Nightwing #137 – Dan Watters, Writer; Denys Cowan, Penciller; Norm Rapmund, Artist; Francesco Segala, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Although Dan Watters is technically continuing his run from the previous arc, the addition of Denys Cowan and a new direction makes it feel like a fresh run – and one that has taken a massive step up in quality. A new Mayor has quickly turned Bludhaven into a much darker place, as the haunted city’s ghosts are coming to the surface. In the previous issue, Nightwing’s attempts to figure out who was attacking people on the city’s new freeway led to a horrific car crash as he was attacked by what might have been a ghost. Now the whole city is blaming Nightwing for the tragedy, and he’s not so sure himself. At the same time, a new threat is emerging – a mysterious sniper is targeting people around the Bludhaven Bridge, a century-old span. And when part of the bridge’s foundation is exposed, it reveals long-buried bodies that were entombed in the structure itself.
One of my favorite things about this new run is that it makes Bludhaven feel like a character in the story in the same way the best Gotham stories do. This is a deeply cursed city, with its foundations built on innocent blood, and now those ghosts are coming home to roost. Batman guest-stars in this issue, not pursuing Nightwing for his supposed crimes but checking in on his son as Nightwing clearly starts to become more and more driven to the expense of everything else. There are some great scenes between them that drive home that despite the strong differences they have, these two are clearly family and love each other. That kind of complex dynamic also drives the villains, as there’s a deeply tragic story behind the snipers and a twisted desire at the core. This issue has a psychological complexity to it that I really wasn’t expecting, and these first two issues have been home runs.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
