Chapter three of Dan Watter's run of Nightwing is finally here! Previously, the Teddy gang found themselves framed and the targets of the upgraded Blüdhaven police force. After the death of one of their young members, Nightwing decides to intervene before things get worse. Somehow, Olivia Pearce and Helios end up playing the city, the gangs, and Nightwing like a fiddle in the process anyway. Don't ask me why Dan calls this chapter "Beast Wagons," but let's "get on with the show" below!

The Lost Boys

Watter's "Teddies" aren't necessarily all children, but the gang accepts teenagers with nowhere else to go. Allegedly, their deceased benefactor Mama Bear used to recruit her cubs to help them off the street. However, that ignores the theft and crime she exposes them to in exchange for their loyalty. This is a common fallacy of belonging that a lot of cults and gangs use to influence young members seeking a sense of family. Usually, the leader establishes themselves as a figure of authority such as a surrogate parent, teacher, lover, or often a god. Only in this case, Mama bear dresses them up like colorful children's show extras willing to steal for her. The overall argument being that the Teddies offer a "less evil" option of employment than the other violent gangs.

Nightwing has a severe tonal tug of war between a goofy cartoon and a deadly serious afterschool special. The first thing you see in issue #121 is a dead child on a slab, sharply contrasting with the silly oversized animal masks. Furthermore, there are several dramatic panels of young Teddies like Bryce Moran or Keenan delivering melodramatic monologues in their ridiculous outfits. Images of Dick, Barbara, and his dog embracing as a family compound the sheer drama of things. At first, Nightwing viciously attacks the gang for endangering young kids, ignoring the hypocrisy of his own past as Robin. Yet, he defends them from Helios again, and even letting the gang of thieves use his spare bat bunker.

The Overarching Idea

Besides the tonally confusing child soldier angle, Nightwing presents the argument for escalation of "superior firepower" in the DCU. The antagonist, Olivia Pearce, posits similar ideas to Amanda Waller in Absolute Power about regular people needing an upgrade. According to Pearce, adapting to a changing criminal landscape is imperative in the world they live in. Honestly, she isn't necessarily wrong. The DCU is home to ghosts, ghouls, aliens, gods, and all manner of metahuman heroes, villains, and psychos galore. If cops in the Marvel Universe have resorted to shooting lasers, it stands to reason that the police in DC will need to change too. That said, Watters knowingly paints escalation as further encouraging abuses of power. Moreover, in the real world, ideas of militarization or defunding the police make for substantial debates about inequality. Seemingly, Nightwing somewhat makes the case that power is only safe in the hands of superheroes.

The weakest part of the book is the artwork, particularly in the areas of ink, color, and gesture. In panels throughout the book, the faces and gestures are stiff and lack fluidity. On one hand, I attribute placement of the heavy ink to style, but there isn't a good shadow to light relationship with the lighting on the page regardless. Olivia Pearce's office is blocky and futuristic, not unlike the Weyland Yutani designs in the Alien franchise, but more importantly it has several egregious monitors. Few of these monitors provide light sources in the room that make sense. Last issue Nightwing threw his costume on the floor, but now Dexter puts Nightwing's costume on a mannequin in front of the big ass windows in his oddly designed living room. Action sequences work for the most part, but even the faux newspaper copy is irritating.

Recommended If...

• On board with the new era of Nightwing.
• You fancy debates about ethics.
• You don't mind the wackiness of Teddy Bear masked bike thieves.

Overall

The longer I look at each individual page, the more flaws in the artwork I seem to find. I won't come out and call Dexter Soy's artwork bad, but it doesn't hold much appeal. As for the story, things seem to be progressing, despite the use of heavy handed melodrama. This issue in particular feels like an episode of 21 Jump Street. Luckily, I don't mind a good after school special as long as it makes sense. Unfortunately, nothing about the Teddies or Nightwing's response to them seems logical. Similarly, Nightwing shouldn't have to bug Helios to prove anything, the actions on the street should be enough to make compelling arguments against what is happening. It is an insult to the reader's intelligence to witness so much child killing, animal testing, and abuses of power going virtually unchallenged in the story by everyone but Nightwing.

P.S. I don't understand why images of the mysterious antagonist are on Olivia Pearce's monitors when Dick comes to visit, or why Grayson doesn't notice it. Lastly, comic books aren't the real world, but if you use mature, real world problems, I expect mature, real world responses.

Score: 5.5/10

DC Comics have provided advance copies of books for review.