Is It Good? Grayson #3 Review

Grayson has been on fire; every issue so far has been wonderful — can it keep up that winning streak? Here’s the latest issue: Is it good?

Grayson #3 (DC Comics)

Dick Grayson, Helena, and two other agents have been given a special assignment. They need to retrieve something called the Paragon’s Eyes from an assassin known as Old Gun. He’s completely blind… unless you count the fact that he can see perfectly out of two large guns he wields. It’s a dangerous assignment since he isn’t going to be affected by Spyral’s hypnotics and it may require the use of lethal force, AKA guns. However, Grayson isn’t exactly fond of that option.

Look, I just need a slingshot. That’s much more my speed alright?

Grayson #3 took a far more serious direction than the past issues did. Not to say the previous issues didn’t have their moments of seriousness, though they were much more lighthearted and upbeat. This one plays it straighter; the crux of the narrative is whether or not Dick will have to use a gun in order to face his current foe or if there is another solution. While the anti-gun message might seem a bit heavy-handed on the surface (oh, I foresee some gun fanatics going nuts about this issue) and may feel more appropriate for Batman, the issue tackles the situation maturely and intelligently while staying very true to Dick as a character and never feeling preachy.

The writing by Tim Seeley and Tom King is solid overall. The characterization is great and everyone feels in character, though there was barely any use of Helena; the dialogue is fantastic, with plenty of great lines throughout; the emotional aspects were very strong, leading to a very shocking and poignant scene at the end that left me personally stunned shocking — besides being shocking the end was satisfying as well, getting me rather pumped and excited to see where the next issue will take us. There isn’t much here that I can say without spoiling some big moments, but fans of Dick Grayson who were worried about the whole gun thing shouldn’t after this.

The artwork by Mikel Janin continues to be nothing less of fantastic and beautiful looking. The characters are visually striking and full of expression; the action is impressive and flows very well, while the layouts are genuinely very good and easy to follow. The art’s also great at capturing emotional moments very well, easily exuding intensity and mood. The coloring is also fairly appealing and looks great like usual. It’s just another great looking issue of Grayson, as is custom.

Is It Good?

Grayson #3 is a powerful, shocking comic. The writing was fantastic, the characters were great, the message and themes were well handled, and the artwork was stunning as usual. There were concerns when people saw the solicitation about Grayson having to make a hard choice and its relation to guns, but those people should not be concerned; everything turned out great and true to the character.