#zanni

A couple collabs with @ltb-oc!!! Ft Olpel and Zanni

I'm going to be including information based on what's been revealed in the summaries of future Nightwing issues, so if anyone doesn't want to be spoiled in any way then stop reading now.

I believe the Zanni is more so saddened by the fact that superheroes and their powers have normalized the extraordinary, which is something you'd usually go to the circus to see. So it's not necessarily a change in the circus status quo that the Zanni is resistant to, but the Zanni needs to find a way to push the envelope to make the circus extraordinary again.

From what I've gathered from the summaries of future issues, children are starting to disappear into the Cirque Du Sin, which seems to be giving it more power. The people of Bludhaven are also going to turn on Nightwing. And then Dick is going to have to play a carnival game to try and save the souls of all the children, but whether he wins or loses, the outcome will impact Bludhaven.

And as it was explained before by either the Zanni or Olivia, delight + terror = an alchemical force that pushes the human spirit to reinvent society in blood and chaos.

So it seems that all these events (Bryce getting hit with kryptonite, Bludhaven turning on Nightwing, and the children disappearing into the circus) is the blood and chaos that is going to bring forth the type of change that the Zanni embodies.

Dick is the ringmaster bringing that force to fruition. He's the one who's introducing us to each "act" and is bringing momentum between each one (letting Bryce keep his powers which lead to Bryce getting hit with kryptonite, being the one to confront Olivia/Spheric, and being the one who has to try and save the children's souls).

However, I think we as readers are being affected by the exact thing the spirit of the Zanni embodies in the process of all of this. For example, Bryce got hit by a ton of kryptonite at the end of the last issue, and us readers aren't sure if he's going to live or not. That feeling of delight/terror is exactly what the Zanni is talking about. Because there's this frenzied excitement/terror over what's going to happen next. I'm sure it will be the same with Dick vs. the people of Bludhaven who are seemingly going to turn against Nightwing. And it'll happen again when Dick has to deal with saving the souls of the children, and the repercussions of him winning or losing. Even with Melinda, we're still held in a bit of suspense over her situation with Olivia (in terms of seeing Olivia's real face). So it's not just the characters who are being affected, but we as readers are also being affected.

In the end, this will all lead to some type of change for Dick, which will be a change for Nightwing readers as well (or it seems like it will be if the Zanni is successful). Some reinvention of the society we know. Will that relate to how Nightwing is perceived by Bludhaven from now on? Will it relate to people trusting Spheric over Nightwing? People wanting the police's protection and not Nightwing's? Will it relate to the children? Will the children be changed in some way? What about Melinda? If she loses the election then what does that mean for Dick and Bludhaven? What new forms of power are going to take over?

This time, pls have my fav OTP ever in commedia dell'arte: Arlecchino and Pierrot/Pedrolino🌟🌚

(i usually call them Harrot)

Btw, bonus some old art: 🖤💛

"There's a Superhero who lives in our dreams now too"

Nightwing #135

Writer: Dan Watters

Artist: Dexter Soy

Letters: Wes Abbott