Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing #114 marks the beginning of their final arc, “Fallen Grayson”, on the title, but unfortunately, it’s an underwhelming start. As someone who’s never been invested in Heartless as a villain, I wasn’t thrilled for him coming back into the limelight as Dick’s final boss. Taylor uses the issue to attempt to rebuild Heartless’s intimidation factor, but it feels like too little, too late.

Heartless’s character development in this issue slows down the pacing. I’m eager to move past this setup and dive into how Dick ends up in the situation we find him (and the ever adorable Haley) in at the beginning of the issue. Additionally, the ongoing plot point of Dick’s fear of heights has never really made sense to me. It keeps coming up for no real reason & I wish we’d just move past it.

On a brighter note, Redondo’s return to art duties is a welcome sight. His artwork has been a significant part of what has made the early parts of this run so special, and having him back is like a reunion with an old friend. Every artist on the series has brought their A-game, but Redondo’s style is now synonymous with Nightwing. His designs for present-day Dick are great & I love the facial hair. My other complaint about Heartless is that he isn’t a visually interesting villain, giving Redondo little to do w/ his look.

Overall, Nightwing #114 feels like a slow start to the final arc. While I’m excited to see where Taylor and Redondo take the story from here, this issue didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Rating: 6/10