Nightwing #110 - DC Comics

NIGHTWING No. 110, March 2024

For those readers who enjoy team-up titles, Tom Taylor’s narrative for Issue One Hundred and Ten of “Nightwing” should have been right up their alley, with its wonderfully penned pairing of the titular character with Jonathan Kent. Sure, the hilarious inclusion of a feline-looking Damian Wayne as Mister Mittens undoubtedly steals all the limelight once the Dark Knight’s heavily-mutated side-kick makes his appearance in the former Gotham Blades hockey arena. But it is still arguably a joy to watch Dick Grayson and Superman’s son undertake a covert infiltration of the Pit together, and show that both have brains, as well as brawn; “With your powers, you’re a magnet for the spores. If you’re down here and get slowed down, even for a moment, you could be infected.”

Indeed, rather than simply rely upon “the first Earth-born Superman” to just barge his way into the criminal fighting arena, the New York Times bestselling author instead shows the Human/Kryptonian hybrid demonstrating great restraint by listening to the more experienced guidance of his comrade-in-arms. This plot device really helps to sell the tale’s sense of danger to the audience, and makes it clear that despite all Jon-El’s incredible powers, he might actually make the metropolis-wide beast plague all the more formidable if he interferes in his friend’s plan to rescue Robin, and resultantly succumbs to the Star Conqueror’s infection himself.

Of course, Mister Mittens is by far and away the most memorable of this thirty-page periodical’s cast, imbuing its plot with an antagonist who is simultaneously both adorable and deadly. However, the humanoid cat creature provides the overall villain, Apex Ava, with plenty of impressively convincing punch too - especially when it’s made clear that the ordinarily extremely strong-willed young master Wayne could do absolutely nothing except obey the green-skinned, heavily-tattooed woman whilst he was in his feline form.

Also well worth a shout-out for making this comic’s storytelling so successful are artist Sami Basri, inker/finisher Vicente Cifuentes and colorist Adriano Lucas. The trio are easily as potent when it comes to bringing this book’s pencils to eye-catching, vivid life, as Dick, Jon and Damian are bringing an end to the murderous spectacle pf the Pit, with the sheer savagery of the place’s gladiatorial bouts almost leaping off of the printed page whenever the clawed combatants fight to the death.

The regular cover art of "NIGHTWING" #110 by Bruno Redondo