Friday, July 11, 2014

Grayson #1

These are my first impressions although I'll reread it later to double check since this confused me.

SPOILERS AHEAD



This was a okay read it just didn't impress me much. I didn't get too hyped for this one although I did see non-spoiler remarks about it being amazing. I'll just break this down:

The Good:
  • Helena B. is alive and doesn't need to mind control people to be kickass.
  • I enjoyed seeing Dick and Midnighter interact. It was a lot of fun and manages to give some good insight on Dick and the world he's entered.
  • While the mind control part was weird I liked Dick being buddy-like with the human bomb.
  • Loved seeing Dick flipping through the air, being confident and knowing what to do.
  • BOOSTER GOLD appearance! For one panel but still! It's always cool to see he's seen as important enough to get attention (although this does go against his previous Time Master role.) Tim and Barbara are shown while Jason isn't. Kathy of course knew who they all were which is pretty weird since only Bruce and Cyborg are IDed.
Bad:
  • This was confusing, I'm just putting it here because it's bad if I read this right. Was the guy Dick took from the train dissected? I don't like the idea of Dick being so naïve or getting some innocent (although exploding) guy killed.
  • I HATE the whole "Dick can read people's body language" add on. That was Cassandra Cains' trait (that she got with years of training) and he has it for no real reason. Using it more and to explain how he's a natural at using the mind control implant reads like he's using a super power. Or worse, he's able to do it simply because the plot says he's awesome enough to do so.
The Confusing:
  • According to Midnighter he won't remember Dick because of his implants. I'm not sure how this would work since people know Spryal exists, in fact Bruce set this whole thing up for Dick to take them down. He's in contact with Batman so I think it has to be a in person thing or maybe something he can trigger? Not clear.
  • This sort of connects but why doesn't Midnighter know who Dick is? Wasn't his unmasking a huge deal? Does the implant make people forget?
  • Granted Batman INC. and all Morrisons' work is on shaky ground canon wise since it doesn't really work with the new 52. That being said did Dick call Helena "Matron?" Isn't that Kathy Kane the first Batwoman? She knows who Bruce, Dick and the rest are making the ending sort of anti-climatic.
Overall: Better than most Dick Grayson appearances in new 52 (I know that's not saying much) it's just not something that worked for me. I don't see this as a lasting fixture for Dick. The mission is to take down/stop Spryal right? You either stretch it out or do it, then what? This doesn't feel right for the character so other than getting the Future End issue I have no current plans on following this.

2 comments:

  1. The guy he took from the train had the organ that gave him his powers removed, and he was then put in a hotel room in Sochi with no memory of the event. However, we don't actually SEE it happen, we only have Mr Minos' word that's what happened, he may be lying.

    It's stated in the final scene with Mr Minos and Helena that the implants do make people forget his face. I would imagine it's kind of like it just blurs into some sort of undefinable average features in their head. I suspect it's the same reason Midnighter (nor anyone else) can recognize him as that guy who was unmasked on international TV. Or maybe Midnighter was just off in space when that whole messy incident happened. :p

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  2. Yeah that's what I meant. I wasn't sure if that was true or just something they were saying. Maybe it's supposed to be unclear to keep us guessing?

    Hmm sounds like something that might cause more confusion unless their more specific in later issues.

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