REVIEW: ‘Nightwing,’ Issue #91

Nightwing #91 from DC Comics concludes the team-up with the Flash in a surprisingly good way. Tom Taylor writes this issue with Geraldo Borges on pencils and Adriano Lucas on colors. Dick Grayson is still being hunted down by Blockbuster’s assassins. But since the last issue, he’s been targeted by the best and most enigmatic of them all: La Agente Funebre. First, this killer did a very sinister (and maybe kind of villain cool) drone strike against Grayson’s home, and that has led Nightwing, and guest pal the Flash, to the KGBeast.

Nightwing fans can never forget the KGBeast or the nefarious story where he put a bullet in our hero’s head, causing him to be ‘Ric.’ Ric lasted for a long time (some would argue too long), but KGBeast got his licks from Batman and, later on, from Nightwing himself once he got back to his old self. So, okay, Wally West as the Flash wasn’t present at the time due to New 52 shenanigans, but the now third beatdown this villain takes for the same crime felt a bit like a mire of understandable response meets overkill. We’ve been here before. Thankfully the story is by far not about the KGBeast. He’s a means to an end, and Nightwing and Flash quickly mop up his operation to get down to finding the infamous myth called La Agente Funebre.

Nightwing #91 strikes gold when Taylor uses the rest of the issue to dive into Flash’s motherly attitude towards Grayson, as well as his appreciation for his bravery in his day-to-day role, not just as Nightwing. There is a lot to enjoy, and the bulk of it has nothing to do with the confrontations at the end. That’s standard fare. The meat here is the relationships. Grayson and Flash. Grayson and Barbara Gordon. The at long last burgeoning romance between the two, I hope and pray, never fades. The story never strays away from how matters affect the title character, even while offering a lot of good dialogue to the Flash. People care for Grayson. He has a network of friends and heroes he can rely on, and it’s still remarkable to see them show up and make their presence known.

Taylor seizes on the Grayson/West bromance and allows each man to stand on his own merits while opening up the discussion for directions Grayson could soon take in his personal life. It’s never mushy, but the concern is open and down to Earth. Borges reveals more of his own thicker, harder penciling style and has now gone almost all the way opposite of series artist Bruno Redondo. All props to him for first blending the two last time and now cracking knuckles to show us what he has to offer. Costumes with wrinkles. A bit more bulk in the bodies. Heavy on the ink as the story progresses, but I like his style. Lucas even switches up on the colors. Maybe because the story leaves Bludhaven, but the Springtime pastels fade into deep sunset tones this time. 

This is an excellent issue that brings home what Nightwing has in his corner, which means Blockbuster will have to really raise the stakes to get at the hero. We’ll have to wait and see how destructive that will be, but this issue serves as an excellent dissection of a long friendship and charts a course for what may come. Make sure you grab it during your comic book store raid.

Nightwing #91 is available now wherever comic books are sold.