Nightwing #115 - DC Comics

NIGHTWING No. 115, August 2024

Crammed full of treachery, misdirection and cold-blooded murder it is easy to see why Issue One Hundred and Fifteen of “Nightwing” was the forty-sixth best-selling comic in June 2024 – at least according to “ICV2.com”. In fact, the breath-taking pace of Tom Taylor’s twenty-two page plot is arguably perfect, as the Australian author whisks his audience up in a firefighter’s lift at the start, and then hurries them through the congested streets of Gotham City back to Bludhaven in a speeding ambulance; “What’s… happening.? Ribs are broken. Sirens.? Where the hell am I.? Something on my face. Hey! Are you okay.? Are --? Oh no.”

Foremost of these wonderfully written action sequences is probably the staged fire at Alfred Pennyworth Foundation gala, which somehow manages to create all the sounds, smells and sense of frantic terror an onlooker may well expect inside a burning building. Fortunately, the entire Bat-Family are there to bring some semblance of calm to the situation as they attempt to ensure all the attendees’ safety. However, it is precisely this desire to protect everyone which the truly Machiavellian Heartless then cleverly uses to isolate his Dick Grayson, and subsequently render his unconscious prey susceptible to his horrific plan.

Likewise, the super-hero’s realisation that he’s somehow being framed as the former whaling town’s number one villain is similarly sense-shattering. Having awoken to find himself somehow standing over the mutilated body of Mister Waghorne whilst simultaneously holding the murder weapon, the sense of sheer panic emanating from the titular character is truly palpable, and many a bibliophile will surely be sucking in great gulps of air in response to him bravely battling against the local police department in an effort to depart the crime scene with his secret identity intact.

Perhaps this publication’s sole disappointment therefore strangely comes with some of the choices made by artist Bruno Redondo when it comes to the physical attributes of the secondary cast - such as the two bogus bearded paramedics who closely resemble one another, or the bespectacled appearance of both Shelton Lyle’s sociopathic butler Gerald Chamberlain and the aforementioned dead fundraising reporter. Such similarities will debatably make some believe a person has already left a scene or already been murdered, and resultantly can cause a fair few moments of confusion as preceding panels are repeatedly re-read for clarity.

The regular cover art of "NIGHTWING" #115 by Bruno Redondo