Grayson #1 (REVIEW)
written by Justin Prince (@prince_justin)
This is a book I didn't think I would enjoy, in fact when I first caught wind of DC's new series Grayson I was very resistant to the whole concept of it. A little backstory; Grayson stars DC mainstay Dick Grayson sans the Nightwing mask. After the events of the Forever Evil arc, Grayson is forced to falsify his death and begins working with a shadowy spy/espionage ring called Spyral. Myself, being a huge fan of all things bat-family, and VERY resistant to change... especially since one of my favorite members of the bat-fam IS Nightwing... didn't know what to expect from this new book. After reading this first issue however, I have to say that my worries are greatly alleviated... in fact I can confidently say that I love the direction DC is taking with one of my favorite characters.
Since his apparent death, Dick Grayson can no longer operate as the vigilante Nightwing. Grayson joins the mysterious organization Spyral, tasked with tracking down individuals called "meta bio-weapons." These are people carrying volatile properties of meta-humans, essentially (from what I read so far) human bombs.
this is still VERY MUCH a Nightwing book...
This first issue was packed with tons of spy action, in true "double-oh" fashion, Grayson is forced to extract a high-profile target from a moving train while tangling with opposing agents and wearing a disguise. Sound like a whole new bag of tricks for the former boy-wonder. Though Grayson no longer wears the trademark domino mask he worse as Nightwing, as an agent for Spyral, Grayson is outfitted with a Hypnos Implant that hides his face from all forms of photo/video surveillance and also forces anyone who sees his face to forget him after meeting... basically he's the Silence from Doctor Who.
spy action with a superhero twist
While this first issue was packed with copious amounts of spy action, this is still very much a Nightwing book in spirit. Grayson utilizes the years of training he endured under Batman to best his opponents in hand-to-hand combat, plus his trademark acrobatics are wonderfully utilized in his spy repertoire. That was what had me, even though he no longer donned the Nightwing mantle... Grayson was still very much the hero he always was. Also, the return of a high profile character from the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe also had my jaw drop. In the image below I blurred out the character's name to prevent too many spoilers, but if you click the link in the description you can see the un-edited image and get a little spoiler action going for ya.
Who is that mystery woman? Read it to find out... or accept the SPOILER...
Overall, it was a very good book and a fantastic new beginning for one of my favorite DC main-stays. I look forward to the next issue and will continue to see where this new life as a spy leads good ol Dick Grayson. Read this book, if you think you know Nightwing... you don't know Dick.
Grayson (New 52) #1
written by Tim Seeley
plot by Tim Seeley & Tom King
art by Mikel Janin
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
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