The True Face Of Horror — Reviewing ‘Nightwing’ #132

For months a sinister force has been seeping deeper and deeper into Blüdhaven, its eerie eyes fixed firmly on Nightwing. At long last the dark force has revealed itself, leaving Nightwing and his city reeling as the game has been changed.

Do you hear the music? The Cirque Du Sin is calling in Nightwing #132 from Dan Watters, Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, and Wes Abbott.

This run has been truly tremendous from the very beginning. It mixes a bunch of percolating horror with street level gang warfare without losing a bit of the character’s heart. Watters has intricately planned out the overarching story without making it feel like a massive arc. Sometimes that happens in comics where stories will intrinsically just feel like part six or seven out of whatever final number it might be.

A blend of shorter arcs and connected but not explicitly connected stories does wonders. Everything feels like it’s been building to this moment without us having to spend every moment with the Zanni or Olivia Pearce being at the forefront of every story since the run began. It makes the big reveal moment in here hit even harder because it’s so unexpected yet right in line with what we’ve been seeing this whole time.

Soy’s moody artwork really delivers on the grittier side of things for this street-level hero. Giving Blüdhaven such a powerful expansive yet contained feeling every time we’re out and about in this city. It keeps it bright and welcoming without sacrificing the darkness that hovers over this city (which is the contrast to Gotham City).

Grayson is a hero that is precise and dynamic with his movements, the consummate circus performer. It just flows through the pages so well, the angry swing in this issue just instantly feels like Nightwing is coming right at the viewer. Every bit of the action has the same level of care and grace.

So do the colors that Gandini is bringing onto the page- bold and bright while centered around heavier darker mood setting palette choices. It keeps this feeling heroic, gritty, and horror-tinged all at the same time and juggling the various moods as if it was a simple matter really. Every space is built with a specific overall baseline set of colors that give a familiarity but room for unique building.

Nightwing is a character that is more likely to offer a smile and a hand than to come to anger. When pushed though, through harm to others, he has it in him to be firm and commanding. We hear and feel that here through all the various bits of the story. Abbott delivers those emotional beats with such ease as the words flow through the pages, letting us really feel the pain as Nightwing and others drop deep moments in our laps, boosted by little flairs of uniqueness that color the lettering and their impact.

Nightwing #132 is now available from DC Comics.