Grayson

I wasn't going to read this. Nope, not for me. I was limiting my New 52 DCU reading and what they did to Dick Grayson, having his identity as Nightwing exposed, then presumably killed, did not sit well with me at all. But I kept reading nice reviews about the Grayson comic, and I do love spy stories and intrigue and well, when I saw the first two paperback collections were out, I caved and bought them. And just finished reading them. And yeah, I liked them.

First, the art is great, mostly that by Mikel Janin. The book features some nice layouts and Dick has never looked better. Tim Seeley and Tom King are crafting a doozy of a story, and the end of volume 2 comes off as a game changer, leaving us to wonder just what Spyral is and what they're really after. The book features Helena Bertinelli with frequent appearances from Midnighter. Dick is truly at his best here, which is my favorite part of the book. His personality is intact, he's skilled, confident, at the top of his game. If I can't have him as Nightwing or even Batman, this will do.

My only quibble is there's a disjointed feel to a lot of the writing, and given I read both volumes this weekend, that's saying a lot. Stories seem to start in the middle and the explanations aren't always complete. And stories don't always pick up where the previous one left off, so there's some gap remaining that can be a source of confusion. But that's a minor annoyance.

I still have no intention of reading the monthlies -- I end up double paying for enough books as it is, buying trades to replace monthly comics which stand nicely on the shelf and take up less room -- so I'm trying to not think about how far ahead things have progressed already in the story with no clue when I'll be able to read more via the next collection.

But I'm happy to read a New 52 book that truly has a fresh feel to it while maintaining the essence of the starring character. It's rare I get to say this: Well done, DC.