natural color tones fill the pages to give the spaces that real to life energy described previously. Mixed in are darker colors and the flashier vibrant ones needed to make sure this is a hero story.

All of it comes together to create a world that feels authentic to the touch.

Same goes for the work that Abbott always does when it comes to lettering. No matter what the characters might be saying, sense or no sense, it has authority and personality at the forefront. Little visual tricks enhancing words, making voices sing, and keeping the reader informed to every single utterance or detail we need.

Anyone that has read all these reviews (thanks to whoever that might be!) knows that overall, I’ve generally been a huge fan. Even as things are confusing and not quite clear here, I do have faith that the final beats will work themselves out. Never will I dispute the clear fact that there is love for this character and his world on the page, bringing Dick Grayson back to his spot as one of the true hearts of the universe.

Nightwing #115 is now available from DC Comics.