Nightwing #103: Quip Me to Hell

Nightwing #103 – written by Tom Taylor with from Travis Moore, colors by Adriano Lucas, and letters from Wes Abbott – splits the Titan’s party, with Nightwing, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg heading to Hell to find Blockbuster’s contract with Neron. Meanwhile, Donna Troy, Starfire, and Batgirl/Oracle take Olivia (daughter of Blockbuster) to Themiscryia, where they start training the young girl to fight and defend herself. 

The infiltration of Neron’s tower back in Hell is a straightforward plan after the villain leaves for Earth. The group breaks in after abandoning a Chewbacca maneuver to just force their way in. Cyborg interfaces with the most chilling computer in Hell, including endless desktop icons, outdated browsers, and more pop-ups than your grandma’s laptop. They get the contract that Blockbuster made and reveal that Olivia’s mother is a notable Batman villain. 

Back on Earth, Neron sneaks past the Flash and gets the Grinning Man out of prison, using him and some other second-tier villains to attack the Amazonian island. Olivia’s strength isn’t enough to defend against attackers, and the Titans call for help. Everyone but Nightwing jumps to action, the vigilante staying behind to study the contract. Neron appears and attempts to make a deal with Grayson, delivering an offer and cliffhanger in return for the hero looking the other way when it comes to Olivia. 

Taylor’s script for this issue delivers plenty of fun zags, moving along with a steady rhythm that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The script, like the Titans, is flexible and avoids being too tropey while still delivering an even superhero story. This story is the biggest thing ever and doesn’t promise that nothing will ever be the same again, but it relishes in its opportunity to allow characters to play off one another. The standout moments of this issue aren’t technical achievements or narrative twists (both of which have been common for this series) but come from the character work and dialogue that Taylor puts at the forefront. 

It makes total sense that the central computer of Hell would be this virus-ridden, outdated machine, and watching Cyborg try to interface with it without catching something is an excellent bit. It works in this attack on Hell with stakes (trying to save Olivia’s soul) but isn’t weighed down by a melancholy tone. Raven and Beast Boy can trade quips with Blaze in one scene, while in another, Nightwing and Neron can discuss legal loopholes and both tones feel congruent to the story established in this issue. 

Much of that consistency is achieved thanks to Moore’s art, which gives the book a solid, swashbuckling tone that strikes a balance between the horrors of Hell with the beauty of Themyscira. Moore’s linework offers clean, concise movement in the action sequences while showcasing plenty of expressions and close-ups when the book breaks into the more engaging dialogue sequences and character moments. There’s a great panel when Cyborg first sits at the computer that creates a stunning page turn, with a close-up that indicates a shocking reveal, before undercutting with a wide panel revealing the computer screen. It’s these little beats that make this issue such a compelling read. 

There are plenty of stunning compositions and scenery to go with the character-driven art. In the action sequence preceding the computer moment, Moore gets to showcase dark, metallic spires and superheroic combat. There’s a page that utilizes diagonal gutters with triangle panels that create a sharpness to the action that gives a montage-esque feeling as the heroes work their way to the top of the tower. It’s a one-two punch of the craft on display in the art, moving from stunning action to a character-driven conversation and then shifting back to action back on Themyscira. 

The issue’s coloring helps to establish the baseline of the two storylines, with the time spent on Themyscira filled with rolling greens and crystal blues contrasting to the metallic black and angry reds of Hell. There’s never any doubt where these sequences are occurring, and help to control the tone of the two adventures. Even as the implications of failure and reasons for training Olivia start to creep in Lucas’s palette keeps a lighter touch to both storylines. It keeps a consistent look for the larger series but helps to reinforce the elements that make this story stand out from previous issues. 

The issue’s backup continues its investigation of an attempted murder at a circus, mirroring the circumstances that led Nightwing to his current life. The story comes from writer C.S. Pacat, penciller Eduardo Pansica, inker Julio Ferreira, colorist Adriano Lucas, and letterer Wes Abbott. Nightwing and Jon Kent’s Superman accuse the mother of cutting the trapeze rope, and Superman realizes she’s innocent. The duo deduces that the son cut the line, wanting to scare his mom so they could leave the circus for a normal life. The larger mystery of who planted the bomb is still open, and the heroes get a moment to reflect on the son’s motives, sharing in their experiences of missing out on parts of a normal childhood. 

The story is a great reflection of the book’s main plot, dealing with a child dealing with unexpected circumstances. It also gives Nightwing a chance to ponder what a normal childhood looks like and how much the death of his parents influences his experience. Pacat not only digs into Nightwing and Superman’s perspectives but continues the give and take of the mentor/mentee relationship. Dick learns from Jon in the same way Batman has expressed he’s learned from Dick in other stories. It’s an excellent bit of symmetry in the ongoing relationship and gives both characters a nudge toward real development. 

Panscia’s pencils and Ferreira’s inks do a good job of making a mostly dialogue-driven issue interesting to follow, and the standout moments are the flashbacks as the kid reveals his motives for cutting the rope. The art gets a bit softer, with less defined lines and an orange hue from Lucas that signals a focus on the past. There’s a bit of wistful nostalgia portraying an idealized version of a normal childhood. As the art returns to its established look, Nightwing explains that differences make people special, hammering a thematic lesson to the story that undercuts the romanticized projection from the child.