Nightwing has become one of DC’s flagship characters in recent years. Arguably, he’s been one since his introduction way back in 1940. Regardless, Nightwing stood as the leader of DC’s main superhero team for a time, and he’s just as capable of handling world-ending threats as Batman himself. Yet while Batman routinely fights villains that you’d think would be far more suited to heroes who can move mountains, Nightwing has traditionally fought more street-level opponents. That all changed with the introduction of the Zanni, an otherworldly being that has chosen Nightwing to lead its Cirque Du Sin, and it just demonstrated its power by taking down someone as strong as Superman’s enemy Mr. Mxyzptlk.
The Zanni Wants Nightwing as its Ringleader
Dan Watters’s run on Nightwing is only a couple of issues deep so far, but he’s already added a major new aspect to the former Boy Wonder’s lore. Back when Dick Grayson was still Robin, the Dynamic Duo followed a string of crimes where it looked like someone was trying to make their own demented circus by kidnapping people. Dick fought against a young girl at the Cirque named Colombina, who showed him a vision of the mysterious otherworldly creature known as the Zanni, who noted that Dick would make a perfect ringleader in the future. When he came to, Colombina had escaped and Robin convinced himself he was drugged. Years later, Colombina resurfaced in Bludhaven as the CEO of Spheric Solutions named Olivia Pearce, who was enacting the Zanni’s will to create the perfect scenario to recruit Nightwing.
Olivia convinced Dick’s sister Melinda, the mayor of Bludhaven, to use Spheric Solutions’ military-style police force to enforce peace with an iron fist. However, once Melina confronted Olivia about causing more chaos than she solved, Olivia removed her false face to reveal something horrifying. Now, in issue #127, Melinda tried to give a press conference, only to start crying about how she let monsters into her city, then collapsed into a coma. Clearly, even just seeing what Olivia really looks like is enough to drive people to hysterics. At the same time, Nightwing’s fifth dimensional imp super fan Nite-Mite, think Bat-Mite but for Nightwing, tried to return to the third dimension to help Nightwing clean up Bludhaven. Unfortunately, that’s when the Zanni intervened.
The Zanni Is Able to Stop Nite-Mite
When trying to enter the third dimension, the Zanni halts Nite-Mite and warns the imp that it has claimed this entire dimension for the Cirque Du Sin. Nite-Mite is completely unable to do anything as the Zanni tells Nite-Mite that if he plans to enter this dimension, he’ll have to come in his true form. Instead of appearing as a little caricature of Nightwing, Nite-Mite appears as a monstrous glob of purple ooze, spewing with eyes and mouths and engulfing the recently abandoned Titans Tower. Even beyond that, for the first time in his unmeasurable life, Nite-Mite experiences pain. He’s in agony, and completely helpless as his ambient energy distorts Titans Tower, with Barbara Gordon trapped inside. Spheric Solutions conveniently is able to provide Nightwing with gear that will protect him from the reality-warping energy inside the Tower, and he goes in to save the love of his life and his number one fan.
This is obviously all very bad for Nightwing. Not only is his newest enemy’s general capable of putting people into comas with just a look at her true face, but the Zanni is even more powerful than fifth dimensional imps, creatures who regularly go up against Superman. Even beyond its potential universe-shaking abilities, the Zanni is also a master planner, carefully orchestrating everything down to the arrival of Nite-Mite. Either the Zanni was smart enough to have Olivia prepare the tech for when the imp inevitably arrived, or it has the ability to communicate outside of time, which would make sense, given that the fifth dimension is beyond time and the Zanni is clearly at least as powerful as someone from there.
All in all, this newest villain is possibly the most dangerous foe that Nightwing has ever faced on his own. Sure, he’s gone up against reality-warpers and gods before, but usually when he’s teaming up with other heroes or villains. This is maybe the most dangerous villain who’s headlined a solo Nightwing book, and the Protector of Bludhaven has his work cut out for him if he wants to avoid getting drafted into the Zanni’s strange, horrific circus. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out, and I for one am super excited to see it unfold.
Nightwing #127 is on sale now!
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