NIGHTWING #118 / Script by TOM TAYLOR / Pencils & Cover by BRUNO REDONDO / Inks by BRUNO REDONDO & CAIO FILIPE / Colors by BRUNO REDONDO & ADRIANO LUCAS / Letters by WES ABBOTT / Variant Covers by TIRSO, JAMAL CAMPBELL, SERE AGUNA, & NICOLA SCOTT /w ANNETTE KWAK / Published by DC COMICS

Typically when I write a review, it’s for the beginning of a story. It is here the critic’s work is most essential. New readers are curious if new books or series with new creative teams are worth picking up. The critic can help offer an assessment for those with tight budgets or a total unwillingness to take the chance on something new.

Today, however, I am reviewing the end of a story. Because Nightwing #118 is the end of an era and I felt like weighing in on it. Because for the past few years, it has been my favorite book.

There is little I can say about what Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo have done with Nightwing as a series that has not already been said by other fans and other critics. Since they took over the book, it has been one of DC Comics’ most consistently high-selling titles. It has earned the respect of the industry, having won multiple Eisner Awards. (Indeed, I contend the only reason Tom Taylor has not won the Eisner for Best Writer for this series is people confusing him and Tom King on the ballot.)

I can say that even now, Taylor and Redondo finds ways to surprise me with all the little touches they put into this book. From the use of foreshadowing in the text, to visual callbacks to earlier imagery, Nightwing #118 is a solid piece of illustrated literature. It is also a darn good comic that inspires hope and imparts a worthy moral lesson: bullies crumble when you stand up to them.

It spoils nothing to reveal that Dick Grayson emerges victorious over the villain called Heartless. How it happens I will not reveal, even with a single scanned image. I will say, however, that I have rarely had so much satisfaction in seeing a villain get thoroughly defeated and everything they believe disproven.

Suffice it to say this is not the end of Dick Grayson’s adventures. A new creative team is coming on in Nightwing #119. I do not envy them following the double-act of Taylor and Redondo. They are the single greatest comic team since Wolfman and Perez.

The problem with corporate comics these days is that it is rare for any established character to see an end to their adventures. Yet if Nightwing #118 were to be the final Dick Grayson story ever, it would be a worthy one. If you haven’t been reading the series, go grab the first volume, Leaping Into the Light. You are in for a treat. And if you have been reading it, get ready for a happy ending. Or the closest thing we can get in modern comics.