GRAYSON #4 Preview/Discussion

[Fuzzy Cactus]

Definitely not debatable. (I totally did the math not that long ago.)

Let's see this math.

[Blacksun]

I wouldn't call Bruce a ladies' man, since it's all just part of his cover as a "playboy". He's married to Gotham and she doesn't tolerate human mistresses.

yep, Bruce playboy persona is not who he truly is. Dick grayson i smuch more confortable seducing, using his sexuality. Grayson is pretty sexual, while batman is repressed.

You stick Dick Grayson the DCU's ultimate ladies man (well maybe second to Bruce, but that's debatable) in an all-girl prep school, and this is what you get. Frankly I'm surprised that at least one of them hasn't made a pass at him yet.

is because he use a device to cloak what he really is. they thought he was a oldman in the shoot lesson

[Dzetoun]

is because he use a device to cloak what he really is. they thought he was a oldman in the shoot lesson

The old man they were referring to was The Hood, who stumbled onto the shooting range after being injured in an encounter with Doctor Ashemore.

[Badou]

I'm really finding this New 52 Helena to be kind of annoying, but I guess after the last issue they are trying to go for something more lighthearted. I sort of wish Dick was on his own in this to be honest. Her character really hasn't appealed to me all that much so far.

Hopefully the one and done issues will finish up soon and we can finally start getting some answers and understand the larger pieces of the story so I can make my mind up if I want to continue it or not. I just hope it doesn't drag its feet all the way to April. :/

[Claude]

I'm really finding this New 52 Helena to be kind of annoying, but I guess after the last issue they are trying to go for something more lighthearted. I sort of wish Dick was on his own in this to be honest. Her character really hasn't appealed to me all that much so far.

Hopefully the one and done issues will finish up soon and we can finally start getting some answers and understand the larger pieces of the story so I can make my mind up if I want to continue it or not. I just hope it doesn't drag its feet all the way to April. :/

One-and-done next month, plus an Annual. Longer arc starts in January.

[Fuzzy Cactus]

Well, according to Amazon, this is the last issue (not counting the Annual and Secret Origins section) that will be included in the hardcover coming out in July.

[K. Jones]

Let's see this math.

Bruce
GOLDEN AGE
Julie Madison
Linda Page
SILVER AGE
Kathy Kane
Vicki Vale
BRONZE AGE
Talia al Ghul
Silver St. Cloud
Selina Kyle
PLATINUM AGE
Shondra Kinsolving
Vesper Fairchild
Jezebel Jet
NEW 52
Mio (Penumbra)
Charlotte Rivers
Natalya Trusevich

Dick
GOLDEN AGE
N/A
SILVER AGE
Betty Kane
Barbara Gordon
BRONZE AGE
Lori Elton
Kory Anders (* He was also raped by Mirage posing as Starfire)
Helena Wayne (Earth-2, but I feel like I might be wrong about this?)
Raven
PLATINUM AGE
Helena Bertinelli
Tarantula (...)
Cheyenne Freemont
Liu
NEW 52
Raya Vestri
Sonia Zucco
Spyral Agent 8

I'm tempted to dredge up as much as humanly possible but like, certain relationships are extradiagetic (In the cartoons, Bruce has dated Lois Lane, they've BOTH dated Zatanna, etc ...) and some are just hints or flirtations that never actually happened, like Bruce & Wonder Woman in the books, or Dick & Power Girl, and so on.

Notes: Very few of Dick's girlfriends have been super-villains, and as many of them or more have been super-heroes. Bruce's girlfriends are all society girls (albeit usually charity workers) and villains. There's also like ... Paul Cornell introduced Una Nemo - The Absence, a villainess who was a lover spurned by Bruce. Except she was spurned by "playboy" Bruce and he didn't actually date her more than like one date, so there was no actual romance.

[Fuzzy Cactus]

Oh you really did do the math. Didn't Dick also have something with Kate Spencer in Streets of Gotham (or maybe it was a backup)? And there was also Bridget Clancy (the landlord), and that suspected murderer he married in that weird Annual.

[K. Jones]

Oh you really did do the math. Didn't Dick also have something with Kate Spencer in Streets of Gotham (or maybe it was a backup)? And there was also Bridget Clancy (the landlord), and that suspected murderer he married in that weird Annual.

I knew I'd be missing some. I know he and Kate Spencer mentioned going on at least one date. One date does not make romance, but thanks for reminding me of it.

[Godlike13]

What about that Deborah girl from Tomasi's run.

[K. Jones]

What about that Deborah girl from Tomasi's run.

Oy, I just re-read a lot of that run, basically the One Year Later up to Batman RIP stuff, and I remembered that every different writer gave him a new romance per arc, but forgot about Tomasi.

Bruce Jones's Doubles & Twinsarc had Cheyenne.
Marv Wolfman's Vigilante arc had Liu and the retcon backstory about Dick losing his virginity to her and gangs.
I can't remember who wrote the Nightwing Ra's al Ghul issues, but there wasn't any romance there anyway.
Bride & Groom I'm vague on ... I only really remember a z-list metahuman team-up, though I remember him maybe flirting with a woman then meeting her husband and befriending them at aerobics practice.
Peter Tomasi's Freefall ... I only really remember it's a direct follow-up to Ra's al Ghul and a lead-in to later Morrison stuff. He was social with NYC heroes and Superman stopped by and it also set up some Blackest Night. Then the Two-Face arc I totally spaced on, I haven't read that in a while.

There was a definite pattern after Infinite Crisis where each new writer on Nightwing threw another casual romance in the mix. Sort of Dick's "finding himself, after Bludhaven" phase. (He "found" himself when he took over as Batman.)

[Fuzzy Cactus]

He went after Bruce's true love: justice.

[Faruq]

Just read the new issue and it was hilarious! Terrific! Wonderful! Probably the most I've laughed at a comic in a while. Dick's expressions are great throughout the whole thing!

spoilers:

Also, his new cover as a gay French gymnast within Spyral actually sounds pretty cool. What really sold it to me was Dick's expression when he found out that he was being punished for being found by the girls, not for reporting to Batman. I'm also intrigued by the revelation that Agent 8 might be communicating with someone on the outside. Maybe this "Tiger" is a mole as well

end of spoilers

[jules]

Just read the new issue and it was hilarious! Terrific! Wonderful! Probably the most I've laughed at a comic in a while. Dick's expressions are great throughout the whole thing!

Definitely a whole lot of fun. I think this must be one of the most compressed comics around. An entire mission done and dusted in a splash page!

Though, picking up from last time, the important stuff was what came afterwards.

spoilers:

The investigation of the mysterious transmission has me wondering how many double agents Spyral might have in their ranks. The timing of the transmission suggests it's Dick, as does the clever, uncrackable encryption. And it's clear that Helena sees him as a suspect, since she searched his room. But it could have been someone else, co-incidentally sending out their message at the same time Dick sends his. It could even be that he and Batman picked the time because someone else is sending then, and they could use the other message to cloak theirs, rather than for the usual reasons that time has significance for them. Helena's actions deserve a bit of scrutiny as well. I don't think she actually found anything in her search of Dick's room, but she's clearly covered for him more than once now. I don't think she's fully Minos's agent, even if she's not fully Dick's ally either. And you've got to love the gay French gymnast teacher role they've now saddled him with as punishment. As far as I'm concerned, Janin can draw this forever. The expressions he puts on everyone's faces are priceless.

end of spoilers

Of course, as usual, I was left wanting the next issue Right Now.

The bad news: it's still a monthly comic, not a weekly.
The good news: at least it's only a four week month this time.

[Fuzzy Cactus]

The first six or so pages just had me laughing.

spoilers:

-LOL @ Dick using the sucker to sneak off DNA. Now I wonder how many times it took him before Helena finally slapped it out of him. -Agent 8 being a suspect is an interesting twist. I wonder if Dick has been purposely misdirecting the location of his signal to put the blame on someone else, or if 8 was also a mole. -Helena does seem to suspect Dick. But I think she's also sympathetic to him, and I think she was being somewhat genuine in that last page. Sounds like their friendship is building up. -Also, nice Apollo cameo.

end of spoilers