Nightwing Is Officially Getting His Own Court of Owls

Just like Batman’s Court of Owls in Gotham City in DC Comics, Nightwing has seemingly discovered his own secret society in the city of Blüdhaven.

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Nightwing #99

In the latest issue of DC Comics’ Nightwing, Dick Grayson is getting his own version of the Court of Owls. At the beginning of The New 52 era, Batman discovered the existence of Gotham’s secret society of villains manipulating the power structures of his city dating back to Gotham’s very foundations. Now, Nightwing has encountered a similar society in his own city of Blüdhaven, and they seem to be holding some pretty intriguing secrets.

In the new Nightwing #99 from Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, Nightwing and his half-sister Melinda are contending with the return of Tony Zucco, the man who killed Dick’s mother Mary as well as his and Melinda’s father John Grayson at Haley’s Circus. While Zucco thinks he can take over Blüdhaven’s organized crime with Blockbuster recently defeated by Nightwing and his “daughter” Melinda holding office as the city’s mayor, neither are willing to let Zucco roam free in their city. As such, Nightwing takes down Zucco after he tries to rob the valuable jewel known as the Eye of Kahndaq from a secret bank belonging to “The Hold” a new hidden society with ties to Blüdhaven’s earliest days.

Nightwing Discovers Blüdhaven’s Secret Society: “The Hold”

Although “The Hold” was ready to fight Nightwing over custody of Zucco, one of the group’s leaders known as the Quartermaster convinced his fellow members to leave Grayson alone seeing as how he tried to stop Zucco from robbing them. As such, it seems as though Nightwing has not yet become a direct rival to “The Hold”. They might be more reasonable than the Court of Owls in Gotham who carry their own history with Grayson, having tried to make Nightwing their Talon assassin on more than one occasion.

In Gotham, Batman is constantly contending against the power of the Court and their vision for Gotham. The Dark Knight has never fit into their ultimate grand design, and as such the Caped Crusader is constantly on the lookout for Owl activity and those of their Talons. While there’s still plenty to learn about The Hold, it does seem as though they carry more of a neutrality towards Nightwing. Case in point, the Quartermaster reveals that Dick himself has a deposit box in their bank, having been established by someone without Grayson’s knowledge.

So long as Nightwing doesn’t interfere with their business too much it’s possible he and The Hold could get along, especially if the group wants Blüdhaven to thrive using more positive methods compared to the Court of Owls. They could even become temporary allies with Dick Grayson in the near future. Here’s hoping more about their organization will be revealed in the issues of Nightwing to come. Nightwing #99 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Next: Nightwing’s Turn to Evil Just Proved He’s a God-Tier Tactical Genius