Nightwing Issue 93 Review: “The Battle for Bludhaven’s Heart Part 2”

Nightwing issue 93 begins with a meeting between two of Nightwing’s current biggest adversaries. You’d think it’d be a perfect opportunity for them to work together against a common enemy, but unfortunately for them, they both want the same thing and are not willing to share. Of course, this could come to Nightwing’s advantage!

There will be some spoilers below.

This issue starts to bring together the various storylines that connect both Dick Grayson and Nightwing to those who oppose him and what he is trying to do both in his masked and unmasked personas. He doesn’t just have Blockbuster and Heartless on his case, but the Bludhaven Police Department as well which is as corrupt as it’s always been.

In Nightwing issue 93 we see our hero cleaning up graffiti on the statue of Alfred Pennyworth in Haven, the place Dick Grayson created to give people a safe place to go. And as seen in previous issues, the very existence of Haven makes Dick many enemies. People who thrive on fear and control cannot abide by the things that Dick is trying to do to make the people of Bludhaven feel safer. Apparently, this also includes the police as they come at him in high numbers, so Dick needs to hightail it out of Haven and he heads to Gotham.

Unfortunately, Dick doesn’t get much of a reprieve because the next day, his sister contacts him to let him know that the police are trying to intimidate some of the children playing basketball in Haven. Thankfully Dick has the excellent team of Barbara and Haley on his side, and they are able to pull up and share the evidence needed to expose the Bludhaven Police Department as the ones who were vandalizing Haven. Of course, now Dick is going to have people gunning for him from every angle. Doing the right thing can make you a lot of enemies!

For some people, the police corruption aspect of the storyline may seem to have a political slant and I would agree that it does. But it really is no different than how the Bludhaven Police Department operated in the 1990s and early 2000s when Dick Grayson was a police officer trying to take down the crooked cops from the inside. The sad fact of the matter is that this storyline is perhaps as relevant or even more relevant now than it was back then. In the comic world at least, there are heroes like Nightwing to help.

One thing you can safely say about writer Tom Taylor is that he doesn’t shy away from the tough issues. He already knows that not everything he writes is going to make him popular, but it is easy to see that he writes from the heart. Not just in the way that he shows such care for the characters, but also in the stories he tells. They are often related to issues in society today. These characters witness a lot of the same things we do, and it certainly can make us all feel more seen.

As always, Bruno Redondo’s art makes this issue a masterpiece within itself, and Adriano Lucas’ colors accentuate everything on the page. They are some of the best artistic talents in the industry today and each issue they work on together is a joy to see. And that’s not even mentioning Wes Abbott’s fantastic lettering bringing it all seamlessly together. Each issue truly is a work of art visually speaking.

I think for Nightwing issue 93, some of my favorite visual elements are the use of paneling. The first 2-page spread is especially striking as it makes great use of the space on the page for both the credits and the continuing dialogue between Blockbuster and Heartless. It may seem like something small, but it’s very clever and almost feels like it has a movie reel quality to it.

Another thing that struck out to me is where Wes Abbott put the words for what we will see in the next issue on the bottom of a shelf full of hearts in jars. He could have put the text just about anywhere on the panel, but where he places it forces the eye to go from one end of the panel to the other which illustrates just how many hearts Heartless has collected.

Nightwing issue 93 really does a great job of bringing everything together. But I also feel like it brings the high possibility of some bad things happening sooner rather than later. Regardless, it’s going to be a lot of fun and I personally can’t wait to read it!

Author: Jessica Rae

Jessica has a BA in music with an emphasis in voice and spends her day typesetting, editing, writing, and moderating webinars. Jessica primarily reviews anime and comic book series. She also offers insights on various movies, books, games, and other geeky topics.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary