Grayson (comic book)

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Grayson
annuals
Main character(s)Dick Grayson
Creative team
Created byTim Seeley, Tom King
Written byTim Seeley, Tom King, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Artist(s)Mikel Janín, Stephen Mooney, Roge Antonio, Alvaro Martinez

Grayson is a 2014–2016 spy comic book

Spyral.[2][3] The series was initially written by Tim Seeley and Tom King,[4][5][6] with art by Mikel Janín and Stephen Mooney. The creative team departed the series after issue #17, with Seeley working on Nightwing and King & Janín on Batman for the impending DC Rebirth
relaunch; from issue #18 onwards, the series was written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly with art by Roge Antonio.

Publication history

The Grayson series follows the events of the

Nightwing as Dick Grayson following which he is seemingly killed. Although revived, Batman
and Dick realize that he can no longer operate as Nightwing and must maintain the façade of being dead.

The first issue was released on July 2, 2014 following the conclusion of the then-current Nightwing run, which ended at issue #30 on May 24.[7]

Plot

Following his supposed death

Helena Bertinelli, codenamed Matron. The duo are sent on missions by Spyral's enigmatic leader Mr. Minos to retrieve body parts from the recently deceased supervillain Paragon; these parts are being traded and distributed among criminals in order to give them powers. Tension arises between the two when Grayson's refusal to kill costs the lives of other agents. During a mission, Grayson fights against Midnighter, who is also keeping an eye on Spyral, causing Grayson to question the organizations purpose and motives even more. While Grayson and Bertinelli are busy with these missions, Minos, who obscures his face using nanobot technology, secretly uses Spyral's resources to uncover the secret identities of superheroes. Grayson communicates with Batman in secret using code in order to discuss his findings and, although Batman expresses concerns over his safety and wants to extract him, Grayson convinces Batman that he needs to stay undercover to find out what Spyral are really planning.[8]

Grayson and Matron continue searching for Paragon's organs, coming into frequent conflict with Midnighter, who is trying to keep them out of Spyral's possession and has discovered that Agent 37 is actually Grayson. A cult known as the Fist of Cain manage to acquire Paragon's brain and intend to use it to unleash a psychic pulse at an Israeli peace rally, killing thousands. Grayson convinces Midnighter that they are on the same side and they successfully team up to stop the group. Minos meets with Bertinelli and shoots her with her crossbow, leading her to play dead until he leaves before making her way to Grayson. Bertinelli explains that all Spyral operatives are on missions aside from Agent 1, codenamed Tiger, and theorizes that Minos will try to kill him next. Grayson and Tiger team up to fight Minos, who has used the organs to create a new version of Paragon that has the powers of the Justice League. Using Grayson's knowledge of the League, they are able to defeat Paragon but find that Mr. Minos has escaped. In an unknown location, Minos holds a meeting with a reporter, revealing the identities of several superheroes and explaining that he joined Syral so that he could leak their secrets. The reporter, revealed to be Agent Zero, chastises Minos and kills him.[9]

Following Minos' death, Matron takes over as the new director of Spyral and is confronted by the heads of several other spy agencies who inform her that, on each of Agent 37's five previous missions, one of their own agents has been murdered with escrima sticks. Bertinelli is suspicious, knowing that Grayson would never kill, and assumes he is being set up. Grayson attempts to contact Batman, asking when he is able to come home but receives no reply, causing him to act recklessly during a mission with Tiger to steal a necklace made of

Tim, Barbara and Damian, with each reacting in various ways to the fact that he is alive. Knowing Spyral will be watching, he communicates with them in code and tasks them with hacking into the nanobots so that he will no longer be under Spyral's control.[10]

Upon his return to Spyral, Bertinelli reassures Grayson that she knew he was innocent whereas Tiger's relationship with Grayson remains strained. Tim confirms the identity of Agent Zero as Luka Netz, a woman who he discovers has been watching Batman and Grayson (as Robin) for years. Pinpointing her location to Berlin, Grayson and Midnighter orchestrate a mission causing Sypral to send him there so he can investigate. Once there, Grayson discovers that Sypral's founder (and Luka's father) Otto Netz created Spyral to deal with superhumans but, worrying that the organization would eventually stray from his original plans once he became bored and left, he also founded rival organization Leviathan to challenge them constantly. Wishing to end the cycle of violence, Grayson and Tiger go rogue and begin taking down the other Spyral agents, leading Bertinelli to send the Syndicate, a group of the world's most powerful spies, after them. In response, Grayson reaches out to Maxwell Lord and Checkmate to form an alliance.[11]

Armed with Checkmate technology, Grayson and Tiger handily defeat Frankenstein, a member of the Syndicate before taking on Grifter. Grayson works out that Grifter is a telepath and uses his training to outsmart him and learning that the Syndicate are only working with Bertinelli so that they can eventually kill her. Grayson tries to send a warning to Bertinelli but when the Syndicate attack she believes it to be Grayson and Tiger. Bertinelli is gravely wounded before Grayson can get to her and he is forced to fight against the Syndicate while Netz takes her to the medical bay. Agent 8, revealed to be a member of Leviathan, sets off a bomb at Sypral HQ and, after subduing her, Tiger kills his former partner. Grayson calls in Midnighter, who single-handedly takes down the entire Syndicate while he goes after Bertinelli, not realizing that Otto Netz has revived himself, killed Luka and taken over Bertinelli's body. While searching for Bertinelli, Tiger reveals himself to have been working for Checkmate all along and he and Grayson fight numerous times while attempting to locate her. Maxwell Lord reveals that he created Minos and he arrives at Sypral HQ to retrieve the identities of the Justice League but the files are deleted before he can get to them. Grayson buries Tiger in an avalanche and makes his way to Otto. Grayson convinces Otto to give up Bertinelli's body and take his instead, to which he agrees. Inside his mind, Grayson manages to outwit Otto and destroys him. Bertinelli reveals Otto had programmed a Sypral satellite to erase Dick Grayson from existence so that he could fully take over his life but adds that she tweaked it so that, while most of the world would still be unaware of Grayson's existence, she and the rest of the Bat Family would remember him. Relishing his new anonymity, Grayson returns to being a superhero.[12]

Return to Nightwing

parademons. Each of the group describes 37 with one word: charmer (Constantine), savior (Azrael), gymnast (Quinn) and superhero (Lantern). Spectre asks them who they believe Agent 37 is and they all remember Dick Grayson. The Spectre is revealed to be Grayson himself who, uses the nanobots to cause the group to forget all trace of him before reuniting with Bertinelli and heading for the next adventure.[13]

Several months later, Bertinelli leaves Sypral, taking up the identity of Huntress and leaving Tiger in charge. Midnighter gives Grayson a piece of technology that allows him to save Damian's life and outwit the Court of Owls. Back in Gotham, Grayson discusses his plans with Batman, who believes that now Grayson has regained his secret identity, he should spend some time living his life. Grayson disagrees, explaining that even under his personas of the Flying Grayson, Robin, Nightwing, Batman and Agent 37, they are all still Dick Grayson. He reiterates his resolve to fight crime and protect the innocent and dons the Nightwing costume once again.[14]

Reception

The series holds an average rating of 8.1 by 301 professional critics on review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup.[15]

A positive review of the first volume by ComicBookWire.com described the series as "a James Bond movie with a superhero flair, which is a very good thing" and adding that "besides the multitude of great plotlines running through this book, there is even more to like about the story as a whole. The spy stuff is campy and Dick is funnier than ever. It adds a comedic element to the series which contrasts perfectly with the seriousness of the situation".[16]

A review of issue six, during which Grayson fights against Midnighter received positive reviews from critics, with Jay Yaws of BatmanNews.com remarking that "what I liked most about it was it was a battle of personalities just as much as a physical confrontation. The dialogue here is excellent, rising above the macho one-liners and grandstanding that is typical of action scenes. Instead, the rapport between the two feels like a genuine rivalry, with past encounters and grievances carrying weight for these men rather than being forgotten footnotes". He also praised the art by Janin and Cox, noting that "Janín's art is as fluid and expressive as always, but what really impresses me are his creative panel layouts. Everything flows together and feels like there's genuine motion, thanks in no small part to the beautiful coloring from Jeromy Cox", adding that "[Janin and Cox] may be one of the better illustrative teams in the industry right now".[17]

Prints

Issues

Issue Publication Date Writer Artist Colorist Comic Book Roundup Rating[18] Estimated Sales
#1 July 9, 2014 Tom King Mikel Janin Jeromy Cox 8.1 by 38 professional critics 81,433[19]
#2 August 6, 2014 Tim Seeley 8.0 by 27 professional critics 56,483[20]
#3 October 1, 2014 Tom King 9.1 by 10 professional critics
#4 November 5 2014 7.9 by 18 professional critics
#5 December 3, 2014 8.1 by 15 professional critics
#6 January 14, 2015 8.1 by 15 professional critics 39,816[21]
#7 February 4, 2015 8.7 by 7 professional critics 41,313
#8 March 4, 2015 Tim Seeley 8.8 by 15 professional critics 41,911
#9 June 24, 2015 8.2 by 16 professional critics 40,478
#10 July 22, 2015 8.5 by 20 professional critics 34,882
#11 August 26, 2015 8.7 by 16 professional critics 37,402
#12 September 23, 2015 9.2 by 23 professional critics 33,281
#13 October 28, 2015 8.1 by 14 professional critics 32,786
#14 November 25, 2015 Tom King 8.0 by 6 professional critics 32,201
#15 December 9, 2015 8.9 by 11 professional critics 35,765
#16 January 27, 2016 Tim Seeley Jeromy Cox 9.0 by 13 professional critics 30,420[22]
#17 February 24, 2016 Carmine Di Giandomenico 7.0 by 10 professional critics 30,257
#18 March 23, 2016 Collin Kelly
Jackson Lanzing 		Roge Antonio 6.1 by 12 professional critics 33,550
#19 April 27, 2016 7.0 by 10 professional critics
#20 May 26, 2016 7.7 by 8 professional critics

Collected editions

Title Material collected Publication Date ISBN
Grayson Vol. 1: Agents of Spyral Grayson #1–4, Grayson: Futures End #1 and material from Secret Origins (vol. 3) #8 June 2015
ISBN 978-1-4012-5759-0
Grayson Vol. 2: We All Die at Dawn Grayson #5–8, Annual #1 January 2016
ISBN 978-1-4012-5760-6
Grayson Vol. 3: Nemesis Grayson #9–12, Annual #2, DC Sneak Peek: Grayson May 2016
ISBN 978-1-4012-6276-1
Grayson Vol. 4: A Ghost in the Tomb Grayson #13–16, Robin War #1–2 September 2016
ISBN 978-1-4012-6762-9
Grayson Vol. 5: Spiral's End Grayson #17–20, Annual #3, Nightwing: Rebirth #1 January 2017
ISBN 978-1-4012-6825-1
Grayson: The Superspy Omnibus Grayson #1-20, Grayson: Futures End #1, Grayson Annual #1-3, Robin War #1-2, Nightwing: Rebirth #1 and material from Secret Origins (vol. 3) #8 October 2017 978-1401274160

See also

References

  1. USA TODAY
    . Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  2. ^ Ching, Albert (14 April 2014). "Dick Grayson Turns Secret Agent in New DC Series". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  3. ^ Wilson, Matt D. (15 April 2014). "WHAT: Nightwing Turns Secret Agent In DC's New 'Grayson' Series". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  4. ^ Goldstein, Rich (2014-06-24). "The CIA Spook Turned Comic Book Scribe: Robin Grabs a Gun in 'Grayson'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  5. ^ "Tom King Explores the Undercover History of "Grayson"". Comic Book Resources. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  6. ^ "Best Shots Rapid-Fire Reviews: All-new All-different Avengers #2, Midnighter #7, Star Wars #13, More". Newsarama. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  7. ^ "Dick Grayson Turns Secret Agent in New DC Series". 14 April 2014.
  8. ^ Grayson #1–4
  9. ^ Grayson 5–8
  10. ^ Grayson #9–12
  11. ^ Grayson #13–16
  12. ^ Grayson #17–20
  13. ^ Grayson Annual #3
  14. ^ Nightwing: Rebirth #1
  15. ^ "Grayson". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  16. ^ "Review: Grayson Vol. 1- Agents of Spyral". 13 June 2017.
  17. ^ "Grayson #6 review". 15 January 2015.
  18. ^ "Marauders (2019) Comic Series Reviews at ComicBookRoundUp.com". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  19. ^ "Comichron: July 2014 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  20. ^ "Comichron: August 2014 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  21. ^ "Comichron: 2015 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
  22. ^ "Comichron: 2016 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".
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