Nightwing #108 - DC Comics

NIGHTWING No. 108, January 2024

Presumably catching many a bibliophile off-guard with Bea Bennett’s secret pirate society being successfully infiltrated by a boatload of traitors, Tom Taylor’s script for Issue One Hundred and Eight of “Nightwing” must surely have got their blood boiling at the way Captain Blud is so poorly treated by her adoptive brother, Dirk. Indeed, the twenty-two page periodical’s plot genuinely emits a palpable aura of perfidy throughout, especially once the steadfastly loyal Lucas is devastatingly dispatched with a cowardly gut-shot whilst entering the supposedly safe Crow’s Nest; “This is the seat of power for the Crossed Keys.”

Intriguingly however, such is the quality of the “New York Times bestselling” author’s penmanship that most within this comic’s audience won’t even see the murderous betrayal coming either, and will instead walk straight into the treasonous trap as readily as Bea’s poor right-hand-man does. So savage a shock is entirely due to the Australian writer fooling the reader into dropping their guard by lulling them into believing Dick Grayson’s former lover is always one step ahead of her mortal enemies – a technique he later doubles down on when Bennett appears to once again be the hunter only to suddenly find her innards on the wrong end of a sword blade.

Quite possibly also adding to the tension is Nightwing’s apparent desire to predominantly remain on the sidelines for much of the adventure, and simply allow events to progress without any influence from Bludhaven’s sworn protector. True, the super-hero does personally detain Travis for trying to assassinate his captain in her sleep. But that particular sequence is debatably played for laughs more than anything else, and it’s not until the (non) costumed crime-fighter confronts Lucas’ killer that he finally takes the centre-stage in his own book.

Artist Stephen Byrne also needs a big shout-out for helping to make “The Crew Of The Crossed” a visual feast for the eyes. The Irish illustrator proves particularly proficient at embedding humour into his pencilling, such as the aforementioned capture of Travis, as well as being able to completely turn a scene upon its head, like when the tongue-in-cheek exchange between Grayson and Lucas dramatically transforms into the scene of a foul, cold-blooded murder.

Writer: Tom Taylor, Artist: Stephen Byrne, and Colors: Adriano Lucas