NIGHTWING #139 / Written by DAN WATTERS / Pencils by DENYS COWAN / Inks by NORM RAPMUND / Colors by FRANCESCO SEGALA / Letters by WES ABBOTT / Covers by JORGE FORNES, BEN HARVEY & GABRIEL HARDMAN / Published by DC COMICS

I could quite happily have never read another Nightwing comic after 2024’s Nightwing #118. What Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo did on their now-legendary run was a revelation. And their final issue was not only a perfect capstone for their stories – it could have been a great ending to Dick Grayson’s story.

That’s not the way of things for most superhero comics, however. The heroes keep having new adventures and new creative teams have to tell those stories. This is not, I hasten to add, a slight on Dan Watters or any of the artists who have worked on Nightwing since then. I’ve been keeping up on the series as a comic news reporter and critic, but it isn’t a title that grabbed my attention.

Not, at least, until Nightwing #139.

A quick summation of where we are as the story opens. A new super-highway is cutting through the heart of Blüdhaven and making the dead restless. At least, that’s the claim of a ghostly witch who caused Nightwing to cause a multi-car pile-up. Now, a new hot-shot DA is out for his head, despite Nightwing still being on good terms with the public, the mayor, and most of the police.

Already sleep-deprived and lacking the support of his girlfriend (due to the events of Barbara Gordon: Breakout), Dick wants to keep helping his adopted hometown. However, it’s even more dangerous than usual for him to be out on patrol. Thankfully, there are other ways a skilled detective can help the authorities. More, there’s a golden opportunity to do so as the construction on the super-highway around Blüdhaven’s waterways caused a lot of old crimes to come to the surface. Literally.

I’ve never been much for the CSI school of crime thriller, but Watters clearly did his homework on this issue, with its focus on forensics. More, this is the sort of pure detective work driven story we rarely see today, even with as many Batman comics as DC puts out every month. Additionally, this comic has one core mystery tale (which I will not spoil) that offers something even rarer – a true one-shot mystery, that can be read and enjoyed by a newcomer, even with all the tie-ins to other series and the current “Crossroads” story arc. On top of all that, the issue is also a great character study of Dick Grayson.

The artwork is equally impressive. But how could it not be with a legend like Denys Cowan handling the pencils? The rest of the art team work together like a NASCAR pit crew. Norm Rapmund handles the inks with a light touch, matched by the faded color palettes utilized by Francesco Segala. This subtly emphasizes the issue’s themes of decay and corruption, as does the soft lettering by Wes Abbott.

Nightwing may not be the flashiest title on the stands today. However, this issue proves that it can still surprise even a jaded reader with something special. I can’t say anything beyond that without spoiling it, but I loved this issue!