Nightwing #103 // Review
Raven is leading Dick Grayson and a few others into hell. Literally. She’s giving them temporary tunnel vision of a sort. They’ll only be able to see her so that they can follow her. Naturally, Grayson is going to ask why. “You’re heroes,” she says. “You’ll want to help them.” There’s no helping the damned in Nightwing #103. Writer Tom Taylor brings Nightwing to hell in a fascinating little journey brought to the page by artists Travis Moore and Vasco Georgiev and colorist Adriano Lucas. The journey is fun enough for an action story, but it lacks the greater depth that could have been attained by Nightwing in hell.
Nightwing has gone to Hell in search of something. They’re breaking in to look for a contract that is in possession of a menacing figure named Neron. Donna Troy, Batgirl, and Starfire are bringing a little girl named Olivia to Themyscira--home of the Amazons. She’s there to learn how to fight. Meanwhile, Cyborg hacks into a computer network in hell in the interest of locating a specific contract for a specific soul. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge. Hell has the worst kind of IT imaginable...
There is real potential in the darkness of breaking into hell and searching for a contract. Theoretically, it could have turned into a complicated heist situation. Or it could've been a deep psychological journey into the nature of human darkness. Taylor opts for more of an action-adventure sort of comedy thing. It's fine. It's charming. And there's more than a few laughs. But it doesn't feel as strong as it would have felt if Taylor had attempted to address the subject matter in a way that was more in keeping with the potential thematic weight of breaking into hell.
Moore’s style approaches Hell in a very straightforward way. Classical images of the place feel at least familiar. But not particularly disturbing. Georgiev’s work on much of the issue lends a deeper moodiness to the page that Taylor's script doesn't necessarily reach for. It's a nice addition. And it makes the issue that much more rich and appealing. There is a respect for the nuances of drama. An encounter on Themyscira with a villain there turns out to have the single biggest visual impact in the entire issue. As good as the art is in places, Taylor hasn't really reached the full potential of the story, and so the art is only capable of being as good as the script.
Though Nightwing is the center of the story, this really feels more like a classic issue of the Titans. It's nice to see the team back together in a way that is appealing enough. It's just too bad there isn't as much time for the title character. There are a few moments that grant the reader a bit of insight into him and what he's going through right now. However, Taylor seems much more interested in telling a story that could have been written better.
