Lesser Of All Evils: Reviewing ‘Nightwing’ #121

Spheric Solutions war upon the streets and people of Blüdhaven continues to hit far too close to home for Nightwing. Mysterious ties to his very own past just might hold the key to discovering how far this villainous corporation is willing to go.

The new era continues as Dan Watters, Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, and Wes Abbott dig deeper into the surging gang war with Nightwing #121.

Civilians — no matter what side of the law they happen to be upon — tend to be the casualties in all types of wars. Watters doesn’t shy away from the toll of this war, nor from the realities of what draws young people into the spaces where they might end up on that list of casualties. While the police are militarizing even more, the gang members are left scrambling as they try to scratch a place in this increasingly harder world.

I appreciate when a writer doesn’t try to shoehorn things in as a binary or black-and-white situation. There are shades of gray at all times, especially when one is talking about the various sides of the law. One person’s criminal is another person’s only hope in the community and a chance for salvation that the system denies. Just as law enforcement officers can be a devastating threat in many cases, but seen as saviors by others.

Nightwing, caught in the middle — especially having the words about “superior firepower” used from both sides — fits with who he is as a character. Watters just nails the voices for these characters, and feels like he’s been writing them for years rather than just three whole issues.

Even with the heaviness of the story, Soy’s artwork has a lightness about it. Heavy and dense, with plenty of shadows sprinkled throughout, it has such flowing energy at all turns. A large part of that comes from the great choices for paneling. Not just in how unique much of it is, angles and slants, but mainly the placement. Getting the most bang for the buck out of each panel and page, and keeping the story, be it a quiet or loud moment, rolling along.

I love the way that the action scenes are paced here. Their movement feels very fitting for the circus gymnastic way that Nightwing breezes through the world.

A saturated dense feeling comes from the chosen color palette. Gandini dips into levels which compliment both the heavier and lighter elements of the overall story. Keeping us in space where there are flashes of vibrancy that befit a superhero story, while also creating the right atmosphere for a street-level series like this.

Disgust, exhaustion, shame, and so many other emotions are more than evident upon the page. Both body imagery wise, but also vocally. That’s because of what Abbott pulls off with the lettering every time. Allowing character’s natural voices to grow and become something we can hear in our heads without fail. Full of natural pauses, tonal or volume shifts, and a keen eye for detail that allows the words to have even more impact as they hit the page.

Nightwing #121 is now available from DC Comics.