Nightwing #121 - DC Comics

NIGHTWING No. 121, February 2025

On the face of it Dan Watters’ storyline for Issue One Hundred And Twenty One of “Nightwing” might well be viewed as a fairly run of the mill affair, where the gifted acrobat manages to easily outfight both the remnants of the Teddy Gang and some “powered-up Spheric police officers”. Indeed, the more critical of this comic’s followers could argue that the titular character could easily be swapped out for any number of “DC Comics” street-level metahumans and the adventure wouldn't suffer an iota as a result; “Would you hate me if I said I was a little surprised you took me up on my offer of a private tour?”

However, that would be doing “Beast Wagon” a massive injustice as the English author pours a tremendous amount of emotional energy into Dick Grayson, and resultantly should have caused many a reader to have been hanging on to very back of Batman’s first Robin as he desperately attempts to keep Mama Bear’s adolescent survivors safe whilst motorcycling away from the murderous clutches of Bludhaven Police Department’s jet-pack wearing goon squad. Such intensity really is extraordinarily well-penned and almost demands that any onlooker becomes immediately invested in the main lead’s stance to do the right thing for the citizens, whether criminals or not, under his protection.

Similarly as enthralling, though obviously far less adrenalin-fuelled, is this book’s sub-plot depicting an ‘undercover’ Grayson successfully wooing Olivia Pearce to the point where he can clone her personal hard drive. Things certainly look like they’re all going in the right direction as Oracle attempts to penetrate its “Pentagon encryption”. But the sinister shadow of the Zanni is still made ever present and intimidating, thanks largely to artist Dexter Soy cleverly concealing the Fifth Dimensional Imp's ever-watching face into the odd panel.

In fact, the Filipino illustrator is at the top of their game for this twenty-two page periodical, prodigiously pencilling both its fast-paced punch-ups and road chases, as well as its more sedentary scenes such as Dick’s aforementioned flirting with Pearce. All of these sequences cleverly help deliver the emotional turmoil the super-hero is going through, and helps emphasise his earnest desire to ensure another kid isn’t unnecessarily killed on his turf.

The regular cover art of "NIGHTWING" #121 by Dexter Soy with Veronica Gandini