The current run of Nightwing is doing a good job at juggling lots of characters and plots. In issue 98 we got introduced to Olivia, the young daughter of the now dead Blockbuster, whose soul was sold to the demon Neron to give her father power. Nightwing helped to save her with the assistance of his dog (she had powers at the time and was amazing!) and then Olivia kind of got put to the side for a bit. But, Taylor keeps proving that everything in his series is done for a reason, and nothing is throwaway, as this new arc seems to focus squarely on Olivia, as Neron puts a plan into place to claim her soul.
Fortunately for her, she's not just protected by Nightwing, as the Titans have moved to Bludhaven now, and they're all on the case. With the Justice League stepping down for a bit and Dick having been asked to lead the worlds heroes it makes sense that the first thing he'd do is work with a team that he knows, and is comfortable with. Some readers seem disappointed that he didn't jump straight into making a new League, but until he does having the Titans step up feels right to me.
And because the team is now a big part of the series they're not just background characters, as both Raven and Starfire get given as much focus and attention in the story that Dick does. Raven is clearly going to be important dealing with Neron, and it makes sense to give her a bigger part to play in this story. And Starfire gets some attention due to the fallout of Dark Crisis and the loss of the Titans Academy. It's actually really nice that we're getting some things that seem to have been directly effected by Dark Crisis, as not many of the books out at the moment are even acknowledging it.
Speaking of acknowledging other events, Amanda Waller makes an appearance here, despite having moved to Earth-3 after a small war she started that involved some of the characters in this book. Yet no one questions why she's there, why she's back, or anything. Perhaps I missed something somewhere, but it took me by surprise that she just seems to be back home now and no one is acknowledging what came before.
The main story is an interesting one though, and it feels more like a Titans story than a Nightwing one; but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. This is a great team. There's a reason why they keep coming back, why their books are popular and keep selling. More Titans please!
The back-up feature also sees Nightwing teaming up, this time with Jon Kent. This seems to be taking place when Dick was training Jon in previous issues, though might be happening concurrently (it's not clear), but either way, it's nice to see Dick continuing in a mentorship role for Jon. The two of them work well together, and make for a decent pairing.
In this story the two of them save a young trapeze performer from falling to their death when their circus act is sabotaged. Unfortunately, soon after a bomb detonates, and seems to do some serious damage and possibly kills a lot of civilians (though Superman is there, so it'll probably be revealed to be fine next issue). There's not really much given away here as to what the story is going to be, but the instant connection to Dick Grayson's own past makes it easy to connect with, and you can understand why Dick is a little thrown off by what's happening. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.
This is a new era for Nightwing, and it seems to be off to a good start. Dick is still very much front and centre, but is sharing the spotlight with his friends now. We get some great moments from the Titans, and some nods back to Dark Crisis that come with some character development. I can't wait to see what comes next.
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