DC Mixes Things Up with GRAYSON #1

I feel as if I am on an everlasting quest to find a decent on-going comic book series by DC these days to balance out all the Marvel and Image going on in my collection. Ever since DC had their reboot of sorts called “The New 52”, I have been hard-pressed to get past 3 issues of any given title due to an overwhelming sense of “meh” and “what the hell is going on!”. I’d say the exceptions would be in the form of Scott Snyder’s work on BATMAN and SWAMP THING. Wonder what the connection to quality is there!?

Which brings me now to DC’s newest “New 52” title GRAYSON. A new book featuring the ever-so-complicated Dick Grayson. The Flying Grayson turned Robin turned Nightwing turned dead turned Batman turned Nightwing again turned dead again turned…err Grayson! Don’t quote me on all that by the way. I’m sure he died at least once more and returned as Robin another time? I never know what the hell is going on with DC. Well, the important thing is GRAYSON is giving our hero a brand new direction and it actually looks quite promising.

Let’s see what DC has to say about GRAYSON #1 written by Tim Seeley with art by Mikel Janin in their official plot synopsis:

Dick Grayson. Former sidekick. Former Super Hero. Former dead man. And now…agent of Spyral?!

A thrilling new chapter of Dick Grayson’s life begins in this new, ongoing series. It’s a super-spy thriller that will shock you and prove one thing: You might think you know Nightwing – but you don’t know Dick.

Ok, besides the horrible tagline, this doesn’t seem like all that bad an idea. Hot off the trail of NIGHTWING #30, we catch up with Dick Grayson who is now an international super spy who wields a gun and snazzy new outfit. The interesting thing here is that he has a gun and will be tasked with potentially killing people in the name of duty! Which is interesting because his mentor and father figure is all about not using guns or killing people. Should ignite a fun debate on the subject and prove for some intense storylines dealing with various shades of grey.

The question will remain if this book will be friendly to newcomers and DC fans such as myself who feel as if they are out of the loop. I’d say it’s worth a look at issue #1 at least and hopefully I will be invested enough to get past 3 issues before bowing out.

GRAYSON #1 hits comic shelves this week where he strays farther away from traditional comic book superheroes and veers towards a more James Bond/Jason Bourne identity. Could be fun.

Words by Jason Furie

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