Bludhaven has a whole new police force, and Nightwing is already their biggest target.

After just barely escaping an explosive meeting between the budding gangs of Bludhaven, the titular hero of Nightwing #119 makes a stop by the office of Mayor Melinda Zucco to apprise her of the situation. Surprisingly, Mayor Zucco is already in the middle of a meeting with the CEO of Spheric Solutions, a weapons manufacturer that has agreed to supply the city with their automated police drones. Unfortunately, Spheric Solutions seems to be little more than a front for the Cirque du Sin, and they already have their sights set squarely on Bludhaven’s premier costumed crime-fighter.

• Written by DAN WATTERS
• Art by DEXTER SOY
• Colors by VERONICA GANDINI
• Letters by WES ABBOTT
• Main cover art by DEXTER SOY
• Variant covers by DAN PANOSIAN & GLEB MELNIKOV, DANIEL SAMPERE & ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ, KELLEY JONES & JOSÉ VILLARRUBIA, and ETHAN YOUNG

Nightwing #119 is the start of a whole new era for the title, as fan-favorite writer Dan Watters takes over after the end of longtime scribe Tom Taylor’s epic run on the series. The previous issue saw the tragic end of Nightwing’s years-long battle against Shelton Lyle, better known as the masked serial killer Heartless. Due to a heart condition, Lyle was driven to carve the hearts out of his victims to use as a stream of replacements, eventually ending with him claiming the heart of the superpowered villain known as Blockbuster as his own.

Besides terrorizing Bludhaven as a whole, Lyle had a dangerous obsession with Dick Grayson, with the two sharing an origin story in a truly twisted fashion. It was the deaths of Dick’s parents years prior that initially unleashed Shelton’s inner serial killer. Over the years that followed, Shelton dedicated himself to sewing death and destruction however he could, eventually settling on the pharmaceutical industry as a means of harming as many people as possible behind a veil of corporate legitimacy.

Mayor Melinda Zucco, born Melinda Grayson-Lin, made her comic book debut in the pages of 2021’s Nightwing #78 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. The half-sister of Dick Grayson, Melinda was born to Meili Lin, the first wife of mob leader Tony Zucco, and John Grayson. Though Melinda was aware of her true lineage from an early age, it wasn’t until years later that she and Dick reunited. Eventually, Melinda rose through the ranks of Bludhaven politics, landing herself a seat in the Mayor’s Office to the delight of the various mobsters and gang leaders in her immediate family.

Nightwing #119 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics