Nightwing (2016-) #133

by Dan Watters, V. Ken Marion (Artist)

As strange disappearances grip the city, the mysterious Cirque du Sin seems to be gaining power. Now, to save the city’s children, Nightwing must follow the circus music where no one else dares.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2025

About the author

Dan Watters is a UK based comic book writer. His first book, LIMBO, was released through Image Comics in 2016. He has since written THE SHADOW at Dynamite Comics, and ASSASSIN’S CREED and WOLFENSTEIN for Titan Comics.

Currently he is writing the relaunch of LUCIFER for Vertigo’s Sandman Universe, as well as DEEP ROOTS for Vault Comics. Deeply rooted in London Town, and firmly of the Devil's party.

Reviews

[Adina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Zanni is literally just pennywise

[♫♡☆Delilah☆♡♫ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy peak and now I have to wait till I go to the comic store again to finish this arc… 🫩

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid set up. Some great moments with Nightwing and his crew. But back to mystical fifth dimension stuff is iffy. A 3 out of 5.

[miranda mackinnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

i need the next comic or i think im gonna die in this house

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The definition of a filler issue but the combination of great setup and fantastic art still makes for a great time. This issue we join Nightwing in the hospital room of Nightwing prime, Bryce, as he has a Kryptonite fist sized hold in his chest and is not in a good condition. The city is reeling from seeing Nightwing on tv reach his hand out and Olivia Pearce’s head pop right off, not seeing the horrors she revealed to him moments earlier. And now Zanni weighs heavily on Nightwing’s mind and what he is supposed to do next. Nightwing is visited by the people closest to him, starting first with Maggie who isn’t sure what to do at all. She sees now that her method of building a case on Olivia would of destroyed her, she sees how Nightwing rides a line between hope and fear and now the city switches on him in a moment, but right now there are nine children missing and she needs his help to bring them home. The next person to see him is his sister, they have both seen Olivia’s true face and she is planning on leaving the city. Nightwing heads over full access to the Pennyworth foundation funds so she can do some good with it. She is proud to have this responsibility but she worries, she knows how much this means to him and can’t help but think he is only handing it over because he is about to go into something he doesn’t think he can come back from. Finally he is visited by Barbara, who comes to bring him hope and love. They both stand over Bryce as she reminds him of all the world ending threats, or Kryptonite doses Superman has survived, or how many times Gotham has declared batman public enemy number 1 as a reminder that he can pull through this. When he decides what he needs to do she will be there ready to help him, but for now she is taking the dog for a walk.

And now we reach a point where I have intentionally left a portion of this issue out, as between each of the interactions we have seen a mysterious red eyed green force that has been flying through the city and scouting out the circus that only appears to the children it takes…Dick has sensed this force to and now that he is alone he asks Martian Manhunter to show himself so they can talk. Nightwing is already aware of the force J’onn has detected and advises that Dick does not follow the Zanni to his place of power. Nightwing knows that MM can use his Martian senses to detect the cirque and bring nightwing to it. But J’onn warns him that due to the fifth dimensional energy it is based in, its power is drawn from being “known.” The more people that know about it the more powerful it becomes, and if it were to get its hands on J’onn and his senses there is no telling what can happen. All to say that Dick has to go alone to face the Zanni and defeat it. The complete opposite of what EVERYONE has been telling him, but it’s the only option Dick sees. As such the pair go to the roof and J’onn begins to draw in and borrow dark energy just in the corner or everyone’s mind to form a portal large enough for Nightwing to go through. Ready or not Nightwing leaps through and has entered the cirque du sin, the boy wonder once more with a slight smirk in the corner of mouth as he swings around this dimension. The Zanni is waiting for him, and immediately upon entering Nightwing sees a grey and white clown standing off to the side. As he tries to approach it suddenly turns around to reveal a face full of Razer sharp teeth ready to bite his head off! He can’t trust anything he sees here, but the fight doesn’t last long as Olivia Pearce comes to welcome their new ringmaster and the creature crawls away. Well not Olivia, but what is left of the idea of Olivia, now fully decapitated and throwing her own head around for fun. The rules are now being set, the Zanni wants to play a game for the souls of Bludhaven. If Nightwing wins he takes them home, if he wins they all come here forever. As the issue comes to an end we once again join J’onn outside titans tower. He has calculated that the best way to defeat this is to send Nightwing in with his skills alone, but even so it seems the power of the circus grows and it has even caused Nightwing prime to stir.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

La calma antes de la tormenta. Dick se encuentra esperando al próximo movimiento de ese siniestro personaje circense que se ha instaurado en Blüdhaven, llegando a volver a ponerle en el foco mediático como una amenaza en su rol como Nightwing. Pero Dick nunca está solo, eso lo sabemos bien por la presencia constante de Barbara Gordon, Melinda, la recién arrivada inspectora Sawyer y como ya revela la misma portada del número un viejo conocido del mayor super grupo de la Tierra DCita.

No sé si Ken Marion se quedará en esta cabecera como artista. Está en un perfil parejo al de Dexter Soy, pero sí que ya se ve que en lo que compete a este arco argumental de ir a por todas con el planteamiento de terror sobrenatural quizás no sea tan propositivo para los planes de Dan Watters.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5* I wish he wasn’t giving away the Pennyworth Foundation, and that Melinda wasn’t leaving. I know they weren’t really doing much with these pieces of the lore lately, but these were such big shifts to the status quo for Dick Grayson that I don’t think they’ve been used to their full potential yet.

[Craig Schorling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gives off Spawn vibes and I dig it. The horror aspect I enjoy a lot. Dick makes a difficult decision and his journey is about to get even more chaotic. I liked the art. It had a retro vibe to it. Solid issue all the way through.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool.

Loving every minute of this series. The Cirque has to be one of the coolest ideas to date. Very cool to see Nightwing tackle the supernatural. It suits him. And it is a nice change of pace from his usual stuff.

[Riley Pilgrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another set up issue for what’s to come. It was alright, The Zanni is basically Pennywise. However, it’s a lot less interesting with the inclusion of the 5th dimension stuff.

[Mark Cubillos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Zanni is luring Nightwing in for their final confrontation.

[rafaela (taylor's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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