The first issue of Grayson did a good job establishing the new world of secrets that Dick Grayson has involved himself in. The fact that Dick Grayson’s mission in SPYRAL involves protecting the identities of his fellow superheroes made the series important right out of the gate. What SPYRAL’s ultimate goal is and how successful Dick can be in stopping them should be interesting to see play out. Now let’s see if that is the case with Grayson #2.
Creative Team
Plot Writers: Tim Seeley and Tom King
Story Writer: Tim Seeley
Artists: Mikel Janin, Guillermo Ortego and Juan Castro
Colorist: Jeremy Cox
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls of 10
Review
With the first issue giving us a general overview of what this series will be about Tim Seeley and Tom King were able to spend Grayson #2 developing the personalities of everyone involved in Dick Grayson’s new line of work. By doing this Seeley and King were able to add an extra dimension to Dick Grayson’s mission.
Grayson #2 greatest success comes from it adding the heart to the series that was previously missing. Dick Grayson’s characterization in the first issue was more about developing the setting than it was the character. Now we are able to see more of the mindset Dick has in his post-Forever Evil life through his brief interactions with Batman. These interactions, while brief, did an excellent job highlighting how close the two are and showing us how much Dick misses his old life. Dick mentioning Barbara through her codename of “Red Riding Hood” was a nice touch in adding to how tough it is for Dick to keep his status a secret from everyone he cares about.
Getting to see more of that side of Dick’s personal struggle added to how his interactions with Helena Bertinelli and Mr. Minos. Grayson #2 gave us further insight into who these characters are. Helena specifically got some good screen time dedicated to her, with Seely and King spending the time to show how different she is from Dick. She is a very cold-blooded character who believes in ends justify the means. This is shown well with how she had no reservations in using her Hypnos implants to knock Dick out in order to recruit the speedster the two were trying to catch into Spyral. It was an effective way to show how, while not as skilled as Dick in terms of fighting abilities, her ruthlessness is what has made her a top Spyral agent.
Seeley and King did an equally nice job giving Mr. Minos more time in the spotlight in this issue. Unlike the first issue, we got to see more of Mr. Minos’ thought process and how exactly he is going about getting information about all the superhero secret identities. Seeing how quickly Spyral is gathering all the information it puts a greater emphasis on the importance of Dick’s mission.
The one problem I did have with this issue is with Midnighter’s continued involvement in the story. Midnighter’s inclusion feels like a random addition to the story, especially since he doesn’t have a clear connection to Spyral’s history. Even though Seeley and King try to explain the connection in Grayson #2 it did not click with me and his inclusion still feels random.
It would make much more sense for this series to use a character from Batman Incorporated in this role given all that happened during Morrison’s run. This would’ve added a further connection to the Batman Family and added another dramatic angle to follow during Dick’s secret mission.
The artwork for Grayson #2 did look better than it did in the first issue but it had some inconsistency problems when it came to transitioning between the 3 artists. While Jeremy Cox kept a consistent look for the entire issue as best he could with his coloring there were points that it was clearly different artists were working on each page. Simple things like a character’s facial structure and slight over inking make these points more glaring.
Overall: Grayson #2 was a good continuation of the story that Tim Seeley and Tom King have put in place for this series. Dick Grayson has a lot on his plate when it comes to dealing with Spyral’s mission to find out the secret identities of the DC Universe’s greatest heroes. Helena Bertinelli and Mr. Minos’ development in this issue also showed us how they will be obstacles in Dick’s success as a spy within Spyral. As long as Seeley and King keep the focus on this aspect of the Grayson series, and not Midnighter, than I can see this becoming a strong staple in DC’s publishing line-up.