Grayson #1 - License to FRIENDSHIP

[zapbiffpow]

The Name's Grayson. Dick Grayson.



One-Line Summary:
Spyral Agents Grayson and Bertinelli take a living bio-weapon into custody, right under the chin-spiked face of rival agent, Midnighter.

The Story:

Blond Grayson infiltrates a train, knocking out an enemy agent with sleeping wine and taking off with Ninel, a metahuman.

They're intercepted by Midnighter, who scuttlebutt says'll be a recurring rival:



"You fight like jazz." There's your new codename, Dick: Jazzpants.

We also get a glimpse into Dick's new tool (heh, tool): A Hypnos Implant.



I wonder if it sounds like Cartman's psychic powers. 'Nyeh-neh-neh-neh-neh..."

Anyway, a hypnotized Ninel activates his powers to help Dick, putting him into overload mode.

Dick decides the best way to get all that energy out is to have Ninel take it out on him, so:





Anyway, the issue ends with Grayson and Bertinelli's handler, Mister Minos, poring over a large screenful of heroes whom Spyral have ID'd, three of which are Babs Gordon, Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne.

___________________

I wish Spyral'd go with the 'Gotta-Catch-Em-All' route with the superhero ID's not the, 'I'll use this information to be evil, hor hor hor hor!" route.

Anyway, the writing was decent, I'm still a bit torn (Higgins' Nightwing started with potential, too), but here's where I'm not - Mikel Janin's totally nailing it on the art, especially Dick's acrobat/fight moves!

Hope he stays for the long run.

Food For Thought: I guess we know who Blondie is on that Batsgiving Poster, don't we? If so, there's only one person left on that thing who's un-ID'd.

Comments

[bizarrohulk]

Wait, is Midnighter back to his original costume (or at a least a reasonable facsimile thereof)? No more ridiculous shoulder spikes?

Really, though, unless Midnighter is holding back, or he's been hugely nerfed since his transfer to the DCU, this fight should have been over in two panels (and the first one would be Midnighter explaining how his powers work).

[zapbiffpow]

I just hit Google Image Search and Wikipedia and, well hell, I guess he is. Starlin fixed his and Apollo's costumes back to normal with Stormwatch #19, according to Wikipedia.

As for powers, I honestly do not know/have no prior knowledge. How good is Midnighter? Smeared-Dick-on-the-wall good?

[obsidianwolf]

Think Batman with enhanced strength speed reflexes and a healing factor. He can also predict an opponents actions.

Even if he's physically weaker in the nu52 his predicting abilities have been shown to be even better than they used to be.

Dick winning the fight is kind of a big stretch.

[zapbiffpow]

Thanks! So, there's sort of a Wolverine skillset involved in the mix.

In defense, though, I don't think their fight got a straight conclusion. There's a page where Midnighter got shot far, far away from the reactor by Ninel, and then the two skedaddled. So Midnighter and Dick never really 'finished' their fight.

[obsidianwolf]

It shouldn't have lasted long enough for the other guy to wake up.

I'm also curious why the spyral implant worked on Midnighter since he's proven resistant to mind manipulation even from folks as powerful as the Martian Manhunter.

[zapbiffpow]

Naw, the Hypnos implant didn't work on Midnighter, he just shrugged it off. Check the second page, the one where he says "Nuh..."

As for the 'it shouldn't have lasted' one...I dunno, as to that I have no idea, if Midnighter is as good as you say he is. I guess they didn't want to do whatever the opposite of nerfing is?

[obsidianwolf]

He actually states in the issue that he'll forget Dick's face as soon as he's gone because of the implant. He can shrug off the mind control but not retain Dick's face that seems a bit weird to me.

[zapbiffpow]

I dunno, did he say specifically because of the implant, and the implant alone? Midnighter just said, "That means Spyral...that means you're not here to help this dumbass at all...it also means that if you get away, I won't remember that charming face."

The way it's written, I think it's open to a bit of interpretation. The 'it' could mean the implant, or the 'it' could mean Spyral, which probably has more to cover their people with than some meatware.

[obsidianwolf]

We were told the implant is why folks can never remember a spyral agent's face. The head guy has a version that keeps his face secret even from his own agents.

[zapbiffpow]

Hmm, I don't know, I still think Spyral's gotta be doing something else for people to forget, more than just the implant. I'm just gonna have to shrug this one up.

[icon_uk]

It might not be affecting his mind directly, just sort of messing with his ability to commit that particular set of features to his memory, so it's interfered with before it gets as far as his brain..

Of course, whether it renders other body parts as unmemorable such as say, the world's most awesome derriere, remains to be seen, but it'd be a fun issue!

[silicondream]

Wildstorm Midnighter was around Iron Fist-level, I'd say. Did things like decapitating a Beast expy with one swing of his staff, redirecting a shot from a tank's main gun into another tank with a kick, etc. Cassandra Cain might be able to survive against him for more than a minute, but yeah, he'd smear anyone else in the Batclan. I don't think the DCU has any unpowered fighters other than Karate Kid who could actually beat him.

[filthysize]

When Starlin took over Stormwatch, he rebooted the title by having the team up until then erased from the timeline. So he rebuilt the team with new members and an alternate universe versions of Apollo and Midnighter, which were basically the original costumed, married pre-New52 versions.

But when Stormwatch was cancelled a few months ago, the last issue had the entire team erased again and the original New 52 team restored. So this spikeless Midnighter is still unexplained.

[q99]

It still has a chin-covering and such, but yes, no spikes.

And yea, that's not the best performance from him. Dick's good, but 'Nighter is best. It does seem like he's holding back, but even so, I wouldn't expect him to get hit.

[zapbiffpow]

Yep, I've been looking at scans of Midnighter in action and it looks like he's one hell of a fighter. A bit of Batman, a bit of Wolverine, a bit of Prometheus, from what I've seen so far.

[zapbiffpow]

As for the spikeless armor? Maybe it was laundry day at his and Apollo's place, or something. Heh.

[shadowpsykie]

i got from the panels they showed here that Midnighter WAS holding back. I mean i don't think anyone would go all out (especially someone like midnighter) until he assessed the situation. he was about to up it a notch when lazerman stepped in

[bradygirl_12]

He threw the fight because he's interested in this jazz artist with the pretty head, um, face. ;)

[icon_uk]

I wanted Dick to punch him really hard, back off and then, because it would be pretty much irresistble to do anything else, shout "JAZZ HANDS!!"

[dragonbat2006]

Considering all the times when Dick has gotten his butt handed to him by some character that the writers want to establish as badass, even if NW fans argue that Dick should have been able to take him/her down easy... I just see this as overdue karma.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, I'm working from that POV too! :)

[icon_uk]

The art is indeed lovely, and Dick only using a gun as a throwing weapon is about as far as I hope that ever goes.

The Hynos mask thingie is just a rather messy plot device. It scrambles electronic recordings AND brainwaves? That sort of specificity just makes me get even more specific. Could they be tracked by smell if someone had enhanced senses, would it scramble a non-digital camera image?

My biggest problem remains, if Sypral are so keen on knowing superhero identities (and Bruce has mentioned that's a primary goal), why is Dick not simply being mind-probed to within an inch of his psyche to get the information out of him? Why do Sypral think Dick wants to work for them in the first place? What can they give him that no one else can.

Using such an obvious Bat-expy was also a bit of a weak effort for the first super-fight. Honestly though, as others have noted before me, between Batman, Owlman and Midnighter (with Deathstroke in some instances) I think we just have to admit that Dick IS metahuman and broadcasts some sort of signal attracting dark brooding older men

[zapbiffpow]

"My biggest problem remains, if Spyral are so keen on knowing superhero identities...why is Dick not simply being mind-probed to within an inch of his psyche to get the information out of him?"

I don't know, but I suppose it depends on a few factors:

1) How much meta-IDs Dick knows (post-reboot),
2) How much Bruce has shared with him (or, to reverse that, how much Dick was willing to partake of),
3) How high/low the chance is that Spyral already extracted all that information from them both, willingly/knowledgably or otherwise, and are moving on to new targets.

[lieut_kettch]

His ass radiates pheromones that attract them. Dark brooding older men and attractive young redheads ( Wally, Roy, Jason, Babs, Kory).

[nyadnar17]

This issue was fun. Dick is still Dick. Power nerf or not I think Midnighter being Dick's rival will be good for both of them popularity wise (also I think Mignighter being gay and Dick being straight and hot has the potential to make for an interesting twist we haven't seen before) .

Dick Grayson hasn't really had a place in the world since DCnU decided all his teen titan adventures never happened and I am hoping DCnU's over abundance of secret societies will give Dick a place to shine. Bottom line is I bought this book, loved it, and will continue to buy more.

[zapbiffpow]

"Also, I think Midnighter being gay and Dick being straight and hot has the potential to make for an interesting twist we haven't seen before..."

This might be off-tangent, but I have to admire how fast fandom works its shippy little fingers. Already I've seen some quality Midnighter-Nightwing fanart out there, on the Internet.

Truly amazing.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, this is my favourite, courtesy of Starcave on tumblr

[zapbiffpow]

GODDAMMIT I JUST SAW THIS ON TUMBLR

[zapbiffpow]

How can they art this fast? It's sorcery, I tells ya! Heh.

[icon_uk]

(also I think Mignighter being gay and Dick being straight and hot has the potential to make for an interesting twist we haven't seen before) .

In canon no, but there are sooooooo many fics out there....

[silverhammerman]

I'm torn between thinking that Midnighter's status as a Batman expy could make the interplay between him and Dick more interesting, and thinking that it would just make it squicky and uncomfortable for me.

Even without a sexual element to it though, setting up Dick's main rival as a dude who is a whole lot like his father figure seems like a good way to integrate character work into the action. Though the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson was utterly gutted in the reboot, so it remains to be seen how much there actually is to explore.

[junipepper]

The final issue of Nightwing has Dick describing himself as having been Bruce's ward and "a son again" after his parents deaths. From things the creators have said in interviews (which I'd cite if I could find them again) it seems like they're trying to move Dick toward something closer to his pre-New52 place in the DCU. Sort of retconning the retcon, if you will.

[icon_uk]

Without giving him his career as leader of the original Teen Titans and subsequent versions, I don'r really see how they can.

[nyadnar17]

Also has it been made clear whether or not Spyral knows who Dick is? I thought the whole "lets not even tell Alfred you are alive" thing was stupid, BUT if Bruce needed to go through extreme measures to sneak a mole into Spyral then is makes more sense.

Can anyone confirm? Does Spyral have any clue who they are dealing with? Or are Batman, Lex Luthor, Cyborg, and Catwoman the only people who know Dick isn't dead?

[icon_uk]

Sypral know full well that this is Dick Grayson, former Nightaing,, but as I mention above, it's one of the more baffling parts of this whole set up.

[chortles81]

On top of that, the issue ends with a panel where a Spyral monitor declares the Batman = Bruce Wayne probability at 89%, in part based on an "interview" with nu52 Dr. Leslie Thompkins.

BONUS POINTS: Dick used his hypnos implant to get Ninel to go along with him in the first place... and apparently the banner image in the OP is actually what's going on in Ninel's head before the Midnighter fight.

[junipepper]

The thing with Leslie was shown in the final Nightwing issue.

[zapbiffpow]

"And apparently the banner image in the OP is actually what's going on in Ninel's head before the Midnighter fight."

Got it in one.

[starwolf_oakley]

So, is Spyral a mix of D.E.O and Checkmate?

Also, I thought organizations like that were about "keeping tabs" on superpowered beings and masked vigilantes instead of trying to "suss out" their secret identities.

[zapbiffpow]

That's what I was looking for too! I simply forgot the word to say it: 'Tabs'.

Except, I dunno, I think this time, they're also keeping tabs on the persons behind the personae.

P.S. Checkmate appears to be back! One of the enemy agents mistook Dick for a Checkmate Agent this issue.

[richmatdal]

I suspect it would be pretty difficult to "keep tabs" on them if you lost track of them every time they changed out of their work clothes.

[zapbiffpow]

Yeah, Superman's been a bit fidgety since they've started phasing out those phone booths.