Dick Grayson gets some much-needed assistance in Blüdhaven as Maggie Sawyer becomes commissioner of the city's police force in the upcoming Nightwing #94, hopefully becoming a force for good just like Gotham's Commissioner James Gordon.
Written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by Bruno Redondo, Nightwing #94 promises conflict as Maggie faces off against the immense corruption present in Blüdhaven, which is nearly completely in the pocket of the villainous Blockbuster. With Maggie less likely to kowtow to the gangster's demands as her predecessor, Blockbuster puts new pressure on city mayor Melinda Zucco instead. Melinda, incidentally, happens to be Dick's half-sister, with whom he recently allied.
Introduced in the pages of 1987's Superman #4 as a dedicated Special Crimes Unit detective, Maggie Sawyer has switched between the Metropolis and Gotham City police forces multiple times in her comic career, making her appearance in Blüdhaven a fresh job change. Notable moments in Maggie's life as a cop include serving as a central character in the short-lived 1994 series Metropolis S.C.U., starring in the fan-favorite Gotham Central police procedural comic following the mid-2000s "No Man's Land" arc, and receiving a marriage proposal from Kate Kane -- also known as Batwoman -- in the pages of 2011's Batwoman #17. The character was portrayed in live-action by Floriana Lima in the Supergirl television series.
Blüdhaven -- a city described by Dick Grayson as "corrupt to its core" -- has long needed a virtuous police commissioner. In writer Chuck Dixon's run on the Nightwing series of 1996, Blüdhaven's police department lacked a formal commissioner after the position had been eliminated in an anti-corruption probe, and Dick Grayson ended up joining the force himself in an effort to clean up the city via legal means. Dick frequently butted heads against Police Chief Delmore Redhorn, who acted as a commissioner in all but name and regularly did business with Blockbuster in a tradition that has been carried by Commissioner Maclean, the current head of police in Taylor and Redondo's run.
Aside from gaining his equivalent of Commissioner Gordon, recent issues of Nightwing have seen Dick starting a foundation dedicated to Alfred Pennyworth, raising the lovable three-legged puppy nicknamed "Bitewing," serving as a mentor to Jon Kent and testing the waters in a new romantic relationship with Barbara Gordon, better known as Batgirl and Oracle.
Nightwing #94 goes on sale July 19 from DC.
Source: DC