Nightwing #132 - DC Comics

NIGHTWING No. 132, January 2026

If there’s one distinct difference between Dick Grayson’s attitude towards fighting crime as opposed to Bruce Wayne’s, it’s that the Dark Knight’s ‘heir apparent’ appears far more emotional when it comes to tackling his opponents, and Nightwing’s behaviour in “Slap Stick” appears to prove this point rather nicely. In fact, Olivia Pearce’s diabolical plan appears to solely rely upon that very fact as a clearly enraged guardian of Blüdhaven allows his temper to get the better of him and unwisely races into a deadly confrontation with Spheric Solutions’ boss in full view of the city’s media; “Cut it! Cut it! We apologise for these violent images -- We didn’t expect on a live feed --”

Sadly however, the grisly conclusion to this sinister spectacle appears a little rushed, and may well leave a few readers wondering whether Dan Watters’ willingness to cut short a couple of this comic’s sub-plots was a little impatient of him – such as the rather intriguing notion of the woman wearing a suit whose smart fibres had read Grayson’s “every motion” whilst he battled Nite-Mite’s bemusing takeover of Titans Tower. Considering that Pearce herself was a former Circus performer, this notion alone could easily have populated an entire twenty-two-page publication, as the two went toe-to-toe across the roof-tops of the former whaling town.

In addition the rather ghoulish revelation that Olivia is actually a headless zombie also appears to have been swiftly brushed under the carpet, to allow Nightwing to angrily face the Zanni at the book’s conclusion. So terrifying an eye-opener doesn’t disappointingly lead to Dick realising he’s possibly unable to defeat someone who is Undead, or lead to the original Boy Wonder facing down a gaggle of walking, flesh-eating cadavers. But instead is simply used by the British author to fool the press into thinking that Nightwing has somehow killed his foe before the metropolis’ television cameras.

Perhaps far more palatable than the penmanship is therefore Dexter Soy’s pencilling, which does a first-rate job of depicting the pulse-pounding fury flowing through the titular character's veins from start to finish. This is clearly a Teen Titan focused upon simply tracing down the Zanni, and resultantly a protagonist who is extremely vulnerable to being manipulated into certain situations. Furthermore, the sheer weight of the super-hero’s frustration when he does finally find his real opponent is superbly sketched, especially once Grayson realises it has come at the cost of a person’s life.

The regular cover art of "NIGHTWING" #132 by Dexter Soy