Nightwing #114: A Circus Boy’s Odyssey

The notion of In Media Res, the Greek term for in the middle, lives in the heart of storytelling. The term refers specifically to starting a story in its middle and then flashing back to the beginning, usually as a way to grab the audience’s attention before providing exposition. Most famously, Homer’s The Odyssey uses this structure as it opens with the hero telling his episodic stories to a nobleman at the halfway mark of the epic poem. In the story, the events leading up to Odyssey’s return home are recounted, showcasing the variety of events leading up to the climax. While the method of storytelling is a classic full of advantages, it can sometimes hinder the pace of a story, which is partially evident in the current issue of Nightwing. 

Nightwing #114 – written by Tom Taylor with art from Bruno Redondo, colors by Adriano Lucas, and letters from Wes Abbott – kicks off the final arc of this run with Dick Grayson’s search for a cure to his current fear of leaping. In the present day of the story, Dick and his dog Haley trek through the harsh snows of an unnamed mountain. While undertaking the journey, Dick flashes back to his life in the circus and the first call to the highwire act his parents leaped across the day in and out. After the memory, Dick prepares to continue his quest and gives another look forward to the harsh trials ahead. 

Meanwhile, the book adds a third timeline as the book jumps back to two weeks previously as Nightwing fights crime in Gotham while Dick and Barbara attend a gala. Nightwing is rattled by the motives of a thief he chases down as he reunites with Barbara.  Joined by Bruce and Damian, the group is challenged by a group of journalists linking the Pennyworth Foundation to Blockbuster’s criminal empire. The final plotline of the issue intersects with the revelation that Heartless is taking total control of the Blüdhaven criminal underworld.  

Weaving these four plotlines is a daunting task but is done masterfully by Lucas’s coloring and Redondo’s artwork. Each one of the four plotlines lives in its palette, orbiting around one another but remaining distinct slivers of time. The mountain top is boundless white and picturesque pinks of the sun while the flashback to the circus is a rich yellow and stark blue of night seeping into the tents. Back in Heartless’s lair, deep pinkish-reds infect the panels and create a sinister look. Finally, the bulk of the issue is warm yellows and oranges of beautiful lighting at the reception. Each tone feels like part of the larger tapestry of the story but remains definite in its own right. 

Those colors overlay Redondo’s artwork masterfully, allowing for the atmosphere of the four plotlines to find additional depth. Redondo makes Dick feel different in the three points of time, the child version resembling Damian with a chip on his shoulder and budding curiosity. The two-weeks-ago Dick is unsure of himself, and Redondo puts that tension directly into his body language. There’s a tightness in Nightwing’s shoulders and uncertainty in the facial expressions that feel out of place in the best possible way. In the present day, Gayson trades his clean-cut appearance for a scraggly beard that makes him seem ten years older, and Redondo does excellent work to age the man in less than a month. It’s an effective tweak to the design that creates an interesting variation to the status quo look of the character. 

Taylor takes those designs and interweaves a sharp sense of characterization and narrative momentum in his scripting. As the book moves into its endgame, Dick’s fear and foe both come into clear focus. Even as more mysteries about the fear of leaping and its connection to a tall peak are unveiled, it’s plain to see that Heartless is circling it. The villain continues to prove himself as the antithesis of Grayson’s boundless compassion. As Heartless takes control of the criminal underworld, it reads like a dark reflection of Nightwing moving the Titans and Batfamily further into the light. 

If the book stumbles anywhere, it’s in the small use of the present-day story. The choice to begin on the mountaintop is an inspired choice and gives a certain literary nature to the series. Redondo’s artwork has evoked classic works like Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, which has in turn been used as a cover for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both works live adjacent to the genre of British Romanticism and capture the beautiful dangers found in nature. Redondo channels the beauty in the first couple of pages and shifts away from them so suddenly leaves a taste of ash in comparison to the rest of the issue. The artwork is of a similar quality in terms of craft and energy, but something is lacking in the execution of emotion on the page. Hopefully, the next few issues spend more time on the visually arresting scenery, channeling that sense of reaching that feels separate from the typical big two book.