Grifter #1 has put a unique twist on anything you’ve ever known about Grifter. Nathan Edmonson, who you might know from “Who is Jake Ellis” has rebuilt Grifter from the ground up, with an entirely new direction for the New 52. Once a soldier, black ops, and member of the WildC.A.T.S team in the Wildstorm Universe, has now been reinvented for the DC Relaunch. Cole Cash is a Grifter or the other term for him is known as con man. A clever idea in my opinion, considering that people mainly know Grifter in a certain fashion. The extra twist to this series is he’s hearing voices from aliens that only he can hear. CAFU’s artistry works to bring Edmonson’s vison to life, bringing to it the brutal realism Grifter’s world needs.
There could be mild spoilers, but no major plot points are revealed.
Cole Cash’s adventure starts off on a airplane about to take off, when he’s about to sit down, a seemingly normal girl sitting next to him says something, that somehow only he can hear. I love this about Edmonson’s take is he plays off the fact that Cole Cash might be absolutely crazy. The voices get increasingly intense from the woman, CAFU shows the insanity of this situation, showing that Cash has been through a bit more than what he’s ever been through as a Grifter before, the woman lunges at him with a small knife, manages to deflect the attack, and jabs the knife in her eye. Oh yes, this comic takes directions right from the beginning that you really don’t know what’s going to happen next. The facial expressions make the scene that much more effective. The nicest part is Cole Cash is crafty in using anything nearby to help him out of the mess he’s in on the plane. How he ends up getting out of the plane is telegraphed perfectly to set up how this all started.
The flashback shows us Cole Cash doing what he does best, being a Grifter. I really love how Edmonson uses the Grifter name the logical conclusion, Cole Cash being a con man. He’s leaving the scene, thinking he’s cleanly got away from another mark (the person he fooled), as he’s talking to his partner in crime and girlfriend Gretchen, he’s then drug off to parts unknown by an strange blue silhouette. How Cash gets these voices in his head, I won’t fully reveal here, let’s just say, CAFU’s artwork gives you the sense of just how terrifying the situation is. He makes a mad escape to parts unknown, struggling to comprehend what happened to him, where we end up where we were at the beginning of the story. Turns out he was out of it for longer than even he realized, he’s in a bigger mess than even he realized, and Grifter’s world is only going to get more dangerous.
I can’t rave about this title enough, this is one of the most fascinating new takes in the New 52. Rebuilding Grifter from the ground up was a smart decision on Nathan Edmonson’s part. Panel by panel, you have no idea what to expect next. CAFU’s artwork was a great fit for this book and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do next on this series. I wasn’t initially sure about this title, I was curious yet not sold. Now reading it, I’m excited and can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to Grifter next. A refreshing new take on Grifter that no one should dare miss.
