Nightwing #84: Home Away From Home

Just as things are getting good, it’s time to take a little detour. Dick Grayson may be busy in Bludhaven, but this week in Nightwing, he’s off to Gotham. Nothing like a crossover to sidetrack our heroes. This week starts the Fear State storyline, which is spanning multiple Bat-Family books. Scarecrow has taken over the city using The Magistrate and has basically stripped Gotham of the right to exist with any semblance of privacy. 

A scrambled call from Babs brings Dick to Gotham, where he gets to face The Magistrate head on. Robbi Rodriguez, who has taken over as artist this issue, provides us with some extremely dynamic action once Nightwing arrives in Gotham. 

It’s quick. It’s flashy. It’s even a little brutal once The Bat makes an appearance and gets to share a slightly touching moment with Dick– albeit after telling him to go home.

As per usual, Tom Taylor delivers some really fun dialogue that feels natural for our characters and keeps you interested. We get minor exposition dumps that don’t feel like they’re just simple explanations. They work in the narrative and don’t slow the pace.

Adriano Lucas continues to do a stellar job on colors. His warm colors really give the book a unique feel. While Wes Abbott’s phenomenal lettering continues to give the book a stand-out voice.

Overall, while not awful, this issue is far from the best of the current run. Getting dragged into a tie-in story that arguably won’t need Nightwing makes this feel out of place. With what happened in the previous issues in Bludhaven, abandoning it for Gotham feels like a weird direction to go. Though I doubt the creative team for the book had much choice in that matter. Thankfully it was now, instead of in the middle of an arc.