Warning! Contains spoilers for Nightwing #116!
Nightwing has been doing great lately: he’s in a loving relationship with Barbara Gordon, he’s using his wealth to repair and improve the lives of everyone in Blüdhaven, and he’s once again the leader of the Titans. It seems like Nightwing is truly on top, but his villain Heartless is finally ready to orchestrate his long fall to the bottom, as depicted in a chilling new variant cover.
A new variant cover for July’s Nightwing #116 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo reveals that Dick Grayson’s future may be even more bleak than fans expected. Tirso Cons‘ 1:25 variant cover, as shown in the artist’s X post below, features a bearded Nightwing wearing a coat, clearly incognito, leading his dog “Bitewing” through a dark train station. The real bleak kicker is that Bitewing appears to be blind.
After the uplifting events of Nightwing #113 by Taylor, Marv Wolfman, Daniele Di Niculo, and Redondo, Heartless has decided that it’s the perfect time to bring Dick Grayson down for good. Heartless has been watching Nightwing for nearly a year at this point, and he’s currently the biggest threat to Nightwing’s life. With everything in place, Heartless enacts a plan that will seemingly live Nightwing alone and homeless, as depicted on this cover.
Heartless has been the mysterious villain in Blüdhaven for nearly a year now. Very little is known about Heartless other than the fact he seems to be a dark reflection of Bruce Wayne: a psychotic young boy who killed his parents with the help of his butler. Heartless also witnessed the deaths of Nightwing’s parents in Haly’s Circus. This event has linked the two characters, with Heartless being a recurring character in Dick’s life, even bullying him in school, though it’s unlikely Dick remembers him. Heartless wants nothing more than to destroy Nightwing, and it seems he’s finally moving into position to do so.
Heartless has been a brutal villain and has killed tons of innocent civilians by ripping out their hearts, but his interactions with Nightwing have been surprisingly minimal. Despite Heartless haunting the streets of Blüdhaven for almost three years now, he has only confronted Nightwing directly a handful of times. This is finally going to change as Heartless promises to bring about the fall of Dick Grayson, and considering the variant cover for Nightwing #116 shows a homeless and disheveled Dick Grayson, with a seemingly now blind Haly by his side, it seems that Heartless’ plan will have a devastating effect on Dick’s life.
Nightwing has faced plenty of adversity in the past few months, especially from Amanda Waller during the Beast World event, but he’s come out on top every time so far. Nightwing’s life has been in a better and more stable place than it has in years — which is why Heartless is also at his most dangerous. It’s possible that Heartless intentionally waited for Nightwing to be at his peak of happiness, and now he’s going to finally strike out at Blüdhaven’s hero and do everything he can to make sure Nightwing’s fall is very public and as devastating as possible.
Nightwing #116 is available July 27th, 2024, from DC Comics!
Source: Tirso Cons