Warning: Spoilers for Nightwing #118After three years, NightwingThe ongoing battle with its greatest villain has come to a dramatic end. The conflict between Nightwing and Heartless has been brewing since childhood, and in an epic showdown, they settle the score once and for all. Nightwing has finally defeated Heartless, and he does so in such an effective way that Batman should take notes.
Nightwing #118 by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas, Caio Filipe and Wes Abbott depicts the final confrontation between Nightwing and Heartless, aka Shelton Lyle. Shelton framed Nightwing as the real Heartless in a false unmasking, but Dick publicly confronts him and clears his name before facing a fight in Blüdhaven. Ultimately, Nightwing wins, ending Heartless’ dastardly plot.
Heartless, on the verge of death, still feels satisfaction that Blüdhaven will never forget him after the damage he caused. However, Nightwing has one last surprise for the villain: he is making Heartless forgotten by everyone.
‘No One Will Remember You’: Nightwing Gives Heartless the Dark Fate He Deserves
Destroying all of the villain’s memory is something Batman would never consider
As Heartless fights Nightwing, the heart he stole from Blockbuster fails him. Nightwing, who believes in mercy due to the no-killing rule he inherited from Batman, offers to help. Refusing this act of mercy, Heartless doubles down on his evil ways, claiming that he will at least be remembered. Nightwing then reveals that Oracle will delete Shelton Lyle from all news and databases. In an ironic twist befitting its title, Heartless will be “nameless and faceless,” his crimes having been in vain. Everyone will forget about Heartless as his victims are honored, making this the darkest possible fate for the power-hungry villain.
Nightwing’s ingenious move to eliminate the Heartless legacy makes this one of the most satisfying defeats in DC history, and Batman could learn a thing or two from this. One of Gotham’s biggest problems is that it is filled with criminals whose reputations precede them, giving them the fame needed to inspire fear. By erasing your worst enemy from the public eye, Nightwing is able to make Blüdhaven a better place in a way that Batman couldn’t with Gotham. Nightwing started out as Batman’s sidekick, but the student has surpassed his master now that he has defeated his longtime enemy.
Dick Grayson completely defeats Heartless, his first and longest-running Canon villain
The villain was ‘born’ the same night Dick’s parents died at Haly’s Circus
Heartless’ story has been intertwined with Nightwing’s from the beginningso it’s only fitting that his story also ended with Nightwing. A child with an unusual affinity for violence, Shelton Lyle’s life changes the day his butler takes him to Haly’s Circus on a certain fateful day. He witnesses the death of Dick Grayson’s parents, which enchants him and shows him the emotion of seeing a son left behind after losing his parents. He continues to incite violence against others out of a similar emotion, which leads him down the path to his first confrontation with Nightwing – as a child.
To see Shelton Lyle’s full story as Heartless, check out Nightwing 2022 Annual – written by Tom Taylor, with art by Eduardo Pansica, Júlio Ferreira, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott – available now digitally and in collected formats from DC Comics.
When Dick Grayson sees Shelton bullying a defenseless child, he intervenes and confronts Shelton. The two fight, and thus Heartless becomes Nightwing’s enemy from a young age. Although this initial encounter ends in violence, their true rivalry only begins later in life. Making his first appearance in Nightwing #79, Heartless steals the hearts of parents in Blüdhaven after being inspired by Haly’s Circus, while Nightwing tries to stop him so that no child feels the way he felt in that circus.. This culmination of their shared past cements it as a perfectly twisted narrative for Nightwing.
Heartless was arguably Nightwing’s wild card, except he actually beat him for good
Nightwing defeated his own ‘perfect opposite’ more completely than Batman could ever dream of
Heartless’ evil deeds can be traced back to Dick Grayson’s origin story. As mentioned earlier, he witnessed his parents’ death and felt invigorated by it, so starts killing parents in front of their children to steal their hearts (above Nightwing #114 by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott). His replication of this defining incident in Nightwing’s history makes him a dark foil to Dick. Furthermore, it shows how cruel Heartless really is, so much so that even many of Batman’s villains pale in comparison to him. To make matters worse, Heartless doesn’t just steal the hearts of his victims. He uses them for a sinister purpose that Nightwing could not have predicted.
Heartless lives up to his name with this horrifying revelation, feeding on the hearts of others because he lacks his own.
As revealed in Nightwing #118, Heartless does not allow the hearts he takes from the vulnerable to go to waste. Instead, he implanted them in his chest. Readers discover that Shelton has been cybernetically enhanced in some way and needs different hearts to survive. Heartless lives up to his name with this horrifying revelation, feeding on the hearts of others because he lacks his own. His death occurs when he discovers that the heart he stole from Blockbuster is the heart of a gorilla, so Heartless experiences his last heartbeat knowing that Shelton Lyle’s legacy dies with him.
Nightwing ends an era of comics by consolidating everything important about his character
As a new creative team takes over, Dick Grayson knows what kind of hero he wants to be
With Heartless finally out of the picture, Nightwing can look to the future for himself and the city he swore to protect. The children who were captured by Heartless have trust funds set up for them by Dick, so they are not completely alone like he was, or like Shelton hoped they would be. With the victims remembered and the Heartless forgotten, Blüdhaven can work toward a better future without their shadow hanging over him. This peace won’t last forever, as Blüdhaven’s criminal element has plans for Nightwing.
As one story comes to an end with the final issue of Taylor and Redondo’s landmark series, another begins for Nightwing as a new creative team takes the reins. Dan Watters and Dexter Soy inherited the former Boy Wonder to delve deep into Blüdhaven’s underbelly and expose a gang war that has begun to escalate. A preview for Nightwing #119 offers a first look at Nightwing’s new villain who will follow in Heartless’ footsteps. What this mysterious villain doesn’t know is that Dick Grayson has defeated worse enemies and after stopping his even worse Nightwing is ready for whatever the future holds.
Nightwing #118 is now available from DC Comics.