In DC Comics it ’twas the day before Christmas and all through the town, not a creature was stirring – except a Bat and a Wing. Dick Grayson/Nightwing has returned to full form. Last issue he came to terms with leaving Ric behind, and whether cowardly or not, he cut ties with Bea. In Nightwing 77 we get a lighthearted caper on the Day before Christmas. Batman attempts to get Nightwing to come to Christmas, but Dick hesitates. Before Batman can talk him into it, they get called apart to deal with crimes.

This is actually where things turn more feel-good than serious. Nightwing peels off to investigate Dexiturn, a legal company, but one ill repute. Dexiturn sharks other companies by buying them and dissecting them for profit. The CEO is a complete ass hole and keeps complaining that they got second rate Nightwing when they asked for and deserve first rate Batman. Dexiturn’s computers were hacked and are being held ransom for $2.76 million. Sound like a weird number? We will get to that. How Dick doesn’t punch the CEO in the face is beyond me.

Nightwing realizes Bruce left the loser case for him. He sees a bunch criminals running and assumes they are Nabstract. To his surprise he finds out after capturing them they were merely a distraction. The real Nabstract was the Santa the fakes were paid to rob. And from here things get touchy feely.

Nightwing 77 – A Win-Win Situation

Now normally Nightwing would track down the bad guy, beat the tar out of them, make a few wisecracks and win the day. Instead we find out the evil Santa is in fact a woman named Clarissa with a daughter named Mazey. Clarissa lives in a tent amongst a homeless village. Not the most empowered of villains. Nightwing discovers Clarissa once worked for a company that Dexiturn bought up and sold for parts. She used to be one of their best programmers, but once they used her for what they needed they fired her.

This is where the amount of $2.76 million comes in. Clarissa only wanted to get the money she would have earned if they didn’t fire her. Of course this moves Nightwing and gives him the chance to make a real difference. The next morning Dick Grayson takes her to her new apartment, conveniently owned by Bruce Wayne. Clarissa wants to refuse because she loves her friends she lives with. How convenient then that the building sits empty and can fit the entire village. This in turn gives Dick the peace of mind to join the Bat-clan for Christmas.

Wonderful. Cheesy. Cliched. What better issue to have leading into the holidays when you only have one issue to work with. This will be the final issue of Nightwing until March because up next we have: