Grayson Annual #1/Secret Origins #8 Preview/Discussion

[nepenthes]

Via the AV Club

Looking forward to knowing more about New 52 Helena B - love what we've seen of her so far.

[DGraysonWorldsGreatestSpy]

Loks good, I am going to get both

[K. Jones]

I like the framing device nature of the Secret Origin quite a bit. Seeing Dick's life story told by someone with a bit more of an outsider perspective on it is fun and tells us a bit about Helena as we recap our boy. It also gives the authors the chance to inject a lot of their own authorial voice. Plus I mean ... the duel meanings of "Robin" is a holistic blend of multiple Robin origins. The specific mention of Zucco being a former Sal Maroni enforcer refreshes that critical Dark Victory origin plot point - an important element because The Mafia plays a critical role in both Dick's backstory as well as Helena's.

Oh and they canonize his Romani ancestry and give us a non-Americanized name for his dad, John. Fantastic. Fan-service like crazy, it's like this comic is written just for me.

The Annual, too. I'm Irish, Welsh and Gypsy so like ... internet high-five King & Seeley.

Props Mooney. Like, I'm eager for more Janin as the next guy but I figure if King & Seeley can keep Mooney for all the interim work like this, the Annuals, Origins, Futures Ends and what-not, they can maintain a strong secondary artist and get all experimental with him and it'll be very complimentary to the main book.

[Fuzzy Cactus]

Looks great. I like how they're keeping the importance of Dick to Bruce. Fits nicely with Bruce telling Dick, "You were the one who saved me" in Snyder's book.

[Claude]

Clever stuff! Not just the Origin Story/Early Years distillation - but telling the story of his recruitment from Spyral's point of view is a breathtakingly simple way to solve a whole bunch of questions hanging over the series up until now.

[sidekick77]

Score one for the Roma. I didn't think they would reintroduce that back into canon, since the whole Owls/"gray" son-of-gotham arc made it seem non-existent.

[AlexanderLuthor]

Ahhhhhh, Grayson. Very quickly becoming my most anticipated read of the month. Absolutely, completely and totally shocked how well they've done this book and "new" persona. I'm wondering if we can get King on another DC book - I can't remember many that have had as big of a debut as he has. I think he has written 2 of the 5 best DC books this year (Future's End and Grayson #5). High praise for an "amateur"

[Godlike13]

Both look good. Can't wait for these. Cool to see they brought back Dick's Romani decent too.

[Claude]

I'm wondering if we can get King on another DC book

Oh, I think we very probably can.

He's said he has some stuff coming up after Convergence from DC that he can't talk about, and he's got a credit for the Teen Titans Annual coming in March.

[Badou]

So that is Bruce on the spread there and not DickBats. Wonder if they will even mention DickBats. Guess they won't given who is narrating it since they wouldn't know. Though I guess they didn't mention it at the start of Grayson either. I still don't know what to make of this series. I just hope they add more to his "death" and whatnot rather than just recover things we already know. Maybe add an interesting villain or something. Also I am going to take the bold "flashy" comment when talking about his Robin costume that he meant complete shit. xD

Though I could care less about the Helena B. stuff. I still think they should have just given her a new name and made her a new character rather than just attach an old name to a new character, but that is just me.

[AlexanderLuthor]

So that is Bruce on the spread there and not DickBats. Wonder if they will even mention DickBats. Guess they won't given who is narrating it since they wouldn't know. Though I guess they didn't mention it at the start of Grayson either. I still don't know what to make of this series. I just hope they add more to his "death" and whatnot rather than just recover things we already know. Maybe add an interesting villain or something. Also I am going to take the bold "flashy" comment when talking about his Robin costume that he meant complete shit. xD

Though I could care less about the Helena B. stuff. I still think they should have just given her a new name and made her a new character rather than just attach an old name to a new character, but that is just me.

They have mentioned DickBats a lot throughout the Batman line. It happened in the New 52, and not just in Incorporated

[Badou]

They have mentioned DickBats a lot throughout the Batman line. It happened in the New 52, and not just in Incorporated

Yeah, I know. I never said they didn't. I was just talking about how we get another Dick origin issue and I was wondering if they would mention it here, but they won't given who is narrating it. Same reason why they didn't say he created the Robin identity to honor his late mother. The people narrating wouldn't know that.

Though they haven't mentioned it a lot. Just a few places here and there. Mainly B&R.

[Dzetoun]

So that is Bruce on the spread there and not DickBats. Wonder if they will even mention DickBats. Guess they won't given who is narrating it since they wouldn't know. Though I guess they didn't mention it at the start of Grayson either. I still don't know what to make of this series. I just hope they add more to his "death" and whatnot rather than just recover things we already know. Maybe add an interesting villain or something. Also I am going to take the bold "flashy" comment when talking about his Robin costume that he meant complete shit. xD

You make some excellent points. We will see (those of us with digital subscriptions, anyway) in about 30 hours.

[M L A]

Ahhh, I can't wait until Wednesday.

This looks even better than what Mooney did on the FE issue.

And I'm always ready for more Helena. Nice to see just how many things she has in common with pre-flashpoint Helena.

[brucekent12]

Not planning on getting Origins at this time but if y'all say its good on Wed. I might change my mind. Def getting the annual however.