Grayson #1
Tim Seeley & Tom King (w), Mikel Janin (a)
DC Comics

Liz says: To quote the Midnighter: Damn. That was pretty cool.

I’ve been looking forward to Grayson – a lot. I love the character to bits, but it’s been a while since I actually looked forward to his titular book. While the new 52 Nightwing book wasn’t wholly objectionable, it suffered from the same limitations that most of DC’s current output does. Safeness. Sameness. If I had to pick a word: dull. That’s why Grayson feels like such a breath of fresh air. Taking one of DC’s most beloved and established characters and turning his status quo upside down in a meaningful way was a bold, unexpected move and frankly the last thing I’ve come to expect from DC these days. So, y’know, touché. To lay out the premise, Dick Grayson is presumed dead by everyone but Batman, who gave him the dangerous mission to go undercover as a double-agent for shadowy international espionage agency Spyral. Writers Tim Seeley, Tom King, and artist Mikel Janin prove right away they’re up to the task of taking Dick into unexplored territory while keeping his personality intact. Dick’s dialogue retains its quippy light-heartedness as he goes through with his mission, and along the way, we become acquainted with his super-cool new spy toys, teammates, and setting. And there’s a great cameo from Midnighter! It’s all very fun, but there is a lot of information to take in along the way. And since Spyral isn’t the only one Dick is working for, there may be a major conflict of interest coming up. How’s that for a first issue?