Grifter was initially one of my favorite books of the New 52. The reinvention of the character by Nathan Edmondson took me by surprise. With a novel new look at the character of Grifter and a fresh new take on the Daemonites, this series was a breath of fresh air. Then with the last issue I started to have my doubts on the series. The Green Arrow appearance didn’t bother me, in fact I felt it meshed well in pushing Grifter further in his involvement with the New DC Universe. The Daemonites though started down the road of teetering Grifter into the territory I was afraid of. The invasion begins in full swing in this issue, I fear it’s going to be a rocky road.
The issue starts out on a good note as Grifter gets his first ally in Sofia who works at Q-Core. The tension that’s initially there with Grifter and Sofia makes sense, I liked how that was handled. Though when she’s revealing her secret workshop the impact isn’t really there. Scott Clark in my own opinion doesn’t work for the series as awhole. His art is inconsistent, especially with the main character. He has a tendancy to draw Grifter with increasingly random proportions depending on the scene. When there’s a point when the action settles down, you’re starting to learn more about what the Daemonites plans are. What hurts this scene is the art for this scene is boring. Just nothing there to really grab you and hook you into the story.
Now getting deeper into Edmondson’s writing, you’d think that the setup for the Daemonite Invasion would be interesting right? Sadly within the book when you’re finally witnessing Grifter surrounded by Daemonites, it doesn’t come off as exciting. The inconsistent art within the issue takes away from the gravitas of the situation. Instead of focusing on a dramatic action scene, you’re focusing on inconsistent artwork and a noticeably bad shift in the story. I think even the story starts to show weaknesses as well. I feel that the Daemonite Invasion has been rushed overall. I could be proven wrong, but the way this issue was handled, it doesn’t give me much hope for the future of this title.
Grifter had the potential to be a strong book and the first three issues made me excited for the future of this title. Nathan Emondson’s writing feels hampered within the larger scope of what DC is wanting to do right now. Having the Daemonites becoming a force this soon into the game just feels off to me. I felt the beginnings of this in issue #4 and my fears for this comic came true in this issue. Mixing in the fact that Scott Clark isn’t a good fit and doesn’t fit the tone of the title. Down the road I might check in on Grifter to see how the book is doing, but I have to say in this current stage I can’t recommend this series.
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