Nightwing finally learns about the threat of Heartless in the worst way possible – when the police show up at Dick’s door to question him about one of Heartless’ murders. With a little help from Barbara Gordon, Dick manages to fend off the police, and team-up with best Robin Tim Drake to begin tracking Heartless down in earnest. Nightwing #80 is written by Tom Taylor, art by Bruno Redondo, colors by Adriano Lucas and lettering by Wes Abbott.
Let me quickly get this out of the way: I love Tom Taylor’s writing, believe he’s a perfect fit for this book, and this issue is no exception. Dick Grayson’s heart is a large part of the reason why the Batfamily is one of the most compelling found families in comics. Taylor makes that heart shine with humor and effortless charm. He gets what fans love about these characters, and he serves it up to us on a paneled platter, in a way that’s rarely not an unmitigated delight.
I wanted to get that out right at the top, because I am going to spend much of this review gushing about the art. I’ve loved the art in every issue so far, and in #80 we see things that make my heart soar, raising the bar for what sequential storytelling can achieve.
I thought I’d reached peak glee with the opening interrogation scene, when cops come knocking on Dick Grayson’s door to interrogate him about the death of Martin Holt – a man Dick had helped out last issue before Martin was murdered by Heartless in the villain’s first appearance last issue. It’s a chance to see Dick out of costume (and, to the delight of many, out of shirt for a little bit) and realize just how much even a domino mask hides in terms of expressiveness.
Dick Grayson has a youthful earnestness that puts Superman’s “I’m-just-here-to-help” kind blue eyes to shame. The range we are treated to in this one interrogation scene alone is worth the price of admission. The pain in those eyes and pinched eyebrows when he finds out Michael Holt is killed. His disappointed disdain for the corruption he came up against during his time in the police force. The characteristic playful silliness he has at the strangeness of the situation. The befuddled huff of a man who’s been asked his relationship status and doesn’t know how to even begin to reply – one of the most exquisitely fun pieces of character acting I’ve ever seen in a comic. Under Redondo’s renderings, the expressiveness we get from every character in this scene is sublime – though it’s Dick Grayson who steals the show (which is fair enough, considering it’s his comic).
But no, that was not peak glee. An overhead view of Dick’s apartment and a few panels showing the stairway besides the elevator ride there rekindled my love for architecture, and made Dick’s world feel real. It’s such a simple shot that comprehensively lays out his living arrangements – and shoutout to Adriano Lucas’ lighting in this image for the beautiful uses of sunset shades and quiet blue shadows to really separate the upper floor from the lower one; instant depth at a glance. This one simple shot mixed with perfectly placed dialogue bubbles, multiple Dicks, Barbaras and puppy Haleys to show a smooth line of action without the need for separate panels is genius. I love the way it portrays motion in a large space without compromising on either, which usually comes with the constrictions of conventional panels – it’s something that’s been made great use of in this series and taken to hilarious extremes in this wonderful cover.
Despite my deep admiration for this moment, peak glee was but a page away. Dick decides to look for Heartless himself, calling in one of his most trusted and competent allies: Tim Drake, AKA the Best Robin, and I will fight you on this if I have to*. I have great love for any Batfamily reunion, but Tim Drake has a special place in my heart. Surprising no one, Taylor gets the dynamic between the two brilliantly – the banter, the mutual respect, the riffing and the way they quite literally just leap into work mode. What I was not expecting, however, was the breathtaking joy of seeing two of my favorite Batboys in action – and the splendor of seeing the differences in their body languages as they parkour their way across Blüdhaven.
Both of them are highly trained specialists in moving about a city, but Nightwing is an acrobat, born and raised, and that’s never left him. Both of them look spectacular rushing through a Blüdhaven night, but side by side, you can see Nightwing’s gracefulness right alongside Robin’s more direct, almost brute-force approach to acrobatics. You see it in subtle moments – riding on the roof of a train, bending over backwards to avoid being hit by the tunnel roof – in the perfect form of Nightwing’s arch, the catlike tension in his muscles, ready to lightly spring into the next pose, while Tim’s form is more to the point, taking the bend that gets the job done, with style, but not with artistry.
It’s something you get to see again later in the issue when the two of them are fighting – something I was hoping I’d get to see this issue – grace versus calculated force. It’s a difference that comics usually rely on narrative captions to portray, but this creative team appears to have as much trust in each others’ tremendous talents as Dick and Tim have in each other. One page in particular shows off a quick, simple, efficient takedown of two D-list supervillains sent to extort a camp of homeless children. Lucas takes full advantage of Electrocutioner’s (eat your heart out, Max Dillon) pink energy blasts to deliver bursts of brilliant light to heighten the thrill of this fight scene.
I am really enjoying the way the art team switches up between three styles in this one action scene alone. Playful, instruction manual-like panels to show how Nightwing’s escrima sticks combine into a staff for Robin to use, the previously mentioned brilliant pink page of our dynamic duo (Hey. That’s catchy. DC should trademark that phrase) springing into action, and the move for that into flatter colors to simplify and clarify the tag-team takedown of the two brutal bullies.
Tim Drake’s guest appearance in this issue is everything I could have asked for in a series I’m already loving. This issue has surprised, delighted, and floored me. The creativity on display in this issue, the play of history woven into a new tale, is exactly what I love superhero comics for. Nightwing is not just everything you could ask for in a comic – it’s everything you didn’t know you wanted but now want to see more of. Peak glee.
*I lied no this was a bluff please don’t fight me on this I will fold like a deck of cards and then feel sad about letting Tim down. [Editor’s Note: I won’t. Bring it]
