Grayson #3 Review

Bang!

Seeley goes into one of the more controversial aspects of this series, and comes out with a great storyline signaling the symbolism of the gun.

Janin’s artwork as usual is great and really complements the storyline.

SPOILERS FOLLOW…………

The next mission involves a strange target – a man, who got shot in the face and lost his two kids to a mad man before a surgery that connected him to two guns that act as his eyes now.

Apparently, he is an A-list hitman who has managed to stumble into Spyral’s attempts to retrieve the organs of ‘Paragon’. Killing Spyral’s contact Barton Tare, Christopher ‘Old Gun’ Tanner has the eyes of Paragon now.

Due to his special condition, Minos assigns two teams to the mission – and Dick gets a little too chummy with one of the other duo.

And this brings to the fore a very personal question for Dick – why guns? I know many against this book also ask the same questions, so Seeley decides to satisfy both viewpoints.

Agent 8 is the secondary protagonist of this issue, as Helena is put on the sidelines (and with good reason, as we learn latter on). She contrasts and complements Dick’s views very well.

A Smallville resident, she grew up with farmers who had the trigger finger on standby. Her speech is ironic, cause of the inside knowledge we have that the greatest superhero of them all, Superman, has the town as his adopted birthplace.

The two teams intercept Old Gun in Malaysia, and Dick lets his exuberance get in the way of the mission, as Agent 8 is shot and Helena’s helicopter is shot down.

In a standoff with Old Gun, Dick waves away his gun and tries to reason with Tanner but fails when he tries to emotionally connect by reminding him of his late sons – but instead, Tanner shows his state of denial as he refers to his guns as his sons now.

Agent 1 arrives in the nick of time and manages to rescue Dick, but Tanner escapes.

After a heated confrontation with Agent 8, Dick contacts Batman and learns that one of Tanner’s children is still alive. Finding Tanner looking through his gun there, Dick manages to convince him to give up the eyes.

But sadly, the whole exchange is jeopardized when Agent 8 shoots Tanner and reveals that they tracked him. Tanner though isn’t down and out, and manages to get a shot in – straight through Agent 8’s head.

In a slow montage, we see her lights go out even as Tanner falls to his death right infront of his son. All Dick can do is watch on in horror at how things had unraveled.

It’s a fitting imagery as both Agent 8 and Tanner lie in death caressing their guns(almost like a lover in bed) while Dick’s gun lies cold and unused, a few feat away from its owner.

Minos has his own dilemma to figure out – apparently someone (who we know is Dick) is sending unauthorized messages to an external source. And Helena is assigned to track down the perpetrator.

Agent 8 played an interesting part in this story. She was introduced as the classic Bond 'fridging' woman and yes, it started and ended that way. The slow reveal of her views, then her designation and finally her name subverted that style in that by the end when we finally came to know her name, she was a fully realized character, albiet with more than a little mystery.

It makes me wonder what role Agent 1 will play in the next few issues. Obviously he would blame Dick for his partner's death (and given him calling her by name, it's personal). Though I wonder how someone as high ranked as 8 was so easily taken out.

Also, I'm wondering whether Helena has a designation like this or is her 'Matron' a special status? Can't wait through for Agent 0 to enter the field. That is, the original Batwoman, Katy Kane.

SPOILERS END…………

Highlighting the conflicts of the protagonist and the weapon not of his choice, this issue both furthered the plot which exploring Dick’s situational irony.

Seeley is able to navigate through a controversial topic with finesse, through in true spy fashion, not without death and tragedy permeating through the air.

The artwork as usual is evocative and expressive and Janin is one of the best there is.

So, I give it 8.5 out of 10.

+Some great exploration of themes
+A controversial subject is handled well
+A good contrast to Dick’s position is introduced
+The artwork! Loved the artwork!

-The secondary protagonist could have been given more room to develop