Send In The Clown — Reviewing ‘Nightwing 2025 Annual’ #1

Looking to the past often brings answers to the things that plague the present as well as the forthcoming future. Breadcrumbs that begin to form the larger picture to all the questions that linger.

Detective Maggie Sawyer gathers all those crumbs in Nightwing 2025 Annual #1 — an informative interlude issue from Dan Watters, Francesco Francavilla, and Wes Abbott.

Annuals can provide a multitude of possibilities for ongoing series. My favorite often is using the issue to step aside from the ongoing narrative and provide depth to that story. Basically, not stopping the ongoing story for lore drops by doing the lore drop as its fully separate, yet still connected, piece.

Watters’ run of this series has just been so intriguing.

It’s maintained a level of the street vigilante flavor one wants from books in the Bat-line. But it’s mixed with the more fantastical and supernatural bits that are always tantalizing in superhero comic books. So far, the mystery that is the Zanni and Olivia Pearce has been handled so well, giving the audience just enough to keep them on the hook without the prolonged reveal becoming grating or aggravating.

That pays off here as we begin to unravel what they are and what their connections to (and plans for) Nightwing are. I’m loving the way this series uses Maggie Sawyer, giving her the chance to play detective again. Following the trails while Nightwing is busy with the horrors happening in Titans Tower in the regular series issues works especially well.

Also, I love the way that Watters weaves the Comics Code, over panics about media, costumed vigilantes, circuses, and more all together here. It pulls from the real world to influence the fictional world, while doing just a bit of some meta fourth wall poking as well.

Having Francavilla coming in and out of this series, picking up stories perfectly attuned to his artistic styles, continues to be beyond delightful.

This issue is one that weaves between grounded and horror/supernatural with such ease. Creating horrifying and spooky moods is like breathing for Francavilla, with his rougher textured high palette choice style.

Whimsical animated vibes are high at all times, showcasing some of the fantastical energy needed for this story. Pairing that with his deep and dense sense of details and paneling sense is off the charts. There is just something that feels so engaging with the work that he does every time. It wants to feel like it wouldn’t be at home with such grounded superheroes but at the same time it makes so much sense.

I especially dig the coloring sense that Francavilla employs. There’s such lush and vibrant colors, some of them commanding the page with ferocity. Painted oranges, blues, and more filter over the pages, creating such intensity in one spot and then something softer in another space, upping the coldness or warmness of a scene with the speed of a flipped switch.

For years now Abbott has been able to do a lot of fun things with lettering with this particular hero. He answers the call to really think about what various types of lettering can and should look like to match the issue aesthetic. There is a lot of that here where the regular dialogue and captions get some flash, but the inserted in-world comic book pages are some “chef kiss” stuff.

Love the big bold “Tune in next time” style captions that are on those pages, as well as final story page. So fun and meta in their existence, the comic within the comic, and the theme of the issue. It captures so many voices so keenly and finding ways to give them little pushes here or there for uniqueness and just over all delightful comic book goodness.

Nightwing 2025 Annual #1 is now available from DC Comics.