DC Comics reviews 2/21/23 – Superman #1, Nightwing #101

Nightwing #101

With the Titans now part of the regular supporting cast. writer Tom Taylor has more heroes and specifically longtime friends to pair with Nightwing. Taylor excels at writing this interpersonal dialogue and this issue featuring Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven shows how smooth this ride will be until the Titans’ new series kicks off.

Neron isn’t the first or 50th villain you’d likely associate with Nightwing, but Taylor makes it work as the demon wants something in Nightwing’s possession — the whereabouts of Blockbuster’s daughter. Along with Nero, Taylor rolls out another fresh villain for Nightwing and the Titans — The Grinning Man. This duo looks to make for a serious threat for the Titans and their first move is to take out Nightwing.

Bruno Redondo misses this issue, but Travis Moore steps in as the fill-in artist ensuring there’s no visual letdown. Moore has previously drawn Nightwing and he brings a certain comfort level with his gorgeous realistic style. Adriano Lucas provides his usual brilliant color work making for a beautiful looking issue.

There’s an additional short story featuring Nightwing teaming with Jonathan Kent from C.S. Pacat and artist Eduardo Pansica. A decent amount feels like a reprise of the Nightwing/Superman interactions in Superman Son of Kal-El, but the dynamic of Nightwing mentoring one of the more powerful heroes on the planet still feels relatively fresh enough. Pansica’s artwork is crisp as always with a strong amount of detail and engaging character posing.

Nightwing’s next 100 issues get off to a solid start with a new threat for the Titans and their leader.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10