The first issue of this run'd had them described as " the most corrupt police force in America " - they were certainly up there when Blüdhaven was first introduced.

The run preceding this, the Tom Taylor/Bruno Redondo one, had included that corruption being cleansed with Superman supporting character Maggie Sawyer being appointed Blüdhaven police commissioner.

This run's following from that with " there's still problems in Blüdhaven's police force ". Part of it's been their officers cheerfully accepting laser guns, jetpacks and walking tanks (provided by Spheric Solutions, front for the run's overarching villains) to use in their duties.

Issue #125'd had one of the laser-gun-and-jetpack cops murdered - and Maggie, looking into his death, discovering that his " by the book " nature had just been his way of getting away with everything he wanted to.

She and Nightwing'd met the dead Officer Dietrich's killer - an apparent manifestation of Captain Hallow, the ghost of " the first [Blüdhaven cop] to die in the line of duty ", who supposedly punished those of the Blüdhaven police who didn't stand by their fellow officers.

Nightwing'd grappled with the ghost - who'd slipped his grip, leaving a cloak behind. Maggie'd got a shot off at the Captain as he fled - one that hit.



The Captain, mortal, staggered back to his friends.

They were four in all - the Captain, the two who were there when he got to safety, and the fourth who arrived later asking " How is he? "

" Unstable.. [His body armor] can only take a few hits. "



The fourth man stated that message he'd send as Captain Hallow: " .. Maggie Sawyer dies tonight. "

Maggie Sawyer that afternoon was keeping a promise - meeting the daughter of her girlfriend Katie (" We've only been together for six months. ") for the first time.



Claire excused herself to talk to a friend.



(Maggie's daughter showed up in issue #15 of John Byrne's Superman - in care of her ex-husband.)

Elsewhere, Nightwing and Oracle were " run[ning] chemical analyses " on Captain Hallow's cloak - which had traces of the smoke that followed him.

" It's fear gas. "



" We can work with that. " said Oracle.

(Old Scarecrow gas would be in a Blüdhaven police evidence locker because of his appearance in the first year of Nightwing's first ongoing.)

Claire and Katie were walking back home with Maggie.



A sight startled Claire.

" Oh, don't worry! " said Maggie.



(The model of walking tank sent out in #124 to flush out Blüdhaven's gangs, now matter-of-factly patrolling the streets.)

Oracle'd tracked the Hallow cops by their cape's peat to " Harlow Manor. "



(Maclean was Maggie's predecessor from the Taylor/Redondo run.)

Nightwing went in.

At Katie and Claire's home, in the kitchen, Maggie was talking about how she " used to be a detective in Metropolis.

" That's where I really learned what it meant to save people. "

" How did you learn? " Claire asked.



" We have Nightwing, don't we? " went Claire.

" He's a hero. "



Back at Harlow Manor, Nightwing'd dealt with two of its occupants - there was just Henry Allison, the man who'd been Captain Hallow until Maggie wounded him.



" Gave you and your friends the idea to cobble together the Captain Hallow suit out of gear you'd stolen from evidence.

" Administer your own brand of justice. "

(Allison's vengeance murder of his ex-partner Dietrich for prospering while he didn't is Captain Hallow's punishment of those who " [break] the code " in its most petty - arguably most honest - form.)

Nightwing realized 4 - 3 = 1: " Where's the fourth one, Allison? "

The fourth one'd been holding the gun outside the window as Maggie ruminated - he'd come in and taken a hostage.



The second Captain brought the gun up to Claire's head -



- and got whacked with a cutting board.

He swatted Katie aside -



- and got it from a kitchen knife.

Claire'd fled out the window.



Nightwing, swinging by, caught her as she fell.



Later, Maggie and Nightwing met at Harlow Manor, after the Hallow cops'd been taken into custody.

(" I'm sorry I was late. " he said, implying that he'd been there to save Claire because Maggie'd used the signal device he gave her in #125.)



" I need to be able to trust somebody, dammit. "



" I don't know, Commissioner..

" .. but something's got to give. "

The issue ended on the explicit statement that stopping the Hallow cops did not in any way end the sentiment in the Blüdhaven police they were a manifestation of:



(Pagecount's 7 and a little more than a quarter of 22 from May 2025's Nightwing #126.

This month's #127 starts another story that translates a point from the Taylor/Redondo run into this one.

Writing's Dan Watters, art's Francesco Francavilla, and letters're Wes Abbott.

Publisher's DC.)