I made a point not to read issues of Robin: Son of Batman that weren't created by Patrick Gleason. Although I've gained a healthy respect for Ray Fawkes, I just didn't see the point.
Fortunately, I didn't make the same choice with the final issue of Grayson.
Tim Seeley and Tom King launched this series in the wake of Nightwing's cancellation, and a lot of angry fans thought it was a horrible mistake, including the decision to give them Nightwing's final issue to help launch Grayson. I knew Seeley and King weren't writing Grayson's final issues, and so initially thought they were fully worth skipping, like the Fawkes issues of Robin: Son of Batman. I mean, what would have been the point? Some other jokers would be given the crucial conclusion to Dick Grayson's war against Otto Netz? No thanks!
Well, now I can say otherwise. The "jokers" in question are Jackson Lanzing and Colin Kelly, who have previously collaborated on Archaia!'s Hacktivist (which, seemingly improbably, sprung from the mind of actress Alyssa Milano). These guys don't miss a beat. They literally step right in where Seeley and King left off. In terms of unlikelihood, this ranks up there with Landry Walker successfully concluding Charles Soule's Red Lanterns as a comic book miracle.
Dick's relationship with Helena Bertinelli is the other fruitful focus of this series, and its conclusion, as Netz unwittingly reboots the comic book hooey that made it possible to begin with: the world knowing Nightwing's secret identity. It's a fun end, fits in with the character of its lead character (which is what you would expect from any good comic book), everything Seeley and King sought to accomplish, and also finishes a Grant Morrison plot left over from the first run of Batman Incorporated.
Not bad at all.
I read the first volume but haven't gotten around to the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteSpoiler alert: Robin dies. But he gets better.
DeleteAnd he gets a flying demon thingy as a pet!
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