Nightwing No. 121 review: Dan Watters hits more than the enemies

Dan Watters established CEO of Spheric Solutions Olivia Pearce as the villain in his first issue of Nightwing then moved on to how she would cause problems with the weapons she gave to Blüdhaven's police force. The high-tech gear is only one part of her mission to hurt Nightwing and Dick Grayson (she knows they’re the same person). She's also started a gang war by saying the Teddy Gang is trying to take out their competition. However, as Dick is trying to help the Teddy Gang, he learns he’s hurting people too.

The Teddy Gang is a group of Bludhaven criminals using kids in their crimes. What Nightwing didn’t know is their former leader, Mama Bear, wasn’t just a gang leader. She was protecting kids. She let them hang out in her soup kitchen to shield them from bullies. It worked until the Pennyworth Foundation bought it. Now that Mama Bear is dead, they don’t have anyone to protect them. Nightwing says he’s trying to help, but one of the Teddies points out that he isn’t better than the cops. Nightwing uses superior weapons too, he just doesn't kill.

Dick Grayson’s biggest objective is to protect people. He doesn’t hurt anyone more than needed and goes out of his way to solve problems without violence like starting the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation. But even that had unintentional consequences. Since he couldn’t do anything about that at the moment, Dick did something else. He helped the Teddies escape being killed by overzealous cops and gave them a place to stay. Moments like this remind readers of how Dick Grayson is more like Superman than Batman.

Dan Watters is showing another side of Bludhaven and the aforementioned unintended consequences of good actions. The punches, stealthy moves, and trying to broker peace all led to the destruction of some kind. That leaves Dick Grayson with bigger problems and readers wondering how he’ll solve them. It’s a perfect combination to keep comic book fans intrigued.

As for Olivia Pearce, Barbara Gordon learns that she’s a villain from Dick’s days as Robin. It leaves this writer to wonder if Pearace is a new character or someone who’s reinvented themselves after being defeated. This writer will guess that the marionettist who's after Nightwing and Pearce is the same person.

Furthermore, Olivia Pearce probably worked for Haly's Circus as a marionettist. It would make sense since she knows his secret identity. It would be easy for her to see Robin's moves and connect them to Dick's days as a Flying Grayson. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait and see. Stay tuned to Caped Crusades to find out the truth when it’s revealed.

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