Grayson #6 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Throughout this series so far, it's been pretty clear that things were going to get profoundly weird.  I mean, it's been weird from the start, since we've been following Matron and Dick trying to assemble organs of a former meta-human (I think) named Paragon so that Spyral can create its own meta-human.  This issue is where we start to learn how weird it truly is.

First, I have to say that I (heart) Midnighter.  His comment about knowing Dick's ass anywhere is hilarious, and it's fun to see his arrogance get him in trouble time and time again.  Although he was created as an analogue to Batman, Seeley doesn't play him that way; it only occasionally feels like Dick is whaling on Bruce instead of him (and, to be honest, those moments feel pretty therapeutic).   Moreover, he serves the role of Jimminy Cricket to Dick, challenging his assertions that Spyral is the good guy in this hunt for the meta-human's body parts.  Seeley hasn't really made it clear what Dick believes at this point, whether he's just playing along with the story that Spyral has sold him to accomplish his real mission (to eliminate its knowledge of superheroes' identities) or if he's really deluding himself into thinking that Spyral is doing the right thing.  But, if it's the latter, Midnight isn't letting him pretend that he wasn't warned about it.

But, things get really weird when we learn that Midnighter is working on behalf of the Gardner of the "God Garden," some sort of satellite orbiting Earth.  Apparently, Paragon was created to destroy her, though it's unclear if Spyral is trying to re-create him to do the same thing.  Either way, the Gardner recruits Dick to help her save the garden.  This whole sequence obviously just hints at a larger story, but it's actually a nice reminder that King and Seeley really have a clear vision for where we're going.  Moreover, we unexpectedly get some insight into Mr. Minos, learning that he has some sort of pain-filled connection to this mission to re-assemble Paragon.  I really have no idea what it could be, but color me intrigued.

I did have a question about Midnighter stealing Dick's hypnos, because I have no idea how that happened.  Did he do it through touch?  How is that possible?

Also, I just have to add in here that I have no idea how we're supposed to believe that no one knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne if the whole world knows that Robin/Nightwing was Dick Grayson.  I actually thought that the world only knew that Dick was Nightwing, something that would sort of explain it, since Nightwing isn't necessarily obviously connected to Robin.  But, I was surprised that Dick admitted that he was Robin to Midnighter.  It's just ridiculous, and it'll never stop be ridiculous.  But, it wasn't Seeley's idea, so I'm not going to hold it against him.

Again, this series is really solid.  It's all cloak and dagger, but it's really clear where we are each issue, even if the larger story is being slowly revealed.  That's hard to do, and I hope Seeley keeps doing it, because it's a great read when it happens.

**** (four of five stars)