“Death Trap”
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Francesco Frankavilla
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Review by James Attias
Nightwing Annual #1 2025 gives us a gritty detective story and a disturbed origin, with a character’s first appearance to boot! Let’s swing in.
Beware!
Full disclosure my loyal readers, The Gray Ghost is one of my favourite characters of all time. So when I saw he was featured in this annual I was buzzing. Then… When I saw for the first time ever that he had a sidekick?!?! I almost spit out my milk and cookies! Granted it was in a comic IN the comic, so not a feature character, so much as a little cameo to get nerds like me excited. But fun all the same.
This issue is great, it gives us a well needed back story for our villain of this run so far. Olivia Pearce. We know that she is evil, she is powerful and she is working with forces beyond our understanding. This issue shows us how, why and that Commissioner Maggie Sawyer is on the case.
Death Trap
As well as a gritty detective tale that wouldn’t be out of place in Detective Comics, we’re also shown flashbacks to when our villain was a child, and the tortures she endured and then caused. We’re shown a character who we were introduced to a few issues back and it added a whole new layer of sorrow. This annual was a great way of showing new layers to a bunch of characters that we had only scratched the surface on for a while now. Maggie Sawyer we have known for the longest time, thanks to Superman and Batwoman. But this story shows why she was made a commissioner of the police.
Conclusion
Nightwing Annual #1 2025 adds some much needed depth to the supporting characters who have been giving Nightwing so much grief these last few months. Beautifully written too!
Review Written to Honor Steve J Ray – May he Rest in Peace.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment