Nightwing #107: Arr Ya Still Ready?

Nightwing #107 is very much an establishing issue for this latest pirate arc. While this issue does a good job at establishing the history of the newest characters as well as giving insight into the enemies of the sea—or unseen—the lack of action slightly bogs down the pacing. 

The issue kicks off with a flashback of Ric, the version of Dick Grayson that lost his memory due to being shot, and his romantic time with Beatrice Bennett. After a brief conversation about the mysterious item Ric received in issue 106, the issue switches to present time, and Bea is now a Captain of a Pirate Ship and Nightwing needs her help. 

Written by Tom Taylor, this issue largely has a lot of set up and this makes the pacing a bit slow compared to other issues. Another source of frustration in the writing is how the characters interact.  Call me cynical, but consistently a main character in this series is almost too positive and ready with a quick witted comment. I am not saying this can’t happen, however, it is almost a template for characters that reduce any sort of difference in how they interact. Also, how Barbara is so chill about Dick going off on a pirate adventure with an ex is beyond me. I’m not saying she needs to be jealous, and I am glad it is established that Dick and Babs are together, but I personally think it’s a bit weird. While the writing suffers a bit in this issue, the overall story is still fun and interesting. Dick going off on a pirate adventure seems like such a good fit for the character to experience and there’s a lot to explore while out of Bludhaven.

The art continues to be great from cover to the very last page. Bruno Redondo’s romance novel-esque cover is charming and the interior art from Stephen Byrne and colors by Adriano Lucas continue to be top notch. Given most of the story takes place inside of the ship, there isn’t a lot of environment to explore, but I suspect subsequent issues will resolve this.

This issue is complete with a fun drink-filled back up from Michael W. Conrad (writer), Serg Acuna (artist), Ivan Plascencia (colorist), and Wes Abbott (letters—also for Nightwing too!). The story involves Dick and Jason drinking and sharing some quick fist exchanges with a couple of baddies. It’s a fun story and interestingly had more action than that primary story which is much appreciated.