Review of Nightwing #119 Comic

Overall, Nightwing #119 is pretty decent and a far sight better than Tom Taylor’s dramatically flaccid run. I had doubts about Dan Watters coming onto the title after botching the Destro miniseries at Skybound and spending too much of his DC work mimicking Ram V’s style, but this issue turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

In Nightwing #119, we begin with a masked individual dressed like the puppet version of a harlequin. The character in question, who we later learn is a member of the Cirque Du Sin, knows Nightwing’s secret identity and has a keen interest in reshaping Nightwing’s life.

Meanwhile, the heads of Bludhaven’s leading crime gangs meet to discuss a truce and mutually beneficial arrangement, divvying up Bludhaven’s rackets. Nightwing crashes the meeting to take all the leaders to jail, but before his task is complete, someone sets off a bomb that kills all the gang leaders. Nightwing escapes the explosion.

Right off, Dan Watters starts his Nightwing run with a bang, which is a blessed relief after Tom Taylor’s kinder, gentler, borderline pacifist Nightwing, who accomplished next to nothing. In a scant few pages, we understand the current status of Bludhaven, Nightwing’s place in the city, and the deadly force of a new player.

Later, Dick visits his sister, Mayor Melinda Grayson (formerly Zucco), to discuss the bombing. Unfortunately, Dick interrupts a meeting between the mayor and Olivia Pearce, head of Spheric Solutions and weapons manufacturer. After Pearce leaves, the mayor explains she’s accepted an offer to upgrade her police force with Spheric gear to combat the rising crime wave. 

Here, Watters puts Dick in the middle of a gray area concerning his personal ethics, which presents an interesting and unsolvable problem. Nightwing can’t be everywhere to stop every crime, and crime is on the rise, so he can be unhappy about doing business with Spheric, but he can’t expect the police to remain defenseless. I’m curious to see what Watters does with this dilemma.

That night, Nightwing spreads the word that the leaderless gangs do not have free licenses to spread chaos throughout the city. Instead, he offers to settle disputes if the gangs choose to keep to their respective territories. 

Dick isn’t happy about the city doing business with a weapons company, so he decides to visit the Spheric Solutions facility. The storage area contains weapons better suited for guerilla warfare instead of typical street crime. Suddenly, he’s attacked by a security drone.

The issue ends with Nightwing’s fight, observed by Olivia Pearce and the leader of Cirque Du Sin.

Story-wise, there are two oddities that are minor but noticeable.

First, Dick is almost reckless in his disregard for maintaining the balance with his secret identity. He barges into the mayor’s office unannounced and talks to Oracle on his earpiece while he strolls down the street in civilian clothes and more. A little more effort in maintaining his secret is warranted.

Second, everyone is fully aware that Bludhaven is the new home of the Titans, but Nightwing proceeds as if he has to protect the city by himself, which is a nasty side effect of Taylor’s run. Is crime really on the rise when a whole team of superheroes lives on the former site of Bludhaven prison? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Yes, sure, you can’t have the Titans become a permanent fixture in the Nightwing comic, but maybe Tom Taylor and DC Editorial should have anticipated that problem.